Ted Collins

Edmund John Patrick "Ted" Collins (March 22, 1921 — 8 August, 2014) was an Australian Catholic priest. 

Collins was born in Bermagui, NSW, the youngest of an Irish Catholic family. His mother died when he was six, leaving his father, a policeman, with five children to raise alone. 16-year-old Collins joined the NSW Police cadets on 21 April 1947, and for the next 8 years served as a police officer in Sydney. Although he described his years with the police as "some of the happiest of my life", Collins couldn't silence a religious calling, saying  "I always felt drawn to the priesthood. I wanted to do something better with my life. I felt being a priest gave me more of a chance to help someone by getting to know them and helping them with their problems. I haven't had any regrets with the choice I made." He took his vows in 1957 and was ordained in July 1963, a the age of 32 (Govorcin, 2003). 

Collins was Bishop of Darwin between 1986 and 2007, and found himself at the forefront of anti-euthanasia campaigning. In his eulogy, it was noted:

“The movement for Euthanasia legislation in the NT galvanised Bishop Ted like nothing else. It thrust him into the public limelight He was the focus of international media attention for months on end. Euthanasia was at odds with how Bishop Ted lived, the good God he loved, his understanding of human existence, and his deepest beliefs. And not just that, he saw euthanasia being rebadged as an NT autonomy issue instead.” (Brennan, 2014). 

Collins died in Sydney in 2014, at the age of 83. His funeral was held at St. Mary's Cathedral, Darwin, where he was interred. 

Brennan, T. (2014). Darwin Homily for funeral of Bishop Ted Collins. Missionaries of the Sacred Heart Newsletter. https://misacor.org.au/item/1245-bishop-ted-collins-msc-funeral-mass

Govorcin, D. (2003). Edmund 'Ted' Collins answered a call to "something better". Missionaries of the Sacred Heart Newsletter. https://misacor.org.au/item/1122-life-story-bishop-ted-collins-msc#!