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Pack containing one copy each of Towards the End of My Days, A Change of Heart and Mind & Journey of Bishop Geoffrey Robinson: 60 Years a Priest DVD
Towards the End of My Days
Geoffrey Robinson’s life was long and eventful. He was there in Rome during the Vatican Council. He witnessed the hope and the spirit of openness – and also the way that this spirit was opposed and stifled. He rose to the rank of bishop and notably spoke out about the scandal of clerical sexual abuse with insights and wisdom that were unwelcome in some sections of the hierarchy.
Here, in his last testament, he writes fearlessly about the problems facing the Catholic Church and presents his guidance about how they might be met. In his last days, he chose to write his truth: hard-hitting, yet compassionate; calling out corruption and stubborn regressiveness yet offering hope-filled solutions to the problem of how to follow Christ authentically. Towards the End of My Days is Bishop Robinson’s bequest to the Church’s whole people, a searing witness of truth from a faithful Catholic who no longer minces his words.
Loyal to his church to the end, Geoffrey Robinson has left us with the fruits of a lifetime of scholarship, reflection and service to his fellow human beings that invite the reader to consider how the Catholic Church might yet regain its moral status in our world. ‘Locked in a prison of its own making’ the church desperately needs all its members especially the laity to stand up and reshape it to reveal the face and message of Christ to a humanity burdened by self-interested institutions and leaders. Here is the vade mecum of one courageous bishop rejected by his own church.
Journey of Bishop Geoffrey Robinson: 60 Years a Priest DVD
Rarely does a person transcend generations and leave long-lasting impressions through vocation. Bishop Geoffrey’s voice still resonates today through his passion for the scriptures, with Jesus being his eschaton. He was not loud and did not tower over his congregation, but was part of them – gently, quietly, and humbly. Like his master, he walked amongst them.
The purpose of this video was to document a previously untold story of a young boy – then priest and bishop – but more importantly, a teacher, scholar, spiritual guide, and unfamiliar disciple. This is a story told by Geoff and those who knew him well. For that we owe much to Geoff, for being courageous and rowing against the tide during difficult times.
A Change of Heart and Mind
Geoffrey Robinson had a lifelong passion for Mark’s Gospel, generally acknowledged as the first, and he was compelled to bring it alive for teachers and students. He felt that despite good religious education curricula, students and ordinary people from all walks of life often didn’t really meet or engage with the person of Jesus Christ. They had learned about him, but not understood how Jesus or his story might affect them. In Mark, so many characters encounter Jesus and their lives change for good.
In this his final work, Geoffrey has designed for his readers a dramatic format which makes the story compelling reading. It is a story of the failure of humanity to accept his message and bring about a ‘change of heart and mind’.
Geoffrey Robinson was ordained for in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney in 1960. He earned advanced degrees in philosophy, theology, and canon law, first in Australia and subsequently in Rome. From 1967 until 1983, after a few years as a parish priest, he taught canon law at the Catholic Institute of Sydney. In addition to serving as chief justice of the archdiocesan marriage tribunal, he was secretary and then president of the Canon Law Society of Australia and New Zealand.
For many years Robinson served as the chairman of the Sydney Archdiocesan Catholic Schools Board and the Catholic Education Commission for New South Wales. Finally, he worked extensively in the areas of ecumenism and professional standards in ministry. In 1984, he was named an auxiliary bishop of Sydney, combining administrative work with his tribunal and other duties. In May 2002, Robinson called on Pope John Paul II to commission a church-wide study of clerical sex abuse.
Robinson retired in July 2004. He died from cancer on 29 December 2020.
