Obituary: Fr Lex was a friend indeed to those in need

Sydney
28 April 2002

Archbishop Pell and the Philosopher’s Stone

All he needs is a home and a family with love

Caritas pledges aid to Holy Land

Tribute to dad wins award for Rita

Bondi schoolchildren go to Galilee

New shrine was born in stormy seas

One in four chance of World Youth Day gig

Fun-filled radio CD guide for young drivers

‘Living truth’ will wipe out barriers

Chastity leads to true freedom, seminar told

Church unity is Christ’s will: Cardinal Cassidy

Sri Lankan fare at Amnesty night

Editorial: Mission of love, charity

Letters: Reform of the Mass, or not?

‘My life, my love’ - a vocation story

Reflections: A lone voice for our ‘enemy aliens’

Trinh’s journey from refugee to religious

Earthquake, malaria, but what a faith experience!

Obituary: Fr Lex was a friend indeed to those in need

Obituary: Lawyer, nun, college principal

Inspirations: Honour for Viet cardinal’s mother

Obituary: Fr Lex was a friend indeed to those in need

Fr Lex Johnson when he was Dean of St Mary’s Cathedral

By Kathleen Carmody

Fr LEX JOHNSON, 1940 - 2002

“Lex genuinely cared about people. His faith was deeply personal and I never doubted his love of God. I do not doubt God has brought home one

of the great Aussie rough diamonds of the Catholic church: opinionated, militant and sometimes obnoxious, but always deeply faithful to the Truth and his life within the Church.”

So wrote one of Mons Lex Johnson’s parishioners and good friends upon hearing the news of his death from a heart attack on April 11, aged 61.

It was just one of many tributes that poured in after the news of the monsignor’s death was announced.

“Lex was approachable, open, humble, welcoming, meeting people where they were at,” said Bishop Pat Power, who described the monsignor as “probably my closest friend in the priesthood”.

They began their studies at the Springwood seminary together in February 1959.

Bishop Power, who was celebrant of the funeral Mass for Mons Lex Johnson at St Mary’s Cathedral last Wednesday said: “In the Pope’s response to the Oceania synod he said the Church’s voice must never be silenced and it must persist in showing compassionate love to a world in need of healing.

“That very much is a summary of the life of Fr Lex Johnson.”

Lex Johnson was born in Sydney to Alexander and Joan Johnson and educated at St Aloysius College, Milsons Point, and St Ignatius College, Riverview.

His desire to become a priest led him to the Springwood and Manly seminaries.

He was ordained by Cardinal Gilroy in July 1965.

His first parish appointment was at Brighton-Le-Sands in 1965, followed by stints at Pennant Hills, Elizabeth Bay, Waitara, Lane Cove and Mt Druitt. Then, in 1984, Fr Johnson was appointed Dean and administrator of St Mary’s Cathedral.

During his six-year term, he was responsible, among other things, for organising the Pope’s 1984 visit to Australia.

Fr Johnson was made a Monsignor in 1986. He enjoyed the position, but, says Bishop Power, “it was something that he wore very lightly. There was a nice simplicity about that”.

By 1991, Mons Johnson was back on the parish circuit at Forest Lodge; neighbouring Annandale and Pyrmont were later added to his parish duties.

Then in 1999, he was appointed parish priest of Our Lady of Lourdes at Earlwood/Clemton Park. It was to be his last posting.

He was appointed parish priest of Mascot early this month, but his heart gave out a few days later.

In his homily, Bishop Power, auxiliary bishop of Canberra and Goulburn, praised Fr Lex Johnson’s “beautiful human and spir itual qualities, which were so much admired”.

The bishop said: “He was secure in God’s love, therefore at peace with God and the people around him.

“He was the sort of person who touched everyone, from his time at St Canice’s - and his work at Kings Cross - to the way he identified with the battlers at Mt Druitt when he was there and, most recently, the way he related to his very multicultural congregation at Earlwood.”

Bishop Peter Ingham, who celebrated the Vigil for the Deceased last Tuesday at Our Lady of Lourdes, Earlwood, paid tribute to Mons Johnson’s open, generous, and lovable character.

“He was a delightful human being,” he said.

“He was extremely street-smart and practical and, yet, to my mind, possessed an engaging simplicity in the best sense of that word.

“Lex had the ability - the gift - to make friends easily, to establish a rapport with others, to make people feel comfortable in his presence. Everybody could get on with Lex.

“He welcomed people into his life, his home and shared whatever he had.

“That lovely quote of scripture: ‘Always make hospitality your special care,’ (Rom 12,13) comes easily to mind when I think of Lex Johnson.”

Bishop Ingham said Mons Johnson had been a very good friend to him, as he had to everyone.

But the “no frills” priest had a particular affinity with the poor and down-at-heel.

“His years in Kings Cross as a young priest, later in Mt Druitt and more recently at Forest Lodge sensitised him to the plight of people down on their luck, or addicted, or marginalised,” the bishop said.

“People in need found in Lex a generous friend. He really stuck with priests who were in trouble and was a great support.”

Our Lady of Lourdes and St Mary’s Cathedral were packed with family, friends and many others whose lives the beloved priest had touched.

Bishop Power concluded his sermon with a quotation from the Book of Wisdom: “The souls of the virtuous are in the hands of God, no torment shall ever touch them. In the eyes of the unwise, they did appear to die, their going looked like a disaster, their leaving us, like annihilation; but they are in peace.”