The Priest Who Built His Own Churches: The Monsignor John Hawes Story

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COZ154: Could an architect-priest who spent decades in the Australian outback one day be declared a saint? Lindsay Sant sits down with Odhran O’Brien, an archivist based in Perth, about the early stages of the cause for canonization of Monsignor John Hawes — a convert, builder, and parish priest beloved by the ordinary Catholics of Western Australia.

Hawes started life as an Anglican, studied architecture at King’s College in Canterbury, and eventually converted to Catholicism after rebuilding storm-damaged churches in the Bahamas. He spent roughly 45 years in Australia, designing and physically constructing 25 buildings in a distinctive arts-and-crafts style. His most significant work, St. Francis Xavier Cathedral in Geraldton, rises out of the red Western Australian landscape in a Spanish mission style, built from local materials, with a richly detailed Moorish-Roman interior he designed and decorated himself.

Rome has issued a Nihil Obstat, clearing the way for an official investigation into his life and virtues. Odhran is heading out on a 3.5-week research trip across the US, the Bahamas, and the UK to gather primary documents — original correspondence, parish records, and testimonials from people who knew him.

What makes Hawes compelling is the combination of the extraordinary and the ordinary. He wasn’t just designing churches — he was in the pews at the local pub, at the racetrack, meeting Catholic men where they were to coax them back to Mass on Sunday. He also bred terriers and grieved deeply when he had to leave his dog Domini behind.

Caroline Knight and Lino Saubolle join Lindsay for the second half: a look at a University of Toronto Scarborough study on mental sharpness. Researchers tracked participants over 12 weeks and found that on days when people were mentally sharper than usual, they completed more goals — the gap between your best and worst days could total 80 minutes of productive work. Better sleep and earlier hours help; prolonged overwork hurts. Practical and harder to dismiss than you’d expect.

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Catholics of Oz