During his tenure as archbishop, Hickey is credited with the significant physical change achieved through the re-building and completion of St Mary's Cathedral, Perth.[9]
On attaining retirement age of 75 years in April 2011, Hickey tendered his resignation as archbishop to Pope Benedict XVI,[9][10] which was accepted on 20 February 2012 when Hickey's successor, Timothy Costelloe, was announced.[11][12][13]
Hickey is Knight Commander with Star and Grand Prior of the Lieutenancy of Australia Western of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre.[14]
Public stances
Hickey has challenged secularisation tendencies in the community. As an example, in 2010 he publicly questioned the lack of religious orientation of Julia Gillard, not long after her appointment as Prime Minister of Australia. He claimed that her atheism may cost her votes.[15]
Stem cell research
On 5 June 2007 Hickey made a controversial statement by saying that if the Western Australian members of parliament who identified as Catholic did not oppose the Human Reproductive Technology Amendment Bill, which would allow expansion of stem cell research, then they could be refused Holy Communion or face excommunication as a last resort. Catholic and non-Catholic members of parliament criticised Hickey for this stance. Hickey reportedly said that he did not consider that he had made a threat. He also later said that he would not refuse Communion.[16]
Catholics who vote for the cloning of embryos destined for destruction are acting against the teaching of the Church on a very serious matter and they should, in conscience, not vote that way, but if they do in conscience they should not go to Communion.
After a holiday in Jerusalem in the mid-2000s Hickey authored a book, Living Biblically, that encouraged a return to the use and reading of the Bible.[18] Hickey chose the title based on an article in The Tablet where the author had written about his experience of the charismatic movement in the United Kingdom.[19]
In separate writings, Hickey shows his support and encouragement of the charismatic movement.[20]
In February 2024, Hickey published a memoir titled My Spirit Land regarding his time in the Goldfields in Western Australia.[21]
In 1998, Pope John Paul II named him Relator Generalis for the Oceania Synod in Rome. The government of Western Australia appointed Hickey to the Homeless Persons' Advisory Committee and the Western Australia Ethnic Affairs Advisory Committee. The Commonwealth government appointed him to the Board of the Institute of Family Studies and as a Member of the Australian Citizenship Council.[22]
Published works
Couples preparing for marriage. Northcote, Victoria: Desbooks. 1983. ISBN0-949824-04-6.
Living Biblically – How to find answers to life's deepest question in God's Word. Leederville, Western Australia: Record Books. 2008. p. 96. ISBN978-0-9802868-2-3.
My Spirit Land - Memoirs of Barry J. Hickey. SKU: 9780646885759
^ ab"HICKEY, Barry James". It's an Honour. Commonwealth of Australia. 14 June 1982. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
^Reflecting on this some 50 years later in I always wanted to be a priest. Record (Perth, W.A.), 17 Dec 2008, p.10-11.
^"The development of Catholic welfare services in Western Australia, 1846–1970" (M. Soc. Wk.)--University of Western Australia
^"Barry Hickey – appointed Bishop of Geraldton". The West Australian. 5 April 1984. p. 49.
^Barry Hickey – biography of Archbishop Hickey on his installation as Archbishop of Perth, Sower (Geraldton) Aug. 1991, p. 1.
^See also reflections in 20 years as a successor of the Apostles. Barry Hickey reflects on his 20 years as a Bishop and Archbishop. The Record (Perth, W.A.), 29 April 2004, p.6-7
^Hickey, Barry (22 June 1994). Address delivered at the Australian launch of the English edition of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (sound recording). Canberra, Australia: National Press Club.
^Russell, Eddie (1997). 12 steps to divine healing (paperback). Foreword by Barry James Hickey. Subiaco, Western Australia: Flame Ministries International. ISBN0-646-30706-1.
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