On the 24th December 2022, at Nazareth House Camberwell, Fr Desmond Leo Purcell SJ died peacefully, aged 90 years.
He was a respected and loved member of the Society of Jesus, which he joined in 1950.
Fr Desmond was ordained as a priest on 2 January 1964 at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne.
Fr Desmond was a missionary in Hazaribagh, India from 1966 to 1976. In 1976, he returned to Australia where he ministered in Queensland, Canberra and Melbourne, as Parish Priest, Counsellor and Spiritual Director promoting the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius’ Loyola.
The funeral took place at 2:00pm, Friday 13 January 2023 at the Immaculate Conception Church in Hawthorn, Victoria.
May He Rest in Peace.