Br. Peter Carroll first Provincial of Star of the Sea Province
The General Council announced the appointment Br. Peter Carroll as Provincial of the new Star of the Sea Province in Oceania, for a period of three years, starting on 8th December 2022, when will be inaugurated the new Province. The new province will be composed of the actual Province of Australia and the District of Pacific. The new Province consists of eleven countries: Australia, Cambodia, News Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Timor Leste and Vanuatu, Fiji, Kiribati, New Zealand and Samoa.
In his letter, sent to the brothers of the District of the Pacific and the Province of Australia, Brother Ernesto said: “Thank you, Peter, for your availability and generous acceptance to serve as leader in the new Province and for your service as Provincial of the Province of Australia since September 2015. I also would like to thank Br. John, for his devotedness in serving as District Leader of the District of the Pacific since December 2019. I thank both of you, the members of your Councils, and the various teams and committees for the journey that you have been doing together over these years, taking the necessary steps to prepare for the birth of the new Province”.
The new Province
In 2018-19, the leaders of the region engaged in a process of determining a pathway forward for Oceania. This process resulted in a workshop of representatives from Australia, Melanesia, and the Pacific in March 2020. At the conclusion of that workshop, it was unanimously agreed that one new Province in Oceania be established. The Councils of the Province of Australia and the Districts of Melanesia and the Pacific unanimously accepted that recommendation, and therefore, formally requested that the General Council approve the plan to move to a single province for the region. On September 12, 2020, the General Council approved that request and endorsed the plans to move to a single administrative unit for Oceania by the end of 2022.
The new Province will be inaugurated on 8 December 2022, during the first Chapter, that will be hold in Mittagong, Australia, from 8 to 15 December 2022.
Br. Peter Carroll
Br. Peter was appointed provincial of Australia on January 15, 2015, a role he currently holds. During the General Conference on March 25, 2022, he was appointed first provincial of Star of the Sea.
________________
I was born in 1958 and raised in Bundaberg and Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. I was the middle of three children; my older sister died in 1979 and my younger sister lives with her husband and two sons in Brisbane.
After completing my secondary schooling at Marist College Ashgrove I commenced the Postulancy in 1977 and entered the Novitiate in 1978. I took first vows in January 1980 and made Final Profession in 1986.
During the post-Novitiate period I completed studies at Macquarie University and post-graduate studies at what is today the Australian Catholic University.
From 1984 to 2012 my ministry was exclusively in secondary school education. I specialised in Religious Education and led these departments in three schools. I then moved into school leadership and spent 15 years as Principal of three Colleges: one in Queensland and two in New South Wales.
I was first elected to the Provincial Council of the former Sydney Province in 2003, elected to the Provincial Council of the Australian Province when it was formed in 2012 and appointed by Br Jeffrey Crowe as his Deputy Provincial at the same time. During that time I have supported the Provincial, assisted with a range of pastoral matters and been involved in the professional standards area.
The good Lord has blessed me in many ways: having truly admirable parents, being raised in a loving home with supportive family, being called to the Marist way, being given so many opportunities over the past years.