226:"During my first year, teaching in his school for no-hope kids, I became ever so close to him. He talked only when necessary, and people would complain about having gone for tea with the bishop "but he said nothing." The truth was that he substituted words for presence and example. Maybe that was just as well because theologically he was conservative. His so-called "archiepiscopal palace" – a house made of asbestos-cement boarding – became a dormitory every night for homeless youth. You'd have to step over their bodies on the floor if you paid him a late visit. He simply lived for and with the poor. When people would steal from him, as they sometimes did, he'd say, "I hope they needed it more than we did." I saw some people despise him for that kind of attitude. They thought him politically naïve and a bit of an impractical joke. I just saw love, and from time to time I still feel that love as a mentoring hand, even years after his passing."
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In his twilight years, Archbishop Copas continued to help the PNG people by bringing them to
Queensland, Australia for life-changing surgeries. These were people that had touched his heart and who could never hope to get the medical assistance in their home country. These genuinely needy people would
217:"My boss while I was there was Archbishop Virgil Copas. He'd retired from the capital city and had been proud to hand over to the first black archbishop. But instead of going back to Australia he chose to take up an unpopular posting in
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in preparation for missionary work in Papua New Guinea, where he was based at
Vunapope, from 1946 to 1951, and also served as a military chaplain from 1945 to 1948. From 1952 to 1954 he was based at
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six months later. He resigned this position on 6 December 1988, and died in 1993, aged 78. He was a priest for 49 years and a bishop for 33 years.
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arrive on the Gold Coast and see truly amazing sights. His softly-spoken and gentle nature was revered by those that knew him.
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from 1953 to 1960, also serving as a Naval
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289:(Supplement). 31 December 1981. p. 49.
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256:"Archbishop Sir Virgil Copas MSC, DD, KBE"
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