rector
VERY REV DR cameron forbes
Fr Cameron trained at Corpus Christi College and was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Melbourne in 2009.
Following secondary school, Fr Cameron studied arts and law and worked for three years in governmental and legal fields before his seminary training.
After priestly ordination, he served in the parish of Werribee, before completing a licentiate and doctorate in moral theology at the Alphonsianum Academy in Rome. He also holds a Masters in Liturgical Music from the Athenaeum of Saint Anselm in Rome.
Returning to Australia in 2016, Fr Cameron was appointed a formator and then Vice-Rector of Corpus Christi College. From 2020 until 2022, he was the parish priest of Mentone-Parkdale. He commenced as Rector of Corpus Christi College in 2023.
Fr Cameron Forbes lectures in moral theology at Catholic Theological College. He is chaplain to the Melbourne Catholic Lawyers Association, the Equestrian Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre and also the Victorian horse-racing fraternity.
Formators
VICE RECTOR AND FORMATOR
Rev BRIAN NIChols
Fr Brian was ordained for the Archdiocese of Hobart in 1980 after doing his preparation for priestly ministry at Corpus Christi seminary, Clayton.
He took on the role of Vice Rector and formator in 2021. Prior to this for many years, he taught Liturgy and Sacramental Theology at Catholic Theological College, East Melbourne, and stayed at the seminary one night a week during each semester.
His life as a priest has been quite varied. His first appointment was to the parish of Glenorchy, Tasmania, before he was sent for three years to the Pontifical Institute for Liturgy in Rome for further study. His subsequent appointments were: three years as assistant priest in Bellerive, four years as Parish Priest at the Bridgewater parish, three years on the seminary staff in Brisbane, seventeen years as Administrator of St Mary’s Cathedral in Hobart and six years as parish priest of the Hobart parish of Sandy Bay.
Fr Brian considers it is a privilege to be asked to play some part in preparing candidates for ordained ministry in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council and to contribute to paving a way for future models of seminary life designed to assist those in formation to meet the demands and challenges of proclaiming Christ and his Gospel to God’s people.
First-year Formator
Rev daryl Montecillo
Born in the Philippines and moving to Australia as an infant, Fr Daryl is the eldest of three siblings. Growing up in Melbourne, he trained and worked as a nurse with plans to become a paramedic before discerning a priestly vocation. Eucharistic Adoration and attending World Youth Day were key factors in his discernment. He studied at Corpus Christi College and was ordained by Archbishop Denis Hart in 2015.
Fr Daryl joins the seminary team with a diverse range of pastoral experiences since priestly ordination. He has served in suburban, rural and regional parishes, as well as full time Chaplain to the Royal Melbourne Hospital and Peter McCallum Cancer Institute, University Chaplain to Deakin Geelong, a regional promoter on the Vocations Team and is also currently a member of the Archbishop’s Council of Priests. He comes to us after serving the last few years as Parish Priest at Corio and Lara in the Geelong Region.
He enjoys all things cricket, watching the Bombers, getting along to a theatre show or a good movie, and working on his newfound hobby of learning to play the piano.
DIRECTOR OF PASTORAL WORK and formator
Rev Dcn Jim Curtain
Jim was ordained deacon for the Military Ordinariate on 23 September 1995. He then served for a number of years as a full-time chaplain in the RAAF, serving on bases in VIC, NSW, QLD and SA, as well as being on active service in the Middle East and Timor Leste. Prior to ordination he served as an officer in the RAAF on bases in NSW, VIC and Malaysia. As an Air Force chaplain he provided spiritual, pastoral, emotional and welfare support to Defence members and their families, whether Catholics or other.
After leaving full-time RAAF service Jim has ministered as a school chaplain, as a Director of Mission with St John of God Health Care at their Frankston hospital and at their Melbourne disability support service, with Caritas Australia as the Community Engagement coordinator for Victoria and Tasmania, and as the Coordinator of Catholic chaplaincy at the Royal Melbourne and Royal Women’s hospitals, and the Peter McCallum Cancer Clinic. Since incardination into the Melbourne Archdiocese in 2010 he has also assisted at the parishes of Beaumaris/Black Rock, and since 2017 at St Kilda East, where he continues to minister.
Jim has been married to Vicki for over 42 years, and they have two adult children and two grandchildren. He has tertiary qualifications in ministry, theology, music, education, administration, and pastoral supervision and is at present completing the Siloam course in Spiritual Direction at the Heart of Life Centre. He is enthused by the challenge and opportunity of this ministry at Corpus Christi College to assist the students to integrate their human, spiritual and academic formation into the reality of pastoral work in their dioceses.
formator
MS MARIA O’DONNELL
Maria was born in England, of Irish parents and moved to Australia at the age of five. Maria grew up with three older brothers in Adelaide. She was educated at St Johns Primary School by Dominicans, Marymount College by the Good Samaritans and by the Marist Brothers at Sacred Heart College, Somerton Park. The Mercy sisters were a crucial part of her life in the Parish of St Mary’s at Morphett Vale.
Maria worked in a variety of settings – hospital, university and a legal firm before deciding to study. She initially studied psychology and then changed to teaching. After finishing her teacher training, her life took a different path and she worked for a number of years in Team Ministry in the Benalla Parish. During this time, she continued studying for her Masters in Theological Studies.
Maria was married for 24 years and when her son, Brendan began VCE studies in Benalla, she decided to move back into the area of teaching. She has taught VCE Religious Education, Psychology, Health and Human Development and Physical Education.
In 2018 she took up the position of Dean and Deputy Principal at St Mary’s College at the University of Melbourne before beginning her work here at Corpus Christi College on the Formation Team in 2021.
Maria’s enjoys sport, reading, hiking, gardening and sharing a meal with friends in her spare time.
DEAN OF STUDIES
dr frances baker rsm
Frances grew up with five brothers on a farm at Lismore in the Ballarat Diocese. She was educated at the Gnarpurt State School, St Patrick’s Camperdown, and the Academy of Mary Immaculate. After joining the Sisters of Mercy, Frances completed degrees in Arts and Education at Melbourne University. She taught English, History and Religious Education at North Melbourne, Wodonga and Broadmeadows before being appointed Principal of St Aloysius College North Melbourne from 1980 to 1991. During her time as Principal, she completed a BTheol and after further philosophical studies at CTC, gained a licentiate and doctorate in sacred theology from the Gregorian University in Rome. Her specialisation is moral theology. She taught at both ACU and Jesuit Theological College (UFT) between 1999 and 2007. Having commenced teaching part-time at CTC in 2003, she was elected Deputy Master of the College in March 2007, a position she held until the end of 2018. After a semester as Acting Master of CTC, Frances took up the position of Dean of Studies at Corpus Christi in July 2019.
Her current research area is values, virtue and character; her hobbies include researching her family history.
spiritual director
REV PROF EMER TERENCE KENNEDY CSsR
Born in Mansfield, Fr Terence became a professed member of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists) in 1963 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1969. After ordination, he preached parish missions and retreats around Australia.
He was then sent to Rome for further studies in moral theology, completing both his licentiate and doctorate at the Alphonsianum Academy. After returning to Australia and spending a few further years preaching parish missions and retreats, Fr Terence was again posted to Rome in 1984 to teach at his alma mater, continuing as professor there until 2018. In addition, he served as Professor Invitatus at the Pontifical Gregorian University from 1987-2009.
Fr Terence also assisted as an expert for the 1998 Synod for Oceania and is a prolific author. He has published widely in both English and Italian, writing ten books and over seventy academic articles. His publications cover a range of areas, including: the work of Michael Polanyi, Charles Taylor, St Alphonsus Liguori and St Thomas Aquinas, natural law, the role of Tradition in moral theology, and the relationship between science and religion.
He commenced his role as Corpus Christi College’s Spiritual Director in August 2023.
