Virgil Patrick Copas
Sir Virgil Patrick Copas KBE MSC was archbishop of Kerema and Port Moresby, both in Papua New Guinea.Biography
Copas was born in Toowoomba, Queensland, and was educated at St. Mary's College and Downlands College. On 23 July 1944, aged 29, he was ordained as Priest of the Order of Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus by Archbishop Daniel Mannix. Copas studied anthropology and tropical medicine at Sydney University 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 Samarai, and then was superior of the Sacred Heart missionaries in the Northern Territory from 1953 to 1960, also serving as a Naval Reserve chaplain, and as chaplain to the leprosarium.
On 19 December 1959 he was appointed Vicar Apostolic of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, and on 15 November 1966 he was appointed Archbishop of Port Moresby. On 19 December 1975, aged 60, he resigned as Archbishop of Port Moresby, but was appointed Archbishop of Kerema, Papua New Guinea 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.
Alastair McIntosh, who was a Scottish VSO volunteer in St Peter's Extension School which he established at Kerema, records this memory of him:
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 arrive on the Gold Coast and see truly amazing sights. His softly-spoken and gentle nature was revered by those that knew him.
He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1982.
