Bishop Tony Burgess, recently retired as the Bishop of Wewak in Papua New Guinea, has died after a battle with cancer.

Bishop Burgess died on Wednesday, October 23, having returned home to Australia in September because of his illness, to be nearer to his family and medical needs.

Mission Secretary of the SVD AUS Province, Fr Henry Adler SVD says Bishop Burgess was a well known and much loved missionary priest for many years before being made Auxiliary Bishop of Wewak in 2000 and then Bishop of Wewak in 2002.

“Tony was the first non-SVD bishop in Wewak, PNG,” Fr Henry says. “H was a very good friend of the SVD and was committed missionary.

“He will be greatly missed. The SVD community is praying for him and for his family.”

Bishop Burgess’ funeral will be held at St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney on Wednesday, October 30, at 10.30am.

Read a tribute to the life and ministry of Bishop Tony Burgess by clicking here.