Draft:Paul Anthony Stuart

Notable Navy Chaplain and Catholic clergyman From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Paul Anthony Stuart (born 11 August 1965, Melbourne Australia) is a Catholic Priest and retired Senior Chaplain (O-6 rank) in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), and founder of the Hermitage of the Ancient Hermit Saints Paul & Anthony, in August 2025.

Stuart entered the seminary of Corpus Christi College, Clayton, in 1986 to study for the Catholic Priesthood for the Melbourne Archdiocese after commencing legal studies at university, and was ordained a priest in August 1992. After serving as a priest in a number of parishes (Hastings, Deepdene, Essendon), and as a Chaplain to numerous Catholic colleges and hospitals, Stuart was sent to Rome by then Melbourne Archbishop George (later Cardinal) Pell in November 1996 to study a Licentiate (Masters Degree) in Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, which he successfully completed achieving a summa cum laude for his thesis on Christifideles Laici (a 1988 post-synodal apostolic exhortation of Pope Saint John Paul II). Stuart was appointed to act as a personal assistant to Pope John Paul II for the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for Oceania (22 November - 12 December 1998).[1]

On his return to Australia in January 1999, Stuart served as Dean of Students and then Dean of Studies of Corpus Christi College, Clayton and Carlton and simultaneously as the Melbourne Archdiocese's Vocations Director and Chaplain to Catholic Youth Ministry in which he co-organised three World Youth Day pilgrimages of over a thousand youth from Melbourne to WYD Rome, Italy & Israel (2000), Toronto, Canada (2002) and Cologne, Germany (2005). His six years as Melbourne's Vocations Director was remarkable for the reversal in the decline of Melbourne vocations to the Catholic Priesthood, overseeing an impressive increase.[2] Father Stuart authored numerous articles on Faith, spirituality of suffering,[3] and topical issues in defence of Catholic teachings and orthodoxy while actively fostering ecumenical and inter-religious engagements both as a civilian priest and later as a military chaplain.[4]

In 2005, Stuart volunteered to become a Chaplain in the Australian Defence Force and although commissioned as an Officer-Chaplain in the Royal Australian Navy, he served on-loan from the RAN to the Australian Army for just over two years (2005 - 2008) answering the call to fill an urgent gap that Army Chaplaincy (RAAChD) was experiencing at the time.

Returning to the Navy, Stuart then served over twenty-years in numerous RAN Ships, three overseas deployments to the Middle East against terrorism and piracy (Operations Catalyst, Manitou, Accordion), and shore postings culminating in his promotion to Senior Chaplain - Division 4 (Captain O-6). He retired upon reaching the Compulsory Retirement Age (CRA) for ADF members, aged 60, in 2025 and was awarded a number of Commendations and earned a number of Campaign and Service medals. Notable in his military chaplaincy, was Stuart's integration of the RAN's first Muslim Chaplain, Imam Majidih Essa into sea-going Chaplaincy as part of Exercise Indo-Pacific (IPE 2018); officiating as the Commissioning Chaplain of the United States warship USS Canberra (2023)[5] that was attended by then US Ambassador to Australia, Caroline Kennedy, and is the only US warship commissioned outside of the United States. The event was also attended by the then Secretary of the Navy, Carlos Del Toro, who delivered the commissioning ceremony's principal address. Father Stuart oversaw the launch of the newest publication of the Christian Bible version for members of the Royal Australian Navy featuring the RAN's distinctive camouflage uniform pattern as its cover, at a media-event onboard HMAS Canberra, Australia's largest warship when Stuart was serving as Senior Fleet Chaplain.[6] Other notable events in Stuart's chaplaincy was his disarming of an army recruit attempting to suicide at the 1 RTB/ARTC Army rifle-range that earned him an Army commendation badge, and to date (2026), Senior Chaplain Stuart is the longest serving RAN Chaplain in sea-postings (time at sea as an RAN Chaplain - 7 years) and ab initio (initial training) and other Australian military training/academic centres (RAN Recruit School, HMAS Cerberus, ARTC Kapooka, RANC, HMAS Creswell, ADFA, ADC - 10 years).[7] [8]

Post-military service, Stuart obtained permission from the Catholic Military Diocese of Australia (formally, the 'Military Ordinariate of Australia') to enter a new vocation or ministry as a Catholic Hermit-Priest and he founded 'The Hermitage of the Ancient Hermit Saints Paul & Anthony', named after the 3rd Century hermit Saint Paul of Thebes (c. 227 – c. 341 CE) and Saint Anthony the Great of Egypt (c 251 – 356 CE).

In the Catholic Church, reference to the vocation of hermits can be found in The Code of Canon Law (603) and the Catechism of the Catholic Church (n. 920-21). The Hermitage of the Ancient Hermit Saints Paul & Anthony is being established in Hastings Victoria and is recruiting new hermits with a promising future.

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