Dear colleagues in mission and friends,
It is with profound sadness that I share with you the news of the passing of Greg Whitby, former Executive Director of Catholic Education Diocese of Parramatta. After a week of being hospitalised, he died peacefully in the company of his wife Sue and loved ones on Saturday, August 30th, 2025, aged 73.
I would like to pay tribute to his long and unstinting service to Catholic education in Australia and particularly to the Diocese of Parramatta. Greg started his teaching career way back in 1974 as a classroom teacher. He taught in various schools including Liverpool Boys High School, John Therry Catholic High School, Patrician College Blacktown and Emmaus Catholic College. He moved out of the classroom and worked in several senior administrative roles before becoming the Executive Director of Schools for the Diocese of Wollongong in 1999. In 2006, Greg was appointed by Bishop Kevin Manning, my predecessor, as the Executive Director of Catholic Education Diocese of Parramatta.
Over a period of nearly 50 years, Greg dedicated himself to education and 14 of those years, he guided Catholic learning communities across Western Sydney and the Blue Mountains. He endeavoured to imbue the whole system with the best of civic and ecclesial values, standards and principles. In a society that increasingly sees education as a commodity that can be bought and traded, Greg promoted school as a vehicle for social equity and inclusion. Thanks to Greg’s leadership, Parramatta is truly on the education map. We are known to be at the cutting edge of innovative, inquiry-based, technology-oriented and above all Gospel-grounded education.
Fittingly, in 2007, Greg was named as the most innovative and creative educator in Australia by the Bulletin Magazine. In the same year, he received a Presidential Citation from the Australian Council for Educational Leaders. In 2011, he was named Apple Distinguished Educator for his contribution to the implementation of Learning Technologies in Education. In 2012, Greg was appointed Knight of the Order of St Gregory the Great for his contribution to Catholic schooling. He was also the recipient of the 2017 Sir Harold Wyndham Medal awarded by the Australian College of Educators. In 2018, he was recognized with an Order of Australia award for his outstanding contribution to education and the transformation of schooling for young people across Greater Western Sydney.
Greg certainly navigated through turbulent waters even in the years that I worked with him. In all of these challenges, Greg remained focused on his task of delivering better educational outcomes and leading with dedication, integrity and a sense of mission.
Greg and I share a similar vision of a broad church, one that is truly respectful, welcoming, inclusive and nurturing of all people, particularly those marginalised by one reason or another. Greg put into practice the belief that Catholic education is for all.
Greg retired from his role in Parramatta at the end of 2022. He left a strong legacy that others can build on. His absolute commitment to Catholic education as a vehicle of transformation for young people in Western Sydney and the Blue Mountains will live on.
Please join me in praying for the repose of his soul and for all those who mourn his passing.
Bishop Vincent Long OFM Conv, Bishop of Parramatta.
The details of Greg’s funeral will be shared shortly.
Bishop Kevin Manning, Greg Whitby and Bishop Vincent Long OFM Conv
