Br Peter Dowling

Peter grew up in Reservoir in Melbourne, the oldest of six.  His schooling was with the Good Samaritan Sisters at the parish school, the Marist Brothers at Preston, and the Christian Brothers at Parade College in East Melbourne.  Despite having no thoughts of being a teacher, he was captivated by the atmosphere he experienced when visiting a Brothers training centre and decided on the spot he wanted to be part of the group.  Being a brother to people has become his main desire and commitment, especially young people and those who are need support. He found he loved teaching and took on different roles in schools including science teaching, sports coaching, and school leadership.  In 1987/88, Peter studied Pastoral Counselling at Loyola College in Baltimore USA where he gained a Master of Science in Pastoral Counselling.  Other qualifications are a Bachelor of Science and Master of Social Science.

Peter moved into the Brothers welfare ministry at St Augustine’s Adolescent and Family Services in Geelong in 1989, and was appointed in 1990 to the Province Leadership Team of the then St Patrick’s Province.   Subsequent appointments have been to further roles in this team and the Oceania Province and also to the Congregation Leadership Team, based in Rome.

On returning to Melbourne in 2022, Peter has been involved mainly in Brothers Health and Wellbeing, and now is appointed to the Province Leadership Team. 

Peter’s key interests are reading widely, sporting activity (no longer of the active team involvement which he loved previously, but very much as spectator and supporter), and music (where his guitar needs to get used more often).