Catholic Diocese of Toowoomba, Horizons, no. 56, November 2019, p 12:
Fr Peter Frederick Schultz
On Monday 5 August, Fr Peter Schultz died at St Vincent's Hospital Toowoomba, aged 58. Fr Peter was born in Wangaratta, Victoria on 26 April 1961 to parents Patricia (Caldwell) and John Schultz. He is preceded in death by his father and survived by his mother, brother Gregory and sisters Catherine and Leanne.
Fr Peter's early education was in Victoria, attending primary and secondary schools in Wangaratta, East Brunswick and St Kilda. He commenced his study for the priesthood at Corpus Christi College, Clayton in 1979, later moving to the Pius XII Seminary at Banyo in 1985. Fr Peter was ordained to the priesthood on 24 January 1990 by Bishop Edward Kelly at St Patrick's Cathedral, Toowoomba. Continuing his study, Fr Peter obtained a Licentiate in Canon Law from the Catholic University Leuven in 2001.
Fr Peter spent time in various places across the Diocese of Toowoomba as well as holding a variety of diocesan ministry positions. He spent time at Warwick, Cunnamulla, Cambooya and Helidon, and was available as a supply priest from 2010 onwards taking him to many more communities. Fr Peter was also Vocations and Youth Ministry directors, both positions held for most of the mid-1990s. He has been a part of the Diocesan Liturgical Commission since 1996 and the Diocesan Tribunal since 2001. Fr Peter was appointed Diocesan Chancellor in 2014.
St Patrick's Cathedral was filled with family, friends, clergy and parishioners to farewell and celebrate the life of Fr Peter 13 August.
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Prayer Calendar: Deceased Priests who have ministered the Catholic Faith throughout Toowoomba and districts, 1864–2025, Compiled by Annie Carrett, Diocesan Archivist, 2001, Updated by Gabrielle Saide, Diocesan Archivist, 2023:
Rev Peter Frederick Schultz, died 5 Aug 2019
Peter Frederick Schultz was born in Wangaratta, Victoria on 26th April 1961. He was the eldest of the four children born to John Stanley Schultz and Patricia Caldwell. Peter is survived by his mother Patricia and his siblings Gregory, Catherine and Leanne and their families. His father, John, predeceased Peter in July 2019. Peter's Primary school education took place at St Bernard's School Wangaratta and his Secondary education took place at Champagnat College, Wangaratta, St Joseph's College, East Brunswick and Christian Brother's College, St Kilda.
Peter decided late in his schooling that the Priesthood was the path for him. After finishing school he entered Corpus Christi Seminary in Melbourne. After spending a short time there, Peter went out into the wide world, never losing the ambition to fulfill his dreams of the Priesthood.
In 1985 Peter spent one year in Roma with the Parish Priest before going to Pius XII Seminary in Brisbane. Peter gained a Bachelor of Theology from Brisbane College of Theology in 1989 and was ordained to the Priesthood in St Patrick's Cathedral on 24th January 1990 by Bishop Edward Kelly MSC. His first clerical appointment was to St Mary's Warwick from January 1990 to May 1991. He was at Sacred Heart Parish, Cunnamulla from May 1991 to April 1994.
In April 1994 Fr Peter moved to Toowoomba and lived at the Holy Name Presbytery. At this time he was appointed Diocesan Vocations Director until February 1999, Diocesan Director of Youth Ministry until April 1997 and Chaplain to St Mary' College until April 1997.
Fr Peter moved to Sacred Heart Parish Cambooya as Priest in Residence around July 1997 and remained there until February 1999. Whilst in Cambooya he undertook to educate the parishioners in Liturgy and Theological matters.
In 1999 Fr Peter travelled Overseas to study Canon Law firstly to Italy and finally to The Catholic University of Leuven where he obtained his Licentiate in Canon Law in 2001.
In July 2001 he was appointed to the Marriage Tribunal Office as Associate Judicial Vicar (Diocesan and Province) and remained there until his untimely death. His work as a Canon Lawyer was sought after far and wide and he earned the respect of many around Australia for his willingness to use this knowledge and the great gift he had in putting it into practice.
From 2002 Fr Peter was Priest in Residence at Helidon and the Cathedral and from February 2010 he resided at The James Byrne Centre and did supply work in the main at St Thomas More's Parish Toowoomba.
Fr Peter was appointed Diocesan Master of Ceremonies in January 1997, a role he took very seriously. He held other Diocesan Offices including membership of the Diocesan Liturgical Commission; Council of Priests and Diocesan Consultor. He was the Diocesan Chancellor from 2014 until his death.
In his eulogy Peter's brother Greg said the two subjects which excited Peter the most were religion and politics and anyone who dared to broach these topics could and would have hours of endless debate.
Peter was renowned for keeping touch with family and friends on a regular basis. Both Fr John Corcoran in his eulogy and Bishop Brian Mascord in his homily spoke of the regular phone calls where amongst other topics Homilies and Scripture were discussed at length.
In his homily Bishop Brian Mascord spoke of Peter's love of the Scriptures which was something that he used to bring to life in our lives, how we may understand God for us and in our time. The gospel proclaimed at Peter's funeral spoke of the veil being torn in two and the women arriving at the tomb to find it empty. The woman are sent away from the dead to take a flame of hope to other grieving hearts and they are sent forth to proclaim the reign of God. We too are sent to do the same. Throughout his ministry Peter also entered into that journey of faith to discover the Risen lord and allowed others to come along for the journey, as long as we were open to what we might discover along the way.
Thanks, Peter, for pointing us towards God and the kingdom: by standing with us at the foot of the cross; walking to the tomb with us; and helping us see beyond the tomb, into the new life of resurrection. Pray for us. And may you rest in the peace and the loving embrace of God. We love you.
Peter will be remembered by many for his compassion and understanding of people especially young people going through difficult circumstances in life. Many people would not be aware of this trait in Peter's personality. His photographic memory is missed by many of us – he was almost a walking encyclopedia and it was hard to prove him wrong even if you knew he was wrong.
Ref. C.V., Archives, Eulogies Gregory Schultz and Fr John Corcoran, Homily Bishop Brian Mascord.
Reproduced by permission of Bishop Ken Howell.