Early life and background

Little's father, Gerald Thompson Little, was a surveyor and engineer and his mother was Kathleen Annie McCormack. Both were from metropolitan Melbourne. Little was educated at St Columba's School, Essendon, then at St Monica's Christian Brothers College, Moonee Ponds. He completed his secondary education as a boarder at St Patrick's College, Ballarat.^[4]

Early priesthood

Little commenced training for the priesthood in 1943. In that year he entered Corpus Christi College, a seminary at Werribee. Little went to Rome in 1947 to study at the Propaganda Fide College. He was ordained by Cardinal Pietro Fumasoni Biondi, Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, on 3 October 1950 in the chapel of the college. For the next three years he studied for a doctorate at the Pontifical Urban University in Rome. He was awarded a doctorate in 1953.^[4]

In 1953, Little returned to Melbourne. He was appointed assistant priest to Carlton, then appointed assistant at St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne in 1955. From 1956 until 1959 he worked as secretary to the apostolic delegate, Archbishop Carboni, in Sydney.^[4] In 1959, Little again returned to Melbourne as assistant priest at St Patrick's Cathedral. In 1965 he became the dean of the cathedral and then, in 1971, parish priest of St Ambrose's Brunswick. During these years he was involved in pastoral work with the large number of migrants finding a new home in Australia, especially within the Italian community. He was also a lecturer at the provincial seminary, a member of the Diocesan Ecumenical Affairs Commission, a member and chair of Victorian Action for World Development, a member of the organising committee for the Melbourne Eucharistic Congress and episcopal vicar for the apostolate of the laity.

Episcopate

Little was consecrated a bishop on 21 February 1973 by the Most Reverend James Knox, Archbishop of Melbourne (later created, in March 1973, Cardinal Knox), during the International Eucharistic Congress then being held in Melbourne. In 1973 he was appointed as an auxiliary bishop of Melbourne and Titular Bishop of Temuniana. He lived in Moonee Ponds as both a parish priest and a regional bishop with pastoral responsibility for the north-western region of Melbourne. In 1974, he succeeded Cardinal Knox as Archbishop of Melbourne upon Knox's appointment as Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

In 1983, Little attended the Synod of Bishops in Rome, themed "Reconciliation". During his time as Archbishop of Melbourne his support of the education and renewal for the Catholic community expressed itself in such initiatives as the publication of the religious education guidelines, the launch of the RENEW program, the establishment of deaneries, and the "Tomorrow's Church" process. Little was committed to the continuing formation of laity and priests. He was known in Melbourne for his support for the Essendon Football Club. In July 1996 his resignation from the office of archbishop, for reasons of health, was accepted by the Pope.^[4]

In the 1977 Silver Jubilee honours he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE).^[5] On 10 April 1992 he was awarded an honorary doctorate in theology by the Melbourne College of Divinity, particularly for his work for ecumenism and theological education in the archdiocese.^[4]

In 2002 there were media reports that Little failed to address issues associated with the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic archdiocese of Melbourne, specifically relating to Father Wilfred "Billy" Baker, of Gladstone Park, Eltham and North Richmond parishes.^[6]

In 2013, the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into abuse of children was told by Archbishop Denis Hart that Little had covered up paedophile priests and moved them to other parishes where they would abuse again.^[7]

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse concluded that Little had "dismissed or ignored serious allegations of child sexual abuse against a number of priests" between 1974 and 1996.^[8]

St Patrick's College in Ballarat has stated that it would remove Little's name from a building which had been named in his honour and revoke his status as an inducted "Legend of the College".^[9]