Ron and Mavis Pirola
Renaissance of Marriage Talk:
Parish Marriage Resource Centre, Foundation Members of the Pontifical Council for the Family and of the Australian Catholic Marriage & Family Council
Clearly no strangers to us, Drs Ron and Mavis Pirola, have been happily married for over 57 years, and have four children and eight grandchildren. Ron is a gastroenterologist and pancreatic researcher on the staff of the Universities of NSW and Notre Dame and Mavis is a former high school teacher.
They have wide experience in marriage and family ministry at both parish and international levels.
They were co-founders of PMRC Australia, foundation members of the Pontifical Council for the Family on which they served for 27 years and of the Australian Catholic Marriage and Family Council.
They have been active initiators of grass-roots family ministry and have spoken on the family at the Synod on the Laity (1987). More recently they were one of twelve couples invited to attend the Extraordinary Synod on the Family (2014), where their intervention emphasized the sexual nature of the sacrament of Matrimony.
Their work has been recognised by both receiving Papal Honours (Knight and Dame, Order of St. Gregory), Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) and Doctor of the University Honoris Causa (ACU).