Kairos: Volume 21, Issue 03

He entered the Jesuit order at the age of 15, lived under Communist rule in Poland, travelled to a distant land to serve his people and was ordained by a future Pope.

Wednesday 24 February 2010

To mark the end of the Year for Priests in June of this year an international convention will be held in Rome. Events are open to priests and anyone else who feels called to "prayer for the spiritual support and sanctification of Clergy."

Thursday 4 February 2010

The prayer of Jesus to the Father in St John's Gospel, Bishop Anthony Fisher remarked in his homily, is prayed in us and with us for two newly ordained Dominicans, a priest and a deacon, that they be consecrated for their sacred duties, consecrated in the truth.

With this prayer in mind, the Dominican friars in East Camberwell celebrated the ordinations of a new priest and deacon by Bishop Anthony Fisher, O.P. on 12 December 2009.  Father Vincent Magat and Brother Paul Rowse received the priesthood and diaconate, respectively, as they come to the conclusion of their initial studies.

Fr Chris Ryan is rector of the Missionaries of God’s Love (MGL) Seminary in Melbourne. In 2006, he was appointed to coordinate the journey of the World Youth Day Cross and Icon across Australia. He spent 12 months, from July 2007 to July 2008, travelling with two teams of young people and has recently published a book, In the Light of the Cross, reflecting on his experience.

Sunday 15 November, 2009

Fr Vito Pegolo has seen more of Australia than most. After relocating from Italy to Melbourne in 1973, the Scalabrinian priest was soon travelling vast distances across his new country to conduct missions for Italian migrants.

Sunday 15 November 2009

When Fr Gesner Felix was growing up in Haiti, he dreamed of a media career. Then he met Sr Eliane, who led the Enfants Missionnaire group at his local church.

When children ask Fr Delmar Silva why he became a priest he tells them he doesn’t know exactly but he recognised a special calling that was something stronger than himself.

Sunday 15 November 2009

By Fr Austin Cooper OMI

John Robert Hannah was born in Geelong, the eldest of the three sons of Robert and Norah Hannah. After attending the local Catholic primary school, St Peter’s, West Geelong, under the care of the Sisters of Mercy, John moved to St Joseph’s Christian Brothers College in Newtown.  After his secondary studies, John worked for some years in the Commonwealth Bank; both in Geelong and later in Collins Street. His contact with the Oblates was through the Oblate Community at St Joseph’s, Lovely Banks in Geelong.

Sunday 15 November 2009

Since 2005, Resurrection Kings Park parish priest Fr Noel Brady has made annual walking pilgrimages through Europe.He has just returned from an almost four-week pilgrimage through France from St Malo to St Jean D’Angely, then from St Jean Pied-de-Port through the Pyrenees, making a visit to Lourdes and finishing in Chartres. As the routes he was taking were off the main tourist tracks, Fr Noel walked in solitude for most of the way. Here, Fr Noel shares some of his experiences.

Sunday 1 November 2009

By Fr Anthony Denton

Director of Vocations for the Archdiocese of Melbourne

I recently met up with some schoolmates whom I hadn’t seen for many years. At such meetings we usually seek two pieces of information from one another: On the one hand, the question of marriage and children; while on the other, that of occupation. For the priest though, both marital status and career are contained in his one, priestly vocation. As we talked and got reacquainted it occurred to me that my classmates were understandably incredulous as to how or why I became a priest. The questions that apply to a priest in these circumstances are rather: Where do you live and work? And, more interestingly, how the heck did you end up a priest?

Sunday 1 November 2009

In Australian parlance, ‘on your bike’ is usually negative but, for the parish community of St Finbar’s, East Brighton, it is a term of affection. On 10-11 October the parish and local community attended in great numbers to mark the retirement of Fr Lou Heriot and the conclusion of almost 18 years of outstanding priestly service to East Brighton.

Sunday 18 October 2009

Fr David Cartwright loves being a priest. “I couldn’t imagine being anything else!” he smiles.
The parish priest of St Fidelis, Moreland, grew up in Burwood and first sensed his vocation when he was a student at St Dominic’s Primary School, Camberwell.

Wednesday 14 October 2009

Writing in the context of the Year for Priests, Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, the President of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers, has sent a letter to those who are sick and suffering, asking them to pray for priests and the beatification of Pope John Paul II.

Sunday 4 October 2009

On 12 September Cameron Forbes and Joseph Danh Truong were ordained at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne.

Sunday 4 October 2009

Fr Roderick Vonhögen has always been fascinated by the media. Growing up in the Netherlands, he dreamed of being a film director like George Lucas; but he also had a growing sense of a religious vocation.“I thought I would give up media, becoming a priest,” he told delegates and guests at the recent Australasian Catholic Press Association conference in Sydney, where he was the keynote speaker. Instead, Fr Roderick has become one of the leaders in Catholic on-demand audio and video programs, known as podcasting.

Monday 21 September 2009

The Year for Priests isn't just an internal celebration among the clergy, but rather an opportunity for all the faithful to assess their appreciation for the priesthood, says Bishop José Ignacio Munilla of Palencia, Spain.

Sunday 20 September 2009

Fr Anthony Girolami's 25th anniversary of ordination homily, as published in Kairos Catholic Journal.

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Recently a newly ordained priest came back to visit and he spoke of the great joy he experienced on his ordination day. He said the experience was so profound he could not put it into words, and then he added: “You really have to go through it to know what I mean.”

Sunday, 20 September 2009

More than 700 people farewelled parish priest Fr Karmel Borg from St Peter Chanel, Deer Park, at a Mass and social gathering on 30 August.

Sunday 20 September 2009

By Fiona Power, Kairos Catholic Journal

It’s Wednesday morning and 10am Mass has just concluded at Sacred Heart, Kew. Parishioners stop in the foyer to exchange greetings with their parish priest, Fr Malcolm Crawford. “Such a lot of goodness, don’t you think?” he says, turning with a smile.

Monday 14 September 2009

The Carmelite community of Haifa, Israel,  is renewing its commitment to priests: "to offer our humble supplication that you may be holy."

Sunday 6 September 2009

By Rebecca Comini, Kairos Catholic Journal

As his seven years as rector of Sydney’s Good Shepherd Seminary were drawing to a close in 2008, Sydney Auxiliary Bishop Julian Porteous found himself pondering a question.

Monday 24 August 2009

How God called the coadjutor Bishop of Oyo, Nigeria
By Bishop Emmanuel Adetoyese Badejo

Many priests I know would easily pinpoint an experience or an event through which God called them to be a priest. I do not belong to that elite class. I cannot honestly claim to.

Sunday 23 August 2009

In this, the Year for Priests, Kairos Catholic Journal will profile several priests who have helped shape the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne. The first priest is Fr Clemente Cafarella, parish priest of Mary, Help of Christians, Altona.

Sunday, 23 August 2009

By Stephen Elder, Kairos Catholic Journal

It has been traditional in the Catholic Church to set aside a year as a special occasion for prayer, reflection and action. In 2000 the Catholic Church celebrated the Year of Jubilee. More recently, in 2008-9 the Church chose as its focus the Apostle, Paul. This year, on the Feast of the Sacred Heart, 19 June, Pope Benedict XVI inaugurated the Year for Priests. One critical aspect of the role of the priest relates to Catholic schooling and it is this aspect that I will develop in this article.

Thursday 20 August 2009

At Wednesday's general audience at Castel Gandolfo, Pope Benedict XVI looked at the life of St. John Eudes and the importance of ongoing formation of the clergy. Pope Benedict urged the faithful to pray for priests and candidates to the priesthood, saying that their proper formation is crucial for the renewal of the priesthood.

Thursday 20 August 2009

The Vatican is aiming to prepare a "brief, forceful and very clear" document on the formation of seminarians as one of the elements to close the Year for Priests.

Tuesday 18 August 2009

Here is a Vatican translation of the address Pope Benedict XVI gave 5 August at his Summer Residence in Castel Gandolfo, during which commented on the Holy Curé d'Ars, St John Vianney.

Monday 17 August 2009

The Congregation for the Clergy, headed by Cardinal Claudio Hummes, announced this week that the Pope Benedict XVI plans to close the Year for Priests by convoking a huge meeting of priests from around the world between 9-11 June in Rome.

Thursday 13 August 2009

During Wednesday's general audience in Castel Gandolfo, Pope Benedict XVI spoke of there being a "nexus" between the Blessed Virgin Mary and the priesthood. Like St. John, he said, all priests "are called to accept her into their home."

Sunday 9 August 2009

By Tom Johnstone, Kairos Catholic Journal

The first Australian priests

For the first 30 years of the existence of the Australian colonies, no Catholic priest was officially allowed to practise his ministry here. Three priests, Frs Dixon, Harold and O’Neil, were transported from Ireland after the uprisings of 1798 and 1803. All had practised their ministries with varying degrees of success but had departed by 1810. A fourth, Fr Jeremiah O’Flynn, arrived in 1817. He was arrested and deported in 1818 but not before consecrating the host which was then venerated in a wooden tabernacle until the visit by a chaplain aboard the French ship, L’Uranie, in 1819.

Sunday 9 August 2009

By Fr Anthony Denton, Kairos Catholic Journal

On Friday 19 June 2009 Pope Benedict XVI inaugurated the ‘Year for Priests’ in anticipation of the sesquicentenary of the death of St John Mary Vianney on 4 August. Benedict’s purpose in proclaiming the special year of celebrations was “to deepen the commitment of all priests to interior renewal for the sake of a more forceful and incisive witness to the Gospel in today’s world”.

Friday 31 July 2009

Pope Benedict XVI is inviting priests from around the world to Rome next June to close the Year for Priests.

Monday 27 July 2009

Priests, with their human weaknesses, become instruments of salvation by putting themselves into the hands of Christ, says Pope Benedict XVI.

Sunday 26 July 2009

By Fiona Power, Kairos Catholic Journal

Hundreds of members of Melbourne’s Indonesian Catholic community travelled to St Paschal’s Chapel, Box Hill, to farewell chaplain Fr Simon Rande at a Mass, presentation and shared lunch on Sunday 28 June.

Sunday 26 July 2009

By Kairos Catholic Journal

Fr Dishan Candappa was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Melbourne on Saturday 4 July at St Patrick’s Cathedral. He has spent the past four years studying in Rome, where he will return for another year to complete his studies.

Sunday 26 July 2009

By Bishop Tim Costelloe  

“We strive to be like Jesus: it’s as simple as that.”

With these words Fr Brian Collins summed up his understanding of the role of the priest in today’s Church and society. Fr Brian was speaking at the recent Clergy Conference for the Archdiocese of Melbourne. He, together with Fr Joe McMahon and Fr Vincent Le, had been invited to share their reflections on their experience of the priesthood with their brother priests.

Sunday 12 July 2009

By Archbishop Denis Hart, Kairos Catholic Journal

On the feast of the Sacred Heart, 19 June 2009, Pope Benedict XVI inaugurated the Year for Priests (or the Year of the Priest, Annus Sacerdotalis). Like the Year of Saint Paul, and indeed the Year of the Eucharist a few years before that, the Pope has declared this new year-long focus for the Church because he has discerned an area of the Church’s life that requires special attention, reflection and prayer.

Sunday 12 July 2009

By Fiona Power

Archbishop Denis Hart, priests, seminarians, religious and laity celebrated a Holy Hour with Vespers at St Patrick’s Cathedral on Friday 19 June to inaugurate the Year for Priests. Archbishop Hart urged prayer, reflection and openness to God during the 12 months dedicated to encouraging priests and highlighting the gift of the priesthood.

Sunday 12 July 2009

The Year for Priests presents a good opportunity to reflect on the generous contributions priests have made in this archdiocese and beyond. Fr William Devine, an Irish priest who arrived in 1913, served in Melbourne for a short time before becoming the chaplain to an Australian battalion in World War I, where his bravery and dedication were recognised. But that was only part of his story.

Sunday 28 June 2009

By Netta Kovach, Kairos Catholic Journal

On 9 November 1799 Napoleon Bonaparte established the ‘Consulate’ in France, in effect ending the French Revolution, which was a victory for him, and a few short years away from his reign as dictator.

Thursday 25 June 2009

During Wednesday's general audience address to 30,000 people in St Peter's Square, Pope Benedict XVI focused his remarks on why he initiated the Year for Priests and what it means to be a priest.

Wednesday 24 June 2009

The priesthood is a gift for humanity, but it is enduring more than a few difficulties, and the newly inaugurated Year for Priests aims to address that, says a Vatican spokesman.

Tuesday 23 June 2009

As the Year for Priests gets underway, the Congregation for the Clergy has launched a website dedicated to providing clerics with resources about the Year.

Monday 22 June 2009

The greatest suffering of the Church is the sin of its priests, Benedict XVI said as he inaugurated the Year for Priests.

Monday 22 June 2009

Pope Benedict XVI is urging priests to not become resigned to empty confessionals, but to help people rediscover the beauty of the sacrament by deepening their understanding of the Eucharist.

Friday 19 June 2009

The Catholic Church must acknowledge that some priests have done great harm to others, but it also must thank God for the gifts the majority of priests have given to the church and the world, Pope Benedict XVI said.

Sunday 31 May 2009

By Rebecca Comini

The Archdiocese of Melbourne will begin the Year of the Priest with a Holy Hour and Vespers at St Patrick’s Cathedral at 3.30pm on Friday 19 June.

Friday 29 May 2009

By Mary Udovicic, Faith Development Coordinator, Caroline Chisholm Catholic College

On Friday 22 May, over 1800 students, parents, staff and guests gathered in the Caroline Chisholm Catholic College community recreation centre to pray and worship together in celebration of the 13th Sacred Heart Day. The day also acknowledged former students who had become priests or joined religious orders.

Thursday 28 May 2009

The Congregation for the Clergy has issued a letter to the bishops of the world noting that the Year for Priests, decreed by Pope Benedict XVI to take place 19 June  2009 through 19 June 2010, is an occasion for “rediscovering the beauty and importance of the priesthood and the ordained,” as well as for promoting vocations.

Friday 15 May 2009

The Vatican has announced that during the Year for Priests, which will run 19 June 2009 – 19 June 2010, the Pope Benedict will grant plenary indulgences to priests and the faithful.

Friday 19 June 2009
3.30pm
St Patrick's Cathedral
East Melbourne

Archbishop Denis Hart and priests of the Archdiocese of Melbourne will celebrate a Holy Hour with Vespers at 3.30pm on Friday 19 June to mark the beginning of the Year for Priests. During Holy Hour, prayers will be said for priests and vocations.