Kairos: Volume 21, Issue 11

Part of Eucharistic Prayer 1 prays: “We, your people and your ministers, recall his passion, his resurrection from the dead, his ascension into glory; and from the many gifts you have given us we offer to you, God of glory and majesty, the bread of life and the cup of eternal salvation.”

Kairos: Volume 21, Issue 08

Even after 32 years living in Melbourne, people still ask Fr Martin Ashe why he ever left the beautiful countryside of Killarney in Ireland, where he grew up. The answer to that question is quite simple: he felt called to become a priest serving the Church in a foreign land.

Kairos: Volume 21, Issue 07

Fr Kevin McKelson SAC has led a modest yet inspirational life. After devoting more than 50 years to supporting and educating Aboriginal communities, Fr McKelson remains widely respected for his dedication to encouraging Aboriginal culture and language, while promoting the merits of Western-style education.

Kairos: Volume 21, Issue 06

St Macartan’s Mornington parishioner Stan Kelly, 85, recently wrote to Kairos to share his thoughts on the Year for Priests.

Kairos: Volume 21, Issue 05

On 12 March, upon receiving in audience the participants in the International Theological Conference ‘Fidelity of Christ, Fidelity of the Priest’, organised by the Congregation for Clergy, Pope Benedict XVI emphasised that priests are more than ‘social agents’.

Kairos: Volume 21, Issue 05

He has written 55 books, worked for BBC World, ABC TV and broadcast more than 100 shows for Vatican Radio but, for Fr Gerald O’Collins SJ, spreading the word of God is all about keeping it simple.

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.