New structure for Inner North parishes
Inner North Catholic Community priests pictured at St Patrick’s Braddon, from left: Fr Renoir Oliver SSS, Fr Sebastian Luistro SSS, and moderator Fr Anthony Riosa SSS.
In a new approach for the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn, four of the national capital’s inner north parishes have come together under a new banner – the “Canberra Inner North Catholic Community”.
The four parishes involved are St Thomas More Parish (Campbell), St Joseph’s (O’Connor), Canberra Central Parish (St Brigid’s Dickson and St Patrick’s Braddon), and Blackfriars Parish (Holy Rosary church, Watson).
The innovative arrangement follows last December’s departure of the Dominican order from Canberra’s inner north. It will allow each parish to retain its name, identity and traditions while sharing secretarial and contact resources, a weekly news bulletin, and a common clerical team.
In the language of the church, the new structure is known as “in solidum”, a Latin term meaning “as a whole”, and arises from a 1983 provision in Canon Law introduced to allow flexibility in the pastoral care of parishes.
In an agreement with the Archdiocese, the four parishes are now under the care of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament Fathers, the worldwide religious order founded by the 19th-century French saint Peter Julian Eymard.
Fr Anthony (“Thonn”) Riosa is the moderator of the inner north team and is joined by Fr Sebastian Luistro and Fr Renoir Oliver. All from the Philippines, Fr Anthony has been in Australia for four years, Fr Sebastian for two months, and Fr Renoir for a little over a year.
Speaking to the Catholic Voice, Fr Riosa said it was “very important for us as a religious community that we are “in solidum”. We are the administrators of the four parishes, yet we are working together as one community, the inner north Catholic community.”
Asked for their impressions of their new parish responsibilities, the latest member of the team, Fr Sebastian, said the volunteer ethic of the parishioners struck him.
“I really see Australia in a microcosm,” he said. “The diverse ethnic groups bring their particular cultures and their particular ways of expressing their faith. But there is a common thread. It is the generosity of their time with their volunteer work.
“It’s amazing to see them all, and they’re not being paid!” Fr Sebastian said.
The team’s youngest member, Fr Renoir, said he really appreciated the warm welcome he was given when he arrived at the Watson parish.
“The parish is so diverse but very solid in faith”.
The three priests noted that Australia’s secular culture would be a test for them, especially in making faith relevant in a society with an ageing population.
“It is a big challenge for us to try to make the faith more acceptable and perhaps more interesting for our young,” Fr Sebastian said.
Even for many who go to church, there is a struggle “to really live the faith in the society that we find ourselves in.”
Despite the challenges, the team pointed to the young, the diversity of the parishes, and what Fr Anthony described as the “dedication, commitment, and passion” of churchgoers as local signs for hope in the faith.
“There is great hope,” Fr Sebastian said. “But we have to be able to maximise it so the church can continue to grow.”
When Fr. Oliver first arrived in Australia he served with Fr Michael Mullen in Goulburn. Supply priests. They were is magnificent team… young and old.
Next encounter with Fr Oliver was at a Legion of Mary retreat at Gaylong. Wonderful.
God’s best blessings for this new arrangement in the National Capital.
This sounds like an interesting sort of ‘hybrid model’ and it’s good to see it is being tried.
While it can make all sorts of ‘common sense’ to completely amalgamate parishes and create a ‘new one’, this can have the unintended consequence of minimising or even negating the strong community bonds people experience in their own parish, especially when people who ‘built the parish’ are still participating in its life.
Parish is like a family in that we share history and tradition. Even if there are tensions and differences of opinions from time to time, we still consider ourselves as belonging together, and it is quite hard for many people to shift that perspective to readily feel equally ‘at home’ within a new, bigger parish. I hope the parishes of the Inner North can retain and celebrate their ongoing individual parish life, while enjoying the benefits of hopefully streamlined administrative arrangements.