The Jesuits in Australia

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The Involvement of the Jesuits in Parishes in Australia

The Parishes maintained by the Society of Jesus are grouped under the delegate for Pastoral Affairs. Fr. Des Dwyer S.J.

parish priest of Hawthorn in Victoria is the delegate. As well as having a responsibility for Parishes, the delegate also coordinates, in conjunction with Fr. Tony Slowik S.J. the migrant chaplain’s apostolate.
We administer ten parishes.

In Western Australia, the Society of Jesus conducts the parish of:

  1. Holy Rosary Parish, Nedlands. Parish Priest of Nedlands is Fr. Theo Overberg S.J.
    Resident : Fr. Gaetan Pereira S.J. (full-time Chaplain of John III College and assists in the parish where possible.

In South Australia, the Society of Jesus conducts the parish of:

  1. St. Ignatius, Norwood. Parish Priest of Norwood is Fr. Celso Romanin S.J. Norwood has within its boundaries a Centre of Ignatius Spirituality which is lay run.
    Resident : Frs. Paul Fyfe, Joe O’Mara, Celso Romanin, Nguyen Viet Huy (Vietnamese chaplain), Chung Man-Young (Korean Chaplain)
  2. The Parish of Sevenhill/Riverton must be geographically one of our largest parishes. Fr. Chris Jenkins S.J. administers eight churches in his expanded parish. Residing at Sevenhill – winery and retreat house – Fr. Jenkins is from time to time assisted by the retreat director, Fr. Noel Bradford S.J.
    Resident : Bro Ian Cribb, Fr. Noel Bradford (Retreat House), Chris Jenkins (Parish) & Bro. John May

In Victoria, the Society of Jesus conducts two parishes:

  1. Immaculate Conception, Hawthorn. Parish Priest is Fr. Des Dwyer S.J.
    Resident : Frs. Brendan Byrne (professing Theology), Paul Duffy, Des Dwyer, Justin King.
  2. St. Ignatius, Richmond. Parish Priest is Fr. Stan Lim S.J. Church Hill contains the Church of St. Ignatius and Jesuit Social Services.
    Resident : Frs. Geoffrey King, Robin Koning (professing Theology), Nguyen Van Cao, Augustin Nguyen Duc Thu.

In New South Wales, the Society of Jesus conducts three parishes:

  1. The Parish of Our Lady of the Way (incorporating: North Sydney/Lavender Bay & Kirribilli). The Parish Priest is Fr. Tony Smith S.J. There are three Churches in the Parish – St. Mary’s North Sydney, St. Francis Xavier’s Lavender Bay and Star of the Sea, Kirribilli. Within the boundaries of the parish are three Catholic Independent schools, two Catholic CEO schools, one Catholic hospital, two Retirement villages, one Catholic University and one retreat house/conference centre.
    Resident : Frs. Manuel Carracedo (Spanish chaplaincy), Daven Day, Tom O’Hara , Tony Smith, Richard Leonard (Media - Bishops and Province), Stephen Astill (chaplain, ACU), Michael Kelly (Church Resources)
    Attached : Frs. Paul Coleman & Fr. Tony Ruhan (Redfern)
  2. The Parish of St. Canice (Kings Cross/Elizabeth Bay). The parish priest is Fr. Steve Sinn S.J. who also administers the retreat centre of Blaiket. Attached to St. Canice is Jesuit Refugee Service.
    Resident : Frs. Phil Crotty (mission director) & Sacha Bermudez-Goldman (JRS director)
  3. The Holy Family Parish, Emerton. The Parish Priest is Fr. Edward Dooley S.J. The Parish is extensive in its activities which includes amongst other things, the presence of Jesuit Social Services.
    Resident : Frs. Edward Dooley, Pat Mullins and Bro Bruce Robertson

In Queensland, the Society of Jesus conducts one parish:

  1. The Parish of St. Ignatius’, Toowong. The Parish Priest is Fr. Peter Quin S.J. As well as the main Parish, Toowong embraces the church at Auchenflower. It also includes a Retreat House.
    Resident : Frs.Peter Quin, Ian Howells, Greg Jacobs, Chris Gleeson (work in Spirituality).
    Attached : Frs. John Reilly (Spirituality), John Drury and Vince Hurley (retired to Canossa) and Fr. Greg Jordan (Latin Mass)

In the Northern Territory, the Society of Jesus conducts two parishes:

  1. The Parish of the Holy Spirit. The Parish Priest is Fr. John Otto S.J.
    Resident : Frs. John Otto and Stephen De souza.

In the Parish Ministry:

  1. Fr. David Rankin works out of the Canberra Cathedral (St. Christopher's)

Chaplaincy [Parishes without Borders]
The Chaplaincy undertaken by the Society of Jesus is one of its unsung works. Jesuit Chaplains minister to Polish, German, Spanish, Vietnamese, Philippines, Cambodian, Laotians, Koreans. Each week in almost 30 centres nationals gather throughout Australia. The largest centre is St. Andrew Bobola Centre (Richmond) – Frs. Zygmunt Nowicki, Ludwig Ryba, Wieslaw Slowik – other centres (St. Christopher’s in Melbourne [German], Pooraka in Adelaide [Vietnamese] and Spanish

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