Author Archives: Church Mouse

What the Sacrament of the Eucharist really means has become a core issue that needs to be resolved between the community and their parish priest, Fr Gerry Prindiville at St Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Redfern.

The problem revolves around a difference in outlook. The Redfern community has a spiritual outlook based on a church inspired by the practice of Jesus and his association with the lowly. Many who go to this Church have been moved by the remarkable thirty-year ministry of Fr Ted Kennedy who has deep empathy with Aboriginal people. This is a church whose members … Continue reading →

The funeral of Aboriginal Elder, Betty Roberts, was held at St Mary’s Church Erskineville on 17th March.

On March 12th, her family – two daughters, Gail and Lynn, with daughter-in-law Dianne Wittaker – and Sr. Mary, visited Fr. Gerry Prindiville to request that she be buried from St Vincent’s Church, Redfern, with Fr. John Ford officiating. Her son, shot dead in a Forbes St. hotel some 12 years ago, was buried from St Vincent’s.

G: Are you Catholics?

Family: (looking shamed) No.

G: Is the deceased a Catholic?

Family: No.

G: … Continue reading →

Regarding Parish Matters and Proposal for Community Meeting.

Correspondence with Bishops’ Committee for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders

14 March 2004

The Secretary of the Bishops’ Committee for
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, Bishop Brian Heenan,
P.O. Box 611,
Rockhampton. 4700

Dear Bishop Brian,

Re: Guidelines for Priests in Ministry with Indigenous People in Australia

The community (both indigenous and non-indigenous) of St. Vincent de Paul’s Catholic Church at Redfern, Sydney, has been working with peace and goodwill for more than thirty years to facilitate reconciliation with the Indigenous people of this land. We note the recent eruption of tensions (with accompanying national … Continue reading →

The recently-appointed parish priest of inner-city Redfern has had to stand over a female parishioner to demand she "swallow" the communion wafer.

Press reports indicate growing hostility between Fr Gerry Prindiville and parishioners of the largely aboriginal St Vincent’s Parish.

Earlier this month, Fr Prindiville provoked the ire of congregation members by removing a photograph of the late Mum Shirl Smith that he claimed was inappropriately placed behind the altar. A co-founder of the first Aboriginal medical service, Mum Shirl is a mother figure to many local Aborigines.

A Neo-catechumenate priest has been appointed to the Redfern parish of St Vincent de Paul.

Fr Gerry Prindiville, an Australian priest on loan to the Sydney archdiocese from his home diocese of Newark, New Jersey, celebrated his first Mass at Redfern on Sunday, July 20.

A Neo-catechumenate deacon, Clesio do Nascimento Mendes, a Brazilian who is preparing for ordination for the Perth archdiocese, will assist him in parish ministry.

Fr Gerry Prindiville, a member of The Neocatechumenal Way, yesterday celebrated his first mass as parish priest of the high profile and largely indigenous inner Sydney parish priest of Redfern, following Archbishop George Pell’s Friday announcement of his appointment.

Fr Prindiville, an Australian who grew up in Perth, was ordained in 1995 as a diocesan priest of the Archdiocese of Newark, USA. For the past four years Fr Prindiville has been working in the Turks and Caicos Islands in the West Indies. He is on loan to the Archdiocese of Sydney for missionary work.

St Vincent´s has the largest … Continue reading →

Archbishop George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney, has today announced the appointment of Fr Gerry Prindiville as Parish Priest of St Vincent’s, Redfern. Fr Prindiville will say his first Mass in the parish on Sunday 20 July 2003.

Fr Prindiville is an Australian who grew up in Perth. Later he moved to Canberra. He was a public servant for many years before deciding to pursue the priesthood, offering himself as a diocesan missionary priest after being formed through the Neocatechumenal Way.

Fr Prindiville was ordained in 1995 as a diocesan priest of the Archdiocese … Continue reading →

The Catholic community of Redfern, with the largest indigenous congregation in Australia, prays without a resident parish priest. But this could not stop yesterday’s celebration.

The state MP Linda Burney told the congregation of the historical significance of their church, St Vincent’s: "We celebrate the truth of Australia here, warts and all. This is the history we share. This is an honest place."

Ms Burney, the first indigenous member of the NSW Parliament, said the church was a bridge between the Aboriginal community and the church, and a welcoming place open to all people.