Category Archives: The Neocats

21 June 2004

Dear Gerry,

I am writing in response to your open letter in the bulletin. I felt the need to respond both, as a member of the Community of St Vincent’s Church, Redfern and, also as a Religious sister who has worked for the church for many years as a teacher and in Social Justice. I have been involved in different ministries – Teaching, A Shelter for Homeless Men, Women’s refugee, Forbes St House in Redfern, lived with the people of Wilcannia and more.

I feel that in some of your comments you do not really understand … Continue reading →

The Saving Word, 20 June 2004

Reply to Open Letter

I note the points made in your open letter of 10th June, 2004. Not everyone in the parish agrees with your views on the carpets and the desirability for an austere church.

I disagree that any changes made to the church including the carpets are ostentatious in any way. Any changes made to the church have been to work towards a dignified and spiritual environment in which all are welcome and find spiritual uplifting. I, personally, and many others to whom I have spoken find the church, as … Continue reading →

Thursday, 10 June 2004

Fr. Gerry Prindiville,
Parish Priest,
St. Vincent’s Catholic Church, Redfern

Dear Fr. Gerry,

Re: Open Letter re St Vincent’s Church Buildings and Furnishings

A few weeks before Easter, you approved the installation of two carpets within the Church, the larger square spreading under the Altar, the smaller "runner" going up under the Magisterial Chair-on-a-Podium/Platform, also installed since your arrival. While no announcement was made about these carpets, on request you mentioned to some of the community that they "had been a gift". Perhaps the gift was meant as a sign of paying respect to … Continue reading →

Online Catholics Issue 3, 9 June 2004

A plea for intervention by Cardinal Pell in the increasingly fraught situation in the Aboriginal parish of St Vincent’s, Redfern, was apparently withheld from him for two months.

Br Michael Gravener, a St John of God Brother and a social worker at the Block, wrote to the Cardinal in April. Br Gravener believes that Aboriginal people are being denied basic justice by a model of ministry offered by the Diocesan Neo-Catechumenate priests. "There is a failure to acknowledge Aboriginal spirituality by our current parish priests, and a … Continue reading →

Online Catholics Issue 1, 26 May 2004

Australian Bishops have failed to show regard for Aboriginal people by refusing a request to draft Guidelines for Clergy who work with indigenous Australians, according to Sr Marnie Kennedy, rscj.

Marnie Kennedy is the sister of the now ailing Fr Ted Kennedy, who was parish priest at St Vincent’s Catholic Church in Redfern, Sydney, for 30 years. Her statement comes as a response to the decision by the recent Bishops’ Conference to turn down a request from that parish, which was directed to the Secretary of the Bishops’ … Continue reading →

Correspondence with Monsignor Brian Rayner, Vicar General/Chancellor of the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney

(See related Church Mouse Morsel item.)

20 April 2004

Monsignor Brian Rayner
Vicar General – Chancellor
Archdiocese of Sydney
Polding House
276 Pitt Street
SYDNEY NSW 2000

Dear Monsignor Rayner

I have been requested by the Community of St Vincent’s, Redfern to write to you following your visit to St Vincent’s on Sunday 18 April 2004.

The purpose of this letter is not to repeat or capture all that was said in our meeting with you. Across the … Continue reading →

I have been associated with the parish going back to its inception in 1972. Ted Kennedy had become a friend and a mentor. I think it is important to understand that he was not just anyone. He had a sense of affirmation that endeared him to people and in particular the indigenous people. He gave them a sense of belonging and a location where they believed they had a right to be. What is happening now is that they feel betrayed in such a way that the lifeline given them has been swept away. They are bewildered. They … Continue reading →

From The Australian, 12 April 2004

by Vanessa Walker

The Catholic congregation at St Vincent’s church in Sydney’s Redfern has little to celebrate this Easter.
Members of the nation’s largest Aboriginal congregation are embroiled in a dispute over theology and the liturgy with their priest and his conservative order, the Neocatechumenal Way.
Most parishioners, who for 30 years prospered under the care of social justice advocate Father Ted Kennedy, are committed to the liberal reforms of the Second Vatican Council They believe Christ’s love is expressed through a direct relationship with the disadvantaged … Continue reading →

Friday 9 April 2004

Dear Gerry and Dennis

With respect to the whole community of St Vincent’s could you please explain to us your reasoning in having the Blessed Eucharist in your private space of the sacristy. We have a tabernacle inside the main body of the Church which is accessible to all and reminds are that Jesus is indeed in our midst. I was quite surprised that you have the Real Presence in a locked room that is usually only accessible by the Priest. Please correct me if I have it wrong but shouldn’t all people who enter the … Continue reading →