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 Prindiville grew up in Perth. He later moved to Canberra and was a public servant before deciding to become a diocesan missionary priest of the Neo-catechumenal Way.
He was ordained in 1995 and for the past four years has worked in the West Indies.
The Archbishop of Sydney, Dr George Pell, said the new priest “will rebuild the local parish community and minister to all the locals, especially the Aboriginal people.
“He will be supported by members and seminarians of the Neo-catechumenal community with which he’s been involved since the mid 1980s. I welcome him and thank him for taking up this ministry.”
The Redfern parish has been without a priest since Fr Bob Irwin, provincial of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, asked Fr Peter Carroll to withdraw from the parish because he had been “placed in an intolerable position that is most unreasonable for any parish priest”.