50 Years professed, life stories, photos, Roger, John, Claude
Photos of the celebrations – and some longer weekend reading.
Roger Purcell – who starts with the formation story.
The idea of priesthood had always been in my mind and in 1966 a Brigidine Sister gave me some materials sent out by Frank Fletcher. This resulted in a train trip to Croydon with my mother to meet Brian Gallagher (student and Vocation Director, Victoria) to discuss the future. Alan Floyd served us lunch in the Parlor. The result of this was going to board at Monivae in 1967-68. In this the idea of Missions appealed to me and directed me to Religious Life.
We were directed to Croydon for a Pre-Novitiate Year of studies in 1969. This was the beginning of a new system of formation, and we seemed to be the guinea pigs. There were 24 of us in that First Year.
The plan was to be: 3 months Novitiate, 6 months study, 6 months Novitiate, 6 months Pastoral and 3 months Novitiate. In December we went to Douglas Park and began the Novitiate for after which we went to Canberra in 1970. Here the plan went awry and we stayed the whole year in Canberra for 1970 with Peter Malone as Director. We were back in Croydon in 1971 for the remaining 9 months of Novitiate with Harvey Edmiston taking vows on 4th December. After that we returned to studies in Canberra where we did some internal studies and University 1972-4. We received Acolyte/Lector in that year.
We returned to Croydon for studies in 1974-5 with Final Vows on 30 November 1974 with Diaconate on 13 September 1975. In December of that year I went to PNG, to Erima Parish in POM with Alan Reis, with a stay in Rigo with Bill Linden and a visit to Milne Bay. In Rigo I went to Dorom and several other outstations, doing Easter baptisms of some babies and a number of school children. In Alotau Diocese I visited Sideia, Normandy, Fergusson, Goodenough and Trobriand Islands. Altogether a great experience and affirmed my desire for the Missions.
in June 1976 I returned to Croydon to finalize studies and was ordained on September 11. This 911 before 911. On the day of 911, 25 years later, I was made chief at Bakoiudu in Kubuna Parish. I returned to Port Moresby in 1977 and worked in Boroko Parish with Brian Rosser. After Easter in 1978 I was posted to Boregaina in Rigo replacing Bill Linden and joining Frank Dineen as a Team.
The ten years at Boregaina were very full, leading me into a deeper commitment of Pastoral Life. With 7 outstations there was a lot of walking and driving to see the people, discuss many matters with them and administer the Sacraments. I inherited a lot of work done by others before me (Des Moore as founder, Bill Linden and Owen Ani a number of Sisters, to name a few). Schools in these remote places were a lot of work in terms of and supplies, land issues and community relations. In those years I trained Prayer Leaders for each station, formed a Parish Council and gave in service to all these on a regular basis. I had in some years PNG MSC seminarians on Pastoral work, some diocesan deacons, also Paul Duffy with me for some time, students from Australia in Michael Said and Peter Carroll.
In 1988 I had a Sabbatical year in Sydney at Pacific Mission Institute with the Columbans in North Turramurra. A great year to relax, absorb new ideas and travel to parts of Australia. To finish that year I went to Adelaide and up through the Centre by bus to Cooper Pedy and Alice Springs, then on to Darwin. John Savage was superior and ensured I got to Tiwi, Daly and Keats, and a road trip to Kakadu with Martin Wilson.
Returning to PNG in 1989 I was asked to take on the parish of Hanuabada in the city, replacing Ian Langlands. I was asked by the French to take over the Pastoral Centre at Kubuna in the Diocese of Bereina. I moved there in 1991 getting ready to begin courses and training in Bereina Diocese. I was interrupted when Bishop Lucas Matlatarea asked me to go and care for Kerau Parish in the Goilala. While there I traveled around the mountain Parish to give retreat to the teachers in Kamulai, Fane, Ononge, Woitape and Jongai
I began again at the Pastoral Centre at Kubuna in 1992. I became sick with Hepatitis in 1993, moving to Drummoyne in Sydney to recover. I returned to Kubuna in 1994, but again was diverted when Bishop Lucas asked me to care of Tapini. By this time we took on the New Image of Parish renewal as promoted by Movement for a Better World (MBW) which I began promoting in the Mountain Parishes.
I finally returned to Kubuna in 1997 to take up the role of training people for Lay Ministry. In 2000 we accepted as a Diocese to undertake the Project for Renewal of Diocese offered by MBW as a wider renewal approach at Diocesan level. In 2001 I became full-time Pastoral Vicar to promote this renewal. With this work I dropped the training for ministries. At this time Ben Fleming came to Kubuna to run the Pastoral Centre.
This involvement with the renewal led me to become a member of Community Animation Service in 2005 and became the National Director of the Community Animation Service of the Movement for a Better World in 2007 while still working in the Bereina Diocese. I moved to Mt Hagen in 2008 taking up the role of National Director full time. I was reelected to this role in 2010.
During the ten years in this work I worked with eight diocese in PNG and in Solomon Islands for renewal, gave retreats to priests and religious, organized and facilitated courses on church renewal for diocesan teams and personnel. One of the bigger and more demanding works of this time was to facilitate the Conference Assembly from 23 Dioceses, to work with a Team to elaborate a 5-year Conference Pastoral Plan, guide its implementation and evaluate its progress.
After 10 years as National Director I went to Australia to Kensington in 2018 with the intention of studying towards a Master of Theology. After one Semester I did not continue and went to San Antonio in USA. On return I intended to continue these studies, but, in 2019, was asked by the Provincial, Chris McPhee, to take on the work of the MSC Mission Office. After discernment I became Director receiving a 3-year term in 2020.
John Kelliher – A Darwin Perspective.
Four years after making his First Profession as a Religious towards the end of 1971 in what was then the Croydon Monastery Chapel, John came to the Territory in December 1975 to minister as a Deacon at Santa Teresa. Father John Clancy msc was the Mission Superintendent there at the time. Ordained a priest on August 21, 1976, Father John Kelliher was re-appointed to the Northern Territory and from the start of 1977 until mid-1978, he worked at St John's College in Chaplaincy work, as a Religion Teacher and as Assistant to Brother Gerry Burke msc in the Boarding House.
In July 1978 Father John was asked at short notice to go back to Santa Teresa, this time as the Assistant and understudy to Father Brian Healy msc, whom he went on to replace as Parish Priest and Community Advisor from 1979 to March 1982.
From 1978 to 1983, I was also working in the Darwin diocese in a number of capacities and I can affirm that in both places, St John’s College and down at Santa Teresa, Father John’s ministry was characterized by patience, calmness and friendliness to all he came in contact with.
In March 1982 John was appointed as Assistant Parish Priest at our Henley Beach parish in Adelaide; thereafter he gained experience as Assistant Pastor at Kippax in Canberra over the years 1984 and 1985; this was followed by a 3-year stint in our Coogee NSW parish, after which John was appointed Parish Priest of our Kings Meadow parish in Launceston for 6 years.
One of Father John’s special gifts is in the area of one-to-one Faith Formation and Spiritual Direction. To further develop this capability, he spent 1995 at the Heart of Life Institute in Melbourne and gained the Siloam Spiritual Direction Diploma.
In January 1996 John again received an appointment as Parish Priest, this time to Erskinville in Sydney and for a 6 year period. While engaged in this ministry, he found time to follow a Master in Theology course at the Catholic University of Sydney and to assist with the Province’s Formation work.
In 2002 a Sabbatical that took him to the United States, England, France (in particular, to Issoudun) to Ireland, the Holy Land and to South Africa.
It was back to the Northern Territory…
And so began what has so far been Father John’s most significant contribution to the diocese of Darwin: his eleven years, 2003 to 2013 inclusive, as Administrator of the Cathedral parish
On more than one occasion, Father John has remarked to me how fortunate he considers himself to have been as a participator in the wider Sacramental life of the diocese as a result of his responsibilities at the Cathedral. One thinks of the many baptisms and marriages that take place in the Cathedral on behalf of people who live in other Top End parishes, as well as the many wider, diocesan functions, such as, for example, the multicultural Masses we used to have there. Then there are the many civic functions for which the Cathedral is Darwin’s recognized venue because of its size and structure. Father John says this wider ministry included some wonderful years working with the St. Vincent de Paul Society, with St John's College as well as in representing the clergy of the Darwin Diocese in the National Clergy Life and Ministry movement. Then from time to time he has had opportunities to function as a supply priest in other parts of the Diocese, such as Groote Eylandt and Nhulunbuy.
Father John also considers it to have been an extraordinary opportunity that, towards the end of his time as Cathedral Administrator he was able, under Bishop Eugene Hurley’s initiative and creativity, to monitor the renovation of the Cathedral’s interior, improvements that have rendered it so much more functional and better adapted for worship.
At the close of 2013, the then Provincial, Father John Mulrooney, gave Father John a new appointment in Sydney, though during the early part of 2014, John was again able to get a few months of sabbatical refreshment by way of long-service leave, a 6 week visit to the Tantur Ecumenical Institute in Israel, taking up the important role of Australian Province Secretary at Treand House, Coogee, a post that he held for the next 4 years.
From January 2018 till the end of 2020, he was the Superior of the Sacred Heart Monastery, Kensington, a multi-faceted appointment.
I imagine it was with some sense of relief that Father John was asked if he would return to the Top End as Parish Priest of our MSC St Paul’s Nightcliff parish, where I can confirm he is bringing his many pastoral skills to bear in heading up and leading a very vibrant and appreciative parish community.
Malcolm Fyfe msc
Claude, a story from Pathways, Religious Australia
Partnerships for peace and compassion
It may be hard to imagine how Fr Claude Mostowik msc could do more to build partnerships for social justice advocacy, but he’s aiming to do even more through Catholic Religious Australia (CRA).
Fr Claude who recently took on the role of CRA Justice Network Coordinator is also the Director of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart Justice and Peace Centre. He also works at the Edmund Rice Centre for Justice and Community Education where he began the publication Just News and more recently as researcher for Just Comment. Concurrently he is President of both Pax Christi Australia and the Peace and Justice Commission of the NSW Ecumenical Council.
On his first week at the CRA office, Fr Claude is already busy: discussing with CRA staff about his current involvement with other advocacy groups, sharing news articles, cartoons and memes that have caught his attention, discussing a trip to the Philippines for a mining protest and international mining conference – all while learning the sundry details of a new workplace.
His energy and enthusiasm seem to be key in the way he engages with a vast network of advocacy groups, as well as taking on partnership roles in the following: Sydney Peace and Justice Coalition, Australian Anti-Bases Campaign Coalition, Action for Peace and Development in the Philippines, Community Justice Coalition (prison reform), Iran4Democracy, the Animation Committee (Campbelltown), Conference of Leaders of Religious Institutes Social Justice Committee, NetAct (coalition of social justice, education, and welfare), Acceptance Australia, Edmund Rice Centre, Pacific Calling Partnership, Love Makes A Way and, until recently, Stanford House and Gethsemane Community.
He sounds surprised when one remarks on his ability to build relationships. “They were never skills that I thought I had. I’m not really a good organiser.”
“But in relating to people and experiencing the joy that there are so many people, not necessarily even religious, who care and want to leave this world better than they found it, this is where I find hope."
Working with other peace and justice advocates last year, their fellowship galvanised a new wave of nonviolent protest in Australia through the movement, Love Makes A Way. He has been arrested several times and removed from Parliament House for staging nonviolent sit-ins at MPs’ offices with other Christian leaders. Other Religious who participated in similar peaceful protests are Brigidine Sister Jane Keogh and Josephites Susan Connelly and Jan Barnett. These prayerful sit-ins have drawn national attention to the movement’s call for compassion and an end to the Australian government’s inhumane policy of refugee detention, especially children.
“In the face of brutal systems, I think that any compassion shown to people today is actually a sign of protest and any hospitality offered is a sign of resistance,” Fr Claude said.
He sees the role of CRA Justice Coordinator as vital in providing resources to congregations in the ministry of justice, peace and integrity of creation, as well as helping advocacy groups find opportunities and common ground. He is grateful for the groundwork laid by Sister Suzette Clark rsc, his predecessor at CRA who was elected into the leadership team of the Sisters of Charity.
“No doubt, the networking, resources, supporting, which has engaged me will continue in the name of Catholic Religious Australia,” he said. “The many organisations and the work of the Edmund Rice Centre for Justice and Community Education where I have been working for some 10 years will also feed into the work here at CRA.”
“Certainly, I would hope to network with people on the ground in religious congregations and it seems to me that there is a coherence of thinking and acting in terms of the people that we wish to relate to. But the people that we all need to touch are the same ones that Jesus wanted to reach. “
“At the moment, there is the treatment of people who come here seeking our protection yet have their trauma intensified. There are many people living on the streets because of their stories of pain and suffering which one does not know about unless one stops to talk to them. There is ongoing inequality in our society where the poor, the gay community and Indigenous Australians are blamed for the situation they find themselves in. There is the issue of climate change and mining which profoundly impact on people who have very little say in what happens to them, whether in the Pacific Island nations, Papua, the Philippines.”
Fr Claude’s outspokenness and passion for social justice is rooted in his family background and the charism of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. “My passion has always been about working with people and being concerned for those in difficulty. It might go back to my family and the difficulties they had when they arrived in Australia from war ravaged Europe.”
“Living the ‘spirituality of the heart‘, the basis of the charism of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, is important and I hope that I am responding to make God’s presence embodied in my relationships with people,” he said. “This is the work I wake up for.”
