12 / 28
9
| M A R Y I MM A C U L AT E PA R I S H E AG L E VA L E
I
n 1982 the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, a
missionary order of priests, offered their
services to Bishop Murray and they were asked
to look after this new area. Frs John Coakley and
Tony Maher, the first Oblate priests assigned
to the area, arrived at 33 Norman Crescent
Claymore on 1 October 1982.
They began to serve the faith needs of this young
community in the tradition of their founder -
St Eugene. Even though Diocesan priests had
previously worked hard in the area to establish
a fledgling Catholic community, there was a
daunting task in front of them. They door-
knocked the area to make themselves known,
advising residents that they would be continuing
to celebrate Mass at the Claymore School Hall on
Sundays.
Daily Mass was celebrated in the Presbytery.
The weekly morning masses at the residence
followed by a friendly cuppa were both
spiritually uplifting and helped build a sense of
community.
Fr John was elected Provincial shortly after he
arrived and in early 1983 left to take up his duties
inMelbourne. Even though he was here for such a
short time he was well loved and he dropped back
for many visits as part of his role as Provincial.
Fr Tony was joined by Fr Paddy Dwyer and soon
both of themhad endeared themselves to our
community especially with the youth. Home
masses were celebrated on a weekly basis, even
Baptisms took place in people’s homes, while they
were also chaplains at St Gregory’s College. Fr Tony
said they never starved as they accepted numerous
dinner invitations - no housekeeper was around at
this time.
On 17 September 1983, the first mass was
celebrated in Eschol Park Neighbourhood Centre.
Three masses were now being said on a weekend,
two in Claymore School hall on Sunday and one on
Saturday evening at Eschol Park. The Oblates were
the heart of this new parish reaching out to meet
the spiritual needs of the people and ‘growing’ a
community.
FAT H E R S
Oblate