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A
s we celebrate the official opening
and blessing of this church and
parish centre, which is another historic
occasion in the life of our young and
exponentially growing parish, we
thank all those who have shared so
generously of their God-given gifts
of time, talent and financial treasure
to make the construction of this new
church and Mass centre possible.
First and foremost to our Bishop Peter
Ingham and to all who work from
the Xavier Centre, especially William
Walker, Graeme Maynard, Tony
Sanderson and their colleagues and
co-workers in the Office of the Bishop
and the Catholic Development Fund
who have supported and continue to
support all that we are doing here; to
Paul Parker, Mick Willding and the
staff of Eastern Portable Buildings
and all those women and men who
have worked so hard, both on and
off the site, to design and construct
a building that we can now call
our 'new Basilica'; to John Milgate,
Frances Manning, Mel Vella, Jenny
Humphries, Ann Holgate and the
staff of St Justin's Catholic Primary
School, along with Bede Richie, Rob
Hamilton and their colleagues in the
Catholic Education Office, without
whose support our parish would not
have achieved all that it has in such a
short time; to Michael Hanratty and
the school community of St Benedict's,
especially Chris Shelton and Matthew
Andruschko, who crafted the altar and
other altar furnishings; to all those
craftspeople and donors who have
made or gifted items for this church
and parish centre; to Leigh Hearn our
parish secretary, the members of our
various parish teams and councils;
to the Sisters of St Joseph, especially
Sr Monica Cavanagh, Sr Mary Ellen
O'Donoghue and their leadership
teams along with Sr Mary McDonnell
and Sr Ann Marie Gallagher who
are ministering in our parish at St
Justin’s and St Benedict’s; and to all
the members of our parish family
(from the youngest to the more senior,
from the oldest residents through to
those who have only just moved in)
for whom this parish was founded and
who have responded so generously to
the Lord's invitation to be members of
this ‘family of diverse families.’
To each and every one of you, we say
‘thank you’.
Fr David Catterall
and the members of the
St Mary MacKillop Parish
Pastoral Council
THANK YOU