The Diocese of Broken Bay has honoured the contribution of several priests serving within its boundaries, as they celebrate milestone anniversaries this year.
The Jubilarians were honoured with a Mass at Our Lady of the Rosary, Waitara on Wednesday evening and received gifts at the Annual End of Year Christmas Gathering later that night.
Fr John Hill, Fr Carmelo Sciberras and Fr Jim Tierney all celebrated 60 years of priestly ministry this year. The trio were ordained together as priests for the Archdiocese of Sydney in 1964 and later joined the Diocese of Broken Bay upon its creation.
Fr John and Fr Carmelo shared their thoughts on 60 years of priestly ministry in BBNews’ September edition, which you can read here.
Fr Bob Crawford, a retired priest, celebrated 55 years of priestly ministry, while Fr Colin Blayney, Parish Priest of Lindfield-Killara, celebrated 40 years of service.
Fr Bronek Pietruswicz SDS, assistant priest at Gosford, celebrated his 35th anniversary. He was ordained by Saint John Paul II in 1989. Fellow Salvatorian, Fr Richard Sadowski SDS celebrated 25 years of priestly ministry.
Fr Joy Kunnasserry OSH celebrated his 30th anniversary of priestly ordination. After serving in the Diocese for several years, Fr Joy will return to his native India in April.
Fr Jim McKeon and Fr Stephen Hamilton were both ordained priest for the Diocese of Broken Bay in 1999 at Corpus Christi Church, St Ives, then the Cathedral of the Diocese. While Fr Stephen has retired from full-time ministry, Fr Jim serves as Parish Priest of Epping-Carlingford.
We are grateful for the service of every single priest in our Diocese and particularly for those celebrating milestone anniversaries this year. May we continue to keep them all in our prayers and pray for more good priests to serve the people of our Diocese.