It was nearly 20 years ago that the man who is now Pope Leo XIV visited the Augustinian parish in Mareeba, Queensland. Source: The Express.
Fr Robert Prevost spent two days visiting the Mareeba parish and by all accounts, it was quite the event – especially the night at the Spanish Club.
“He was the general, the head of the Augustinians worldwide, and he was visiting Australia and all of the Augustinian houses, of which Mareeba was one,” former parish priest, now semi-retired, Fr Robert Greenup said.
Fr Prevost arrived on December 6, 2006, and stayed in Mareeba for two days, meeting people in the St Thomas of Villanova parish and staying overnight at the priory.
“It really was just a very low-key, courtesy visit to meet all the Augustinians in Australia,” Fr Greenup said.
“We had Augustinian priests in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Mareeba.
“So he came to meet me, as I was the only Augustinian priest here at that stage and also to meet the people who were involved in the parish.
“The formal event was the dinner. We held a reception at the Spanish club that night.”
It was this event that appeared to be etched on the Pope’s memories.
Fr Greenup said Lyn Harris, a local woman, sang “Waltzing Matilda” for Fr Prevost.
“I remember at that time she engaged him in a sort of a quiz, asking him did he know what a swagman was, did he know what a billabong was, did he know what a jumbuck was?
“The Italians and the Spanish there were singing out the answers for the general.”
Pope Leo, born in Chicago in 1955 to parents of Spanish and Franco-Italian descent, would have been delighted with the atmosphere.
What has surprised and pleased Fr Greenup over recent weeks was the reported references of the Pope’s memories of that Mareeba visit.
According to new Cairns Bishop Joe Caddy, when he met the then-Cardinal Prevost in Rome a month or so ago – before he was elected Pope – he had told him he had “very fond memories of a reception that was held for him in Mareeba”.
“It’s astounding,” Fr Greenup said. “The number of receptions that Robert Prevost would have been to over the years would be astronomical.
“Here he is, still with ‘very fond memories’ of that night at the Spanish Club!”
FULL STORY
A new pope, a Spanish Club and Mareeba hospitality (By Andree Stephens, The Express)
