In a new approach for the Canberra-Goulburn Archdiocese, four of the national capital’s inner north parishes have come together under a new banner – the “Canberra Inner North Catholic Community”. Source: Catholic Voice.
The four parishes are St Thomas More Parish (Campbell), St Joseph’s (O’Connor), Canberra Central Parish (St Brigid’s Dickson and St Patrick’s Braddon), and Blackfriars Parish (Holy Rosary church, Watson).
The arrangement follows last December’s departure of the Dominican order from Canberra’s inner north. It will allow each parish to retain its name, identity and traditions while sharing secretarial and contact resources, a weekly news bulletin, and a common clerical team.
In the language of the Church, the new structure is known as “in solidum”, a Latin term meaning “as a whole”, and arises from a 1983 provision in Canon Law introduced to allow flexibility in the pastoral care of parishes.
In an agreement with the Archdiocese, the four parishes are now under the care of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament Fathers, the worldwide religious order founded by the 19th-century French saint Peter Julian Eymard.
Fr Anthony (“Thonn”) Riosa SSS is the moderator of the inner north team and is joined by Fr Sebastian Luistro SSS and Fr Renoir Oliver SSS. All from the Philippines, Fr Riosa has been in Australia for four years, Fr Sebastian for two months, and Fr Renoir for a little over a year.
Fr Riosa said it was “very important for us as a religious community that we are “in solidum”. We are the administrators of the four parishes, yet we are working together as one community, the inner north Catholic community.”
FULL STORY
New structure for Inner North parishes (By Don Smith, Catholic Voice)
