By Emilie Ng
MOGGILL’S Catholic community has never forgotten the woman who made it possible to worship God inside St Catherine’s worship centre.
The beloved community centre is the second sacred Catholic building in Moggill to be named after grandmother Catherine O’Brien, an early settler in the area.
In 1902, the grandmother’s skirt caught fire and she died, aged 73, in her Moggill home.
Mrs O’Brien’s family dedicated a small wooden church in her honour in 1952, St Catherine’s, the first Catholic church in Moggill.
The timber church was removed and sold in the 1980s due to its poor condition and replaced with St Catherine’s worship centre on Moggill Road on May 22, 1995.
Earlier this month the Catholic community gathered to thank God for 20 years of blessings under the roof of St Catherine’s worship centre.
More than 300 Catholics from Kenmore parish and the Moggill Catholic community attended the celebrations along with descendants of Catherine O’Brien.
Kenmore parish priest Fr Francis Onwunali, who administers St Catherine’s worship centre, invited Brisbane auxiliary Bishop Brian Finnigan to lead the anniversary Mass on March 7.
Fr Onwunali said the Mass was “a grand celebration” that helped parishioners to experience the early times of the parish.
“This led to a greater appreciation of what the pioneers did by bringing the Catholic community to Moggill,” he said.
Parishioner Sarah Warner has been part of the Kenmore and Moggill Catholic community for 29 years, and has seen every stage of St Catherine’s worship centre’s 20 years.
Mrs Warner said St Catherine’s worship centre had played a key role in strengthening the Moggill Catholic community.
“The community is key for me, and the people here have always wanted a place to worship in the area,” she said.
Bishop Finnigan said the liturgy was “prayerful and celebratory”, and was followed by delicious cakes and delicacies.
“The celebrations provided an excellent opportunity to honour the pioneers, to remember in prayer those who have died and to inspire the current community to continue giving witness and service in the local community, which is blessed with wonderful natural surrounds,” Bishop Finnigan said.
