The Catholic Leader Keeping Faith with You

FATHERS Josh Whitehead and Brendan Gormley became Brisbane archdiocese’s newest shepherds at their ordination to priesthood at St Stephen’s Cathedral on Friday, May 31. Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge celebrated the ordination, which was attended by dozens of priests from across the archdiocese, including Auxiliary Bishop Ken Howell and Sydney Auxiliary Bishop Tony Randazzo, former Holy Spirit Seminary rector.  Fr Whitehead ... Read More »

TRUE friends share everything – even the emotional day they become priests. Fr Thomas Zaranski, 32, and Fr Damien Everitt, 43, first met in 2015 as trainee priests for Holy Spirit Seminary Queensland. They took their friendship to the next level when Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge ordained both men priests on June 29, the Feast of Sts Peter and Paul, ... Read More »

GOD might have been on side with the wrong team in the opening game of the 2018 State of Origin, but a few young Queensland men still have faith in His call for them to be priests. Brisbane archdiocese’s director of vocations Fr Stanley Orji said on the night Queensland lost to the Blues in the 2018 State of Origin ... Read More »

SISTER Ursula O’Rourke has a job that takes her to the depths of the mystery of Christ. She’s one of two women on the formation team at Queensland’s Holy Spirit Seminary at Banyo, and she specialises in liturgy. That means she has a hand in preparing future priests for a key role in their ministry – the celebration of the ... Read More »

YOUNG Townsville man William Brennan has entered the priesthood at a time when the Catholic Church and priests are under more scrutiny than ever. Mr Brennan entered Holy Spirit Seminary at Banyo recently to begin his formation to become a priest for Townsville diocese. The young seminarian, who spent most of his childhood in Charters Towers, said he was almost ... Read More »

YOUNGER faces will be a common sight at Queensland’s Holy Spirit seminary this year as seven men under 30 began their studies for the priesthood this week. Brisbane archdiocese welcomed seven young men to the seminary on February 11, making it the largest local intake in years. The cohort includes two Vietnamese men who were invited to study at the ... Read More »

IT’S Friday night. Burger patties and onion rings are sizzling on the barbecue hotplate in the grounds of Maroochydore’s new Stella Maris Church. Seminarian Josh Whitehead is strumming his guitar and singing, as some of the regular patrons start to arrive – men, women and children – in need of a free meal and some good company. Maroochydoore’s barbecue ministry ... Read More »

SEMINARIANS Thomas Zaranski and Damien Everitt have made it to the final step before the priesthood after being ordained deacons today. Archbishop Mark Coleridge ordained Deacon Zaranski, 31, and Deacon Everitt, 43, to the transitional diaconate in a Mass at Holy Spirit Chapel, at Banyo’s Australian Catholic University. The ordination marks the final step before the two can be ordained ... Read More »

RECORD numbers of young men are discerning the priesthood in the Brisbane archdiocese with “extraordinary” hopes for next year’s seminary intake. Vocation Brisbane director Fr Morgan Batt said nineteen young men attended their recent annual Quo Vadis discernment weekend, the largest number in 22 years. Discernment weekends allow young men to spend a weekend at Holy Spirit seminary in Brisbane, ... Read More »