New Oratory for Brisbane

A new Oratory is to be opened in Brisbane with the permission and support of Archbishop Mark Coleridge. (See The Brisbane Oratory in Formation.) There are currently three priests and a seminarian intending to form the initial community.

The priests will begin a community in formation possibly in late 2015 but probably not until early 2016. The priests will then have three years of formation under the guidance of a delegate appointed by the Procurator General of the Oratory in Rome. If all goes well, and subject to the approval of the local Ordinary, it will then petition the Holy See for canonical establishment as a Congregation of the Oratory. One of the clergy of the nascent community is Fr Paul Chandler whom I met at the Colloquium of the Australian Confraternity of Catholic Clergy in June. The others are not making their commitment public until nearer the time that the community comes together.

The seminarian is Shawn Murphy whom I met when he was helping out at the ACCC. He will start formation immediately at the St Philip's Seminary in Toronto.

This will be the first Oratory in Oceania and is placed under the patronage of Our Lady, St. Philip Neri, Blessed John Henry Newman and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. Please pray for its success and particularly for the selection of a suitable location in co-operation with Archbishop Coleridge.

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