8 Catholic Diocese of Sandhurst Year in Review 2024 From Bishop Shane Mackinlay “2024 has been a milestone year in the life of our Diocese: 150 years ago, on 3 March 1874, the Diocese of Sandhurst was established. ” In 1874, the Diocese of Melbourne, which had been established in 1848, was elevated to an Archdiocese, with Ballarat and Sandhurst established as its suffragan dioceses. These changes occurred largely because of the huge population growth in Victoria’s interior, following the goldrushes of the 1850s. The transformation over the 150 years since Bishop Martin Crane became the first Bishop of Sandhurst is extraordinary. What began as five missions – Bendigo, Beechworth, Wangaratta, Heathcote and Echuca – ministered to by seven priests, has now grown to thirty eight parishes served by around thirty-five priests in full-time ministry, with fifty-six Catholic schools, three early learning centres, and a range of Catholic health, aged care and other services. We are blessed by the ministry of our priests, both those appointed to parishes and those who continue their service after retiring from full-time parish ministry. A significant number of these priests have come to us from overseas. Having visited the families of our priests from India last year, this year I visited the Philippines for the first time and met the families and religious communities of our Filipino clergy: Monsignor Cris Manongas and Fathers Junjun Amaya, Dean Bongat, Ruel Desamparado, Novelito Lim, Junray Rayna, Rene Ramirez, Jinjo Solis, DJ Suguitan and Nathan Verallo. Experiencing the warm and generous hospitality of their families and communities renewed my sense of gratitude to these priests and to their families, who so generously support their sons and brothers ministering far away in Australia. This year has seen a number of changes in our clergy. Our oldest priest, Monsignor Frank Hickey, died peacefully in May at the age of 97, after 73 years of faithful ministry as a priest – the longest serving priest in the history of the Diocese. We also welcomed four new priests to our Diocese. In March, Fr Henry Onyirioha joined us from Nigeria and was appointed Assistant Priest in the parish of Kennington, returning after an initial period of ministry in Yarrawonga in 2022. In August, we welcomed Fr Addin Doe RCJ as Assistant Priest of Mooroopna, who becomes the third member of the Rogationist community in the Diocese. Fr Arun Korlakanti SHS came to us from India and is working with the Wangaratta Ministry Team in the northeast. Finally, in October, we welcomed back Fr Boniface Kamulegeya from Uganda, following his earlier ministry in Rutherglen and Chiltern. In June, Fathers Junjun Amaya and Junray Rayna, having completed their seminary studies here and served in the Diocese since their ordinations, chose to make an ongoing commitment to ministry in Australia. They were originally ordained as priests of the Archdiocese of Cebu in the Philippines, and each felt called to make a permanent commitment to the Diocese of Sandhurst, due to their sense of fulfilment, contentment and connection to the people of this Diocese. I celebrated their formal welcome in moving
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