Parish life

It was indeed a day of celebration and sadness on Sunday 16 August 2020 at Holy Family Catholic Parish in Ingleburn as their parish priest of 36 years, Fr Peter Caruana, celebrated his 50th anniversary of ordination to the priesthood. Fr Peter was appointed parish priest of Holy Family Catholic Parish Ingleburn in 1984 and has faithfully served the Ingleburn and Minto communities—nurturing and watching them grow over the years.

No one can deny Fr Peter’s commitment to Jesus and his Church and to his role as a priest, especially his love for celebrating the Mass and other sacraments. As detailed in the parish’s 50th anniversary celebration book: “When we watch him celebrate the Eucharist, there can be no doubt in our mind that a miracle has taken place as the bread and wine are transformed into the body and blood of Jesus Christ. If he never did anything else but that, he would have fulfilled his vocation as a priest!” However, one only has to look at the beautiful church at Ingleburn that he and the parish spent 27 years diligently saving for and building to understand with some semblance the impact and dedication Fr Peter has had on the parish.

“Set yourselves close to him so that you too, the holy priesthood that offers the spiritual sacrifices which Jesus Christ has made acceptable to God, may be living stones making a spiritual house.”
1 PETER 2:4–5

However, 16 August 2020 will also go down in parish history as a day of sadness as it was the last Mass that Fr Peter celebrated as their parish priest. In accordance with canon law, having reached the age of 75 years, Fr Peter tendered his resignation from the parish which was accepted by Bishop Brian Mascord.

Fr Peter’s resignation became effective on Monday 17 August 2020 and Fr Sean Cullen has been appointed the new administrator of the parish—providing the pastoral and administrative care for the parish—quite a task as he is also the parish priest at Bowral and Mittagong.

Fr Peter’s 50th anniversary farewell Mass was celebrated at 11:00am on Sunday 16 August 2020 (you can watch the Mass above) at Holy Family Catholic Church Ingleburn. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, only a limited number of parishioners were able to attend.

We congratulate Fr Peter and thank him for his faithful service to the people of God in Ingleburn and Minto for the past 36 years and for his 50 years of service as a priest, and we pray that he enjoys some rest during his retirement years. What an achievement! As Scripture says: “Set yourselves close to him so that you too, the holy priesthood that offers the spiritual sacrifices which Jesus Christ has made acceptable to God, may be living stones making a spiritual house” (1 Peter 2:4–5).