Catholic Identity & Mission News
A Visit from the Bishop of Sale
A fortnight ago, the College was delighted to have Bishop Greg Bennet, the Bishop of Sale, visit for two days. These visits were organised as a result of the Bishop’s own initiative to try to meet with staff and students, especially Year 8 students, across all of the secondary schools in the Diocese. Why did Bishop Greg choose to meet with Year 8 students? He explained that it was because he felt that more than any other Year Level, they had been most impacted by the COVID-related lockdowns which for them, occurred during two of the most memorable years of schooling, Grade 6 and Year 7 (and they agreed with him!).
Bishop Greg shared with the students how he came to be a priest and of the life-changing day he received a phone call from Rome telling him that Pope Francis had chosen him to be the Bishop of Sale. There was also a Q & A session with all the groups he met and the questions from students ranged from ‘What does an average day of the Bishop look like?’ to ‘How much money do you make!?’ to ‘What music do you like to listen to?’. Bishop Greg answered all of the questions with humour and grace. When he was asked if he’d ever wanted to be a Bishop, he gave a very candid answer. He said that he’d never anticipated this important role and if he were to have forecast that one day he would be a Bishop, he would have felt very anxious about it. However, he said that when Pope Francis asked him to serve the Church in the role of the Bishop of Sale, he felt a great sense of calm and peace and knew that it was the right path for him. Each session closed with a prayer and Bishop Greg gave thanks for our young people who are the most important people in our Catholic Education System, their families, teachers, and all members of the College community. We certainly give thanks for a wonderful leader like Bishop Greg and are very grateful to him for his generosity in spending this time at the College.
The venue for Bishop Greg’s visit on the Cranbourne Campus was the Chapel and this year, the Chapel turns 100 years old. It was originally built as the parish church of St. Peter’s in Tooradin but when Mass could no longer be offered in Tooradin and the Church was destined to stand empty, it was offered to College Principal Mr. Terry Feely for use as a chapel. He jumped at the chance to use this beautiful building and for the past 20 years, it has been a distinctive local landmark, bearing witness to the faith of our College community.
We are going to celebrate the Chapel’s centenary with Mass and refreshments on Tuesday, October 11, 2022 at 11.30am and Fr Herman Hengel has been invited to be our principal celebrant. Fr Herman was once a parishioner at St. Peter’s in Tooradin and so has a long connection with this special building. He will be joined by at least five other priests as we mark this important milestone and we hope that many members of our College community will join in the celebrations too!
All members of our College community are warmly invited to participate in the Chapel Centenary celebrations so if you would like to attend, please contact Kelly Cooper, EA to the Principal, on 5990 7777 or kelley@stpeters.vic.edu.au to RSVP your attendance by Monday, October 3, 2022. I would also love to hear from you if you have a connection to this building or any memories about it so that we can include a range of stories and experiences in our celebrations on the day. I can be contacted at the College via phone or email at fmckenna@stpeters.vic.edu.au. I look forward to sharing this happy celebration with our College community in the coming weeks!
Fiona McKenna
Deputy Principal - Catholic Identity & Mission