Supporting our Clergy
The theme for the Australian National Conference, being held in Sydney from 16-19 October 2025, is REACHING OUT. As Catenians, we can be seen as reaching out in many ways, in keeping with our Aims and Values. Key to our identity as Catenians is our aim to reach out to men in the Catholic community to come and join us. And when they do, to reach out to them and their families to provide support when needed, whether in a social, spiritual or practical sense.
Also extremely important is our aim to reach out to Catholic youth and to reach out to our clergy to provide them with support. In Province 21 (geographically this covers most of Eastern Australia but with most Circles in the Sydney area), we have taken on board the aim of providing support to our clergy in a most important way. With the reduction in home grown vocations in recent years, a shortage of priests in many Dioceses in Australia has meant that we now have priests coming from many countries around the world, to support us in our faith. Whilst we share a common faith with these priests, they often come from a culture very different from our own and with an English accent that may be a little difficult to understand.
Some years back, Province 21 reached out to the Broken Bay Diocese, where a number of the Sydney based Catenian Circles are located, and asked if we could assist with the acculturation of overseas priests when they arrived in Australia. We identified that support could be provided in ways such as:
- Companionship
- English language practice
- Driving practice
- Experiencing Australian culture
I was excited by the prospect of providing this type of support, particularly as I was fourth generation Australian and hence have a fair grasp of Aussie culture. Also, one of my post-retirement activities has involved teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL). In early 2020, just after the start of the first Covid lockdown, I received a call from Broken Bay Diocese. A new priest, Fr Biju Matthew, had just arrived at the Cathedral parish in Waitara, from Kerala in India. As all churches were closed due to the lockdown and Fr Biju had no real connections in Sydney, could we help him with language support and with getting an understanding of our culture. I jumped at this opportunity to “walk the talk” and immediately offered my services.
Before I commenced meeting with Fr Biju, I thought I had better do a little reverse acculturation, so that I might gain some understanding of Fr Biju’s background. My own Parish administrator at Blackheath in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, also came from Kerala. He gave me a few hints, including advice that I ask Fr Biju to “speak slowly” as the Malayalam language of Kerala is spoken at an incredibly fast pace.
Despite the initial lockdown, I was able to meet with Fr Biju a couple of times a week. I didn’t feel that he spoke his English too quickly, but we focused on the placing of stress on the correct syllable, as this can make all the difference in understanding what is being spoken. There are of course also the sounds which we take for granted but which are completely alien to a person whose birth language is other than English, eg the word “quick”.
We also focused on getting an understanding of the many idiomatic expressions that pepper our speech. For example, a “mug” can mean a person who is easily deceived, as well as a coffee cup. It surprised me how many expressions like this we have in our language. Then of course there are the myriad of things we do and say without thinking that can cause real confusion, such as what I meant when we went to lunch and I said “my shout”.
I recall the thrill for both of us when, after a few months from the end of the first lockdown, Fr Biju told me how members of his congregation had started to come up to him and congratulate him on his homilies. They clearly understood him.
As is usually the case, the student often becomes the teacher. Fr Biju’s Catholicism is from the rich Syro Malabar tradition and I have been able to learn from him about that tradition and of the situation of being a Catholic in India today. We also discuss the politics of our two countries, as we use the daily newspaper as a focus of our meetings.
As Covid progressed we went under a much longer and stricter lockdown in 2021. We then had to move to Zoom sessions. Whilst not as effective as face to face, we kept up the meetings once or twice per week. That lockdown ended in late 2021 and at the end of that year, Fr Biju invited me to a special celebration, the 25th anniversary of his ordination. It was a triple celebration as it was also the 25th anniversary for two other priests from Kerala. The special Mass was celebrated almost entirely in the Malayalam language. It was a truly colourful and wonderful experience.
Fr Biju and I continue with our meetings, often followed by lunch. I had the real honour last year when Fr Biju invited me to lunch with Bishop Jose Porunnedom from his Diocese in Kerala, during the Bishop’s visit to Australia. The bond that has developed between Fr Biju and me, and the easy going nature of Bishop Jose, meant the lunch was a truly memorable one for us all. Fr Biju and I will continue with our sessions, but I have recently learned from Fr David Ranson, Vicar General of the Broken Bay Diocese, that a new priest is arriving from India who the Diocese would like us to assist. I am putting out the call to Brothers in Province 21 to reach out with their offers of assistance and am looking forward to doing the same myself.
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