St Paul of the Cross Feast Day
Tomorrow, October 19th, is the Feast Day
of St. Paul of the Cross (1694–1775), the
Founder of the Congregation of the
Passionists. His vision unites us, and for
that, we honour him with gratitude.
Today, the Passionists consist of over 2,000
vowed religious members, serving in more
than 60 countries worldwide. In addition to
these vowed members, thousands of lay
Passionists are actively involved in their
mission and community life, whether
through formal roles or as associates,
sharing in the Passionist spirituality and
mission of commemorating Christ's
Passion.
The Holy Cross Community will place
special emphasis on celebrating St. Paul of
the Cross this Sunday at the 10 a.m. Mass.
Happy Feast Day, everyone!

Reports
Here in Rome, the General Chapter devoted two days to reports from the General (Fr Joachim), the General Econome (Fr Antonio) and the six Configurations, representing Passionists around the world. Erick sent Joachim’s report last week, so there is no need to repeat that, other than to highlight from the summary a consistent decline in the numbers of Congregation’s personnel. It is expected that this downward trend (principally in the northern hemisphere) will continue, with religious ageing and retiring and with deaths and departures. Many houses and presences will have to be evaluated for closure, communities will need to be more concentrated and consolidated, and ministries limited or renewed.
In the last six-year General administration term, two Provinces in northern Europe: St. Gabriel’s Belgium and St. Joseph’s England/Wales/Sweden were suppressed. Both were unable to provide personnel for leadership and had too few members. Belgium is now the responsibility of the Superior General, while the St Joseph’s personnel chose to be incorporated into St. Patrick’s Province (Ireland and Scotland).

Rafael’s hidden talent revealed
While Rafael has been on holidays from ELSPM, he hasn’t wasted any time. He’s been
doing a lot of work around the centre, mainly with Joey, and often cooking for the
community. His hidden talent is being a
‘master chef’ of authentic Indonesian
cuisine. Last week, he made a special
Indonesian dish that was so good, many of
us went back for seconds and thirds. Later,
I found out the dish contained pork
blood—JD even showed me a photo to
prove it! During the meal, I kept
wondering, "What is this amazing flavour?"
After learning what it was, I wasn’t sure
how I would have felt at the time, but now
I realise that sometimes it’s not just about
what we eat, but how it’s prepared.
We truly appreciate Rafael’s contributions to the community, and we’d also like to
acknowledge Shirley Barns, who prepares evening meals for us on Mondays and
Wednesdays, along with Terese Lim and others who pitch in occasionally. We are very

Fire next door
Last Friday, a house next to Holy Cross caught fire.
One of our Italian parishioners, Vince Celestino, who
often volunteers to work on the Holy Cross car park,
happened to be nearby. Though he wouldn’t want
the recognition, Vince heroically stepped in,
alongside a passerby, to break a window and help
rescue the children, their pets, and some important
belongings.
Despite suffering a few burns, he ensured
everyone was safe, and fortunately, no one was
injured. Joey also visited the family a few times
afterward, offering support and asking if they
needed anything. We pray for the family as they
cope with the loss of their home and possessions,
and we thank Vince and Joey for embodying the
spirit of Christianity, especially Vince’s brave act
in helping our neighbour.

Greetings from Phi
I heard from Phi and asked him to share with us about
how Adelaide is treating him. Thank you Phi for taking
the time to write to us.
“Greetings to the Holy Cross Family from Adelaide,
As I reflect on the two years since joining the Holy Cross
community on the 20th of September, I’m struck by how
quickly time has passed.
Before coming to Holy Cross on the advice of Fathers
Brian and Tom, I was in a fragile and vulnerable state
due to my past experiences in Vietnam. Yet from the
moment I entered the Holy Cross, you all welcomed me
with open arms, offering support, sympathy, love, and
care. For that, I am very grateful. I feel privileged to be part of such a compassionate
and generous wider family, one that is always there for those in need, especially, this
‘bloody Vietnamese.’

“You have heard Fr. Joey, Fr. Erick and Fr. Kevin preaching many times. The
difference between their homilies and mine is that, they preach from their hearts, but for
me, I preach from my paper. Mr. Taylor gives me only five-f-f-fi-five minutes. I
understand that it is five times five, equal to twenty-five minutes. Therefore, the first
ten-minutes is about theology of mercy, which is God’s love for all people. That love
wasn’t a mere ideal but had been carried out in human history, especially in the person
of Jesus. The next ten minutes is reserved for the theology of today's Gospel, which
2
expresses that the criterion of our lives is LOVE. The last five-minutes is an invitation to
each of us to love and care for ourselves and the people around us. Please, bear with me
in this long homily (giving many smiles at this time)

Rafael passed his IELTS exam results!
Last Friday, Rafael passed his
results. When he got the text
message he jumped up and down
with a big smile (almost reaching
his ears), thanking everyone in our
community and making phone
calls to thank others.
To celebrate, Chris Monahan
prepared a delicious fish and chips
meal. While some of us had prayed
he might fail to keep him with us
longer, we recognised that passing was the best outcome for him,
-as God gives
what is best for us.
Rafael described the exam as “the most difficult experience” he has faced, especially
after spending 11 years as a parish priest in rural Indonesia, where he had little
focus on studies or English. His transition to Australia was challenging, but we have
all witnessed his hard work and significant progress, especially in recent months. IN
addition to the stress, his eyesight had been poor until he got new glasses after the
exam! We congratulate him for this achievement, which enables him to begin his
new mission in Vanimo, PNG.

Joey is back
Joey arrived back in Melbourne yesterday
after three months of traveling in the USA,
begging for money to support Passionist
Mission Projects for PNG. The photo was
taken at St Therese of Carmel, the second last
parish, before he completed the mission
appeals at St Luke’s Church.
Below is his reflection while at St Luke’s.
“Finally it ends here at St. Luke Church, Foster
City, CA! It seemed impossible at the beginning! With every step of the journey,
there was discovery, growth, and a transformative experience within! The incredible
hands of God was at work in all the experiences, the challenges, the travels and the
connections with people! I am grateful to the people of the Church in the States!
May God bless you all for your love, generosity, hospitality and friendship! Everyday I
travelled, I had my rosary in one pocket, and my phone on the other! Yes, my Blessed
Mother was with me all the way, and through her prayers I’ve done something that
seemed impossible possible! Ironically, I finished at a church whose patron saint is
St. Luke! The author of St. Luke’s Gospel wrote the Acts of the Apostles! Which is
about the spread and growth of the early Church, the mission to the gentiles, the
evangelization of the gospel of Christ to the ends of the earth! A powerful reminder
that this is not where the mission ends, but where it begins! Have a blessed week
ahead!”

Greetings to you all.
Once again while Brian is away, I will be communicating with you through this
means. It is an honour to continue Brian’s initiative, but I am afraid that I am not
anywhere near as good as him when it comes to writing.
There is a saying “If you don’t have anything good to say, stay mute.” If you do not
hear from me or find yourself going through the newsletter in 43 seconds, you will
know why. There will be still things that you may prefer not to read because it’s not
important to you, all because of my verbal diarrhoea, but let us hope we can keep in
touch until Brian, our leader returns.
I look forward to hearing any interesting news you might share with me, preferably
with a photo, so that I can add to this communication – Thank you to those that
shared personal news with me last time.

Dublin seminary has only one student
Fr Séamus McEntee, the vocations director for the Archdiocese of Dublin, confirmed that Holy Cross, the Dublin seminary has just one student, with a second man joining next month. The news comes amid Ireland’s Catholic Church consolidating its six dioceses into three. It is the largest restructure in nearly 900 years.
As well as a shortage of priests, the consolidation comes amidst a declining number of practising Catholics and, with many priests nearing retirement combined with the significant lack of new seminarians, the future looks very different from what the country is used to.
Ireland has 2,100 priests serving an estimated 3.5 million Catholics, which is similar to Australia which has 2,900 priests for 5.2 million Catholics. New Zealand has 530 priests for 300,000 Catholics. Papua New Guinea has for 400 priests for 4,200,000 and Vietnam has 27,00 priests (and 2,600 seminarians) for 7,000,000 Catholics