Barnabas Fund works to provide hope and aid for the persecuted Church, from Christians, to Christians, through Christians.

Barnabas Fund also supports prayer groups and acts as a conduit for information and prayer between persecuted Christians worldwide and those who are able to pray for them.

A number of Barnabas Prayer Groups in the Sandhurst Diocese facilitate prayers on behalf of persecuted Christians. All sincere prayers are welcome to join.

Fr John Naughton passed away peacefully at Ave Maria Shepparton on Wednesday 2 September, 2020. In memory of Fr John, we provide eulogies written by his brother, Peter Naughton, and family friend and fellow priest, Monsignor Frank Marriott. Fr John’s Funeral Mass was celebrated by Bishop Shane Mackinlay at St Brendan’s Church in Shepparton on Wednesday 9 September and can still be viewed online. If you would like to view the Mass click here.

Diocesan Disability Contact Coordinator, Mary Pianta, is excited to help Sandhurst parishes to learn from each other and other dioceses, about ways in which we can all foster the full participation of people living with disability in parish life. To do this, Mary is seeking people from each parish to act as disability contacts, so we can share our stories and work together to implement positive change.

11 October 2020

This year the Annual Bendigo Marian Festival will take place with a small gathering at St Liborius' Church, Eaglehawk. You are invited to join in the proceedings online. Starting at 10:30 a.m. with Mass celebrated by Fr Stephen Bolling, Spiritual Director to the Bendigo Apostolate of Our Lady of Fatima.

by John Murphy, president of RAR Bendigo.

Rural Australians for Refugees (RAR) is a network of groups in regional and rural Australia made up of concerned citizens working to support refugees and advocate for people seeking asylum. There are several RAR groups in the Sandhurst area, RAR Bendigo is one of them. John Murphy, President of RAR Bendigo writes about their mission and activities and invites you to consider joining your local group.

The 106th World Day of Migrants and Refugees (WDMR) will be celebrated on 27 September 2020.
This year, Pope Francis has chosen ‘Forced like Jesus to flee’ as the title for his annual message to focus on the pastoral care of internally displaced people (IDPs), while understanding there are those who are also feeling ‘displaced’.

“He who sings well, prays twice.”
-St. Augustine of Hippo 

Sandhurst seminarian, Dominic Manatad enjoys singing with Corpus Christi’s ‘Seminary Schola’ so much, that he hopes to share his joy via a YouTube recording.

by Mary Painta, Disability Contact Coordinator

Almost half a million Australians live with dementia and this number is set to double in the next twenty-five years. Many people living with the disease can live active and rich lives many years after diagnosis. How can our parish communities become more dementia-friendly? 

A living treasure of our diocese, Fr Paul Purcell celebrated his 40th year as a priest in July this year. Fr Paul is proud to have received all of his sacraments in his home parish of Yarraville, where he was born and raised, including his ordination to the priesthood in 1980.

Like many of our priests, Fr Paul has lived an enriched, adventurous and rewarding life.

It’s never been easy to be a Christian in the Holy Land; challenges in the middle-east remain as complex as ever. As Catholics, we have an opportunity to express our solidarity with the descendants of those who first believed and lived the Christian faith, and offer hope by supporting the Pontifical Good Friday Collection.
This year, due to the closure of many Churches during Holy Week, Pope Francis has moved the date of the Good Friday Collection to Sunday 13 September to coincide with the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross.