16 Catholic Diocese of Sandhurst Year in Review 2025 “Synodality calls us to, and models, a way of learning from and being enriched by the people around us, including those who may be most different and most distant from us.” Most Rev. Shane Mackinlay, 8th Bishop of Sandhurst, 22 April 2025 Dr Chris cotter Director Mission and Pastoral Life For me (and I imagine for many others), the most significant events in the life of the Diocese in 2025, aside from the death of Pope Francis and the election of Pope Leo, were the announcement of the appointment of Bishop Shane as the Archbishop of Brisbane in June, the election of Father Brian Boyle as Diocesan Administrator and the death of Monsignor Frank Marriott OAM. Archbishop Shane appointed me as the Sandhurst Director of Mission and Pastoral Life in July 2021. He preached and lived an intentionally synodal style of leadership and it was an honour and a joy to learn from and collaborate with him, and many others, in the task of renewing our diocesan strategies, structures and practices in response to Pope Francis’ call to become a truly synodal Church. I shall miss Archbishop Shane’s leadership and companionship, and I pray for him as he shepherds the people of God in Brisbane. Over the last four and a half years I have also worked closely with Father Brian Boyle, so I was pleased when he was elected by his brother Consultors as Diocesan Administrator. I was also pleased when Father Brian announced that he intended to remain faithful to Archbishop Shane’s leadership and act in continuity with the priorities and direction set by him. It is worth noting that, during our diocesan consultations in 2022, many of the people we met expressed their concern that the initiatives begun by Bishop Shane would stop and be forgotten or dismissed if he ceased to be Bishop of Sandhurst (see Sandhurst Mission and Council: Preparation and Consultation Meetings Final Report, p. 28). I am delighted to report that, under Father Brian’s care, the development of plans and the activation of projects and events that are making steps towards achieving the Strategic Mission and Pastoral Goals promulgated in November 2024, have continued in 2025 and after the See became vacant on 11 September. I came to know Monsignor Frank Marriott when he was parish priest in Wodonga. Monsignor Frank held out a bold and inspiring vision for the people of God which, in my experience, he always proposed and never presumed to impose. On the way, he wanted collaborators and not servants, and I felt honoured that he recognised my gifts and encouraged me as a fellow pilgrim and a lay-leader coresponsible for the mission. And, whilst Monsignor Frank was willing to learn from others, he never wasted any of his time on what he saw as unsatisfactory ideas, flawed solutions or programmatic responses to complex problems. He wasn’t always right, but Monsignor Frank’s vision for who we are becoming was pure gold. Looking back, he reminds me a little of the portrayal of Jesus in Mark’s Gospel, always on the move and busy preaching God’s Kingdom, fiercely compassionate, humble, prayerful and occasionally annoyed with his colabourers. I shall miss Monsignor Frank, a holy and wholly visionary and practical priest and human being. December 2024 saw the close of the special Jubilee to celebrate 150 years of the Diocese of Sandhurst and the opening of the Jubilee Year for the Universal Church “Pilgrims of Hope”. Archbishop Shane nominated five pilgrimage sites across the Diocese and many local pilgrimages to those sites have been undertaken using the resources developed by the Mission and Pastoral Life Team: the Mass Tree in Wahgunyah, the grave of Rev. George Galen in Wangaratta, the Mary MacKillop Indigenous Garden and History Trail in Numurkah, the grave of Dr Henry Backhaus at St Kilian’s, and Sacred Heart Cathedral in Bendigo. The Sandhurst Mission and Pastoral Council (SMPC) met three times during 2025 and, as you have read in the report by the Chair, Mr Mick Chalkley, this participatory body has been very active throughout the year. Whilst the Council is no longer meeting, due to the absence of a Bishop, all of the members have remained active in the life of their parishes and
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