The Seminary Of The Good Shepherd

23/05/2026

We come to the end of another Ordination roundup with Deacon Anthony Karaira on the Feast of St Matthias the Apostle (May 14). With Bishop Richard Umbers as our presider, we all battled the heavy rain to celebrate our brother from Uganda, who accepted his vocation with humility and joy. The liturgy was solemn and full of beauty, which was followed by great festivities and good food to celebrate the wonderful occasion.

Please continue to pray for our brother Anthony with his ministry, and we'll post more photos when they come out. Thank you again for tuning in to another Ordination roundup and we look forward to the next one.

May God bless you always!

St Joseph’s parish in Enfield in Sydney’s inner west has welcomed Anthony Karaira as the archdiocese’s newest deacon.

13/05/2026

We make a slight detour on our Ordination roundup to congratulate Anthony Karaira on his Profession of Faith, Oath of Fidelity and Promise of Celibacy last Thursday evening on the Feast of St Joseph the Worker.

Held at the Seminary, this event is the final step before one becomes a deacon, during which one makes a declaration of commitment to a life of service to the Church and to our Lord, as a shepherd of the flock. We are grateful that Anthony is willing and devoted to this vocation, and we eagerly await his Diaconate Ordination tomorrow evening.

We look forward to showing you the special occasion when the photos arrive, and may God bless you all.

06/05/2026

We move on in our Ordination roundup to the Diocese of Bathurst where we celebrate the presbyterial Ordination of our brother Ha. On May 1 (The Feast of St Joseph the Worker) with Bishop Michael McKenna presiding, people from Bathurst and beyond braved the cold weather to witness a joyful and beautiful evening. We all welcomed a new worker of the Church, who is willing to serve Bathurst with a strong faith.

Please pray for Fr Ha in his new ministry and that our brother inspires us to persevere in our formation by trusting in our Heavenly Father for his guidance.

Tune in for the final part of this Ordination roundup and may God bless you always!

Joyful Celebration as Father Ha Van Tran Ordained to the Priesthood

The Catholic Diocese of Bathurst rejoiced on 1 May 2026 as Deacon Ha Van Tran was ordained to the priesthood in the Cathedral of St Michael and St John, Bathurst. Family, friends and faithful gathered from across the Diocese, around Australia and from overseas to witness this significant moment in the life of the Church.

It was a special joy to welcome Father Ha’s parents and younger brother, who travelled to share in this memorable occasion and to support him as he begins his priestly ministry.

The Ordination Mass was enriched by music generously offered by the Cathedral Parish choir, the Good Shepherd Seminary Scholar and a Vietnamese choir. Their contribution added to the beauty and spirit of the liturgy, reflecting the unity and diversity of the Church.

Following many years of formation, prayer and preparation, Father Ha now begins his ministry as a priest of the Diocese of Bathurst. The faithful gave thanks to God for his vocation and for the gift of a new priest for the Diocese.

Bishop Michael McKenna has appointed Father Ha to St Bridget’s Parish, Dubbo, where he will commence his first pastoral assignment as a priest.

Please continue to keep Father Ha in your prayers as he begins this new chapter of service to God’s people.

Photos of the celebration are available at https://bathurst.catholic.org.au/joyful-celebration-as-father-ha-van-tran-ordained-to-the-priesthood/

30/04/2026

It’s time for another Ordination roundup!

We begin with a triple priestly ordination for the Broken Bay diocese, as we congratulate Fr Shayne, Fr Tan and Fr Huy.

Celebrated on the Feast of St Catherine of Siena (April 29) and presided by Archbishop Anthony Randazzo, the evening was filled with joy and reverence as our brothers were filled with emotions witnessing the support of our Lord and of the community who accompanied them since the beginning of their journey. It is safe to say that we were all emotional throughout the evening.

Please continue to pray for our newly ordained priests as they begin their ministry serving the Church. We will come back for the next instalment of this week’s ordination roundup.

May God bless you always!

27/04/2026

The Seminary can provide unexpected and special opportunities. Our first-year brothers experienced one of them last Friday when they met the recently installed Patriarch Mar Paulos III Nona, of the Chaldean Eparchy of Australia and New Zealand.

On most Fridays, the first-year seminarians go out on a pastoral visit to different sites of the Catholic Church. Last week, they went to St Thomas the Apostle Chaldean Church in Bossley Park. It was an opportunity to learn the richness in the culture and history of our Eastern brothers, but it is not every day that you meet the Patriarchal See of this order!

Please continue to pray for us Seminarians, the next few weeks are full on with studies and events. We keep going under the guidance of our Lord and Saviour.

May God bless you always!

31/03/2026

The Seminary is a place of prayer and reverence. But it can also be a place of celebration!

Every year, we celebrate the Solemnity of St Patrick in Australia (March 17) with food, drinks, music and activities that make the Seminary a vibrant and joyful place to be. We even had a visit from St Patrick himself!

This year was particularly special as the celebration was held on the Solemnity of St Joseph (March 19), arguably the greatest saint after Mary and another reason why we should celebrate.

As we head further into Holy Week, awaiting the Passion of Christ and his resurrection, please continue to keep us in your prayers. We are all with our respective diocese/eparchy serving in the liturgies that are important for our faith during this week. There will be much to do for us.

May God bless you all and a Blessed Easter!

19/03/2026

On the 12th of March, we were accompanied by the Manly Union, an association of mostly clergymen honouring the history of Seminary formation at St Patrick's College, Manly, and supporting current seminarians and vocations financially and through programmes for ongoing formation

It was a wonderful time with good food and great fellowship. It was also a great chance to get to know the priests, with their wisdom and insight, and celebrate certain milestones in their ministry of proclaiming the Gospel and making Christ known to others.

For more information about the association, please go to https://www.manlyunion.org.au/

For now, God bless you all and look forward more events to come on this page!

13/03/2026

Our First Year Seminarians:

Praise God that our brothers have been able to settle in nicely amongst everyone in the Seminary. They have become a faith-filled and vibrant group over the last couple of months.

Please pray for Jordan, Bryce, Samuel, Anthony, Kava, Anthony, Anh, Domenic, Andrew, Lawrence, Nicholas, Johnathan and Joseph. May continue to put their trust in the Lord with their vocation and discernment.

God bless you all.

02/03/2026

For our final ordination in the roundup, we finish with a love story. On the feast of St Valentine, our brother Lawrence Zimbe was ordained to the Diaconate for the Archdiocese of Sydney. Presided by Bishop Danny Meagher, the liturgy reflected Lawrence's deep love for Our Lord, Mary Our blessed Mother, and for the Church that he chose to give up his life to serve. Seeing the number of people who were impacted by our brother's vibrant personality was wonderful.

It was also a blessing to see Lawrence's friends and family from Uganda, all the way from Uganda, celebrating their brother on a major milestone in his life. Please continue to pray for Deacon Lawrence for his ministry to bear great fruit, and thank you for being part of our Ordination roundup. More opportunities will be coming for another one soon.

God bless you all and may he give you peace.

We express gratitude to Alphonsus Fok for providing the photo of the event.

27/02/2026

*This is a repost due to an issue with the photos*

We were not blessed with just one Ordination on the feast of the Presentation. We had two! Over at Harris Park in Our Lady of Lebanon, we celebrated the Diaconate of Dominic Altakchy for the Maronite Eparchy of Australia, New Zealand and Oceania. Under Bishop Antoine-Charbel Tarabay, OLM, the occasion was full of emotion and beauty as we acknowledged a well-deserved milestone for our Eastern brother.

Please keep Deacon Dominic in your prayers, especially as he is currently in Lebanon as part of his formation before entering the priesthood. May he continue to serve the Maronite community and bring it to even greater witness of the faith, Inshallah!

One more Ordination to go in our roundup, God bless you all.