St Mary's Ascot Vale and St Margaret's Maribyrnong

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St Mary's Ascot Vale and St Margaret's Maribyrnong

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30/08/2026

A second Gathering at St. Margaret’s School took place on Saturday, 22nd August, from 2.00-3.30pm. The Gathering fulfilled its purpose, which was to…
1.Update, providing any new information.
2.Respond to the question: what is to be captured, honoured, and shared about the history/ identity/ story of St. Margaret’s Church?
3.Respond to the question: how is a final Mass in St. Margaret’s Church envisaged?

Re Update

Since the first Gathering advice has been received from the Insurance and Risk Lead of the Archdiocese that while waiting for the insurer (Aon) to confirm coverage of the church until 30 November 2026, the Parish may want to consider -
1. That the final date for the closure of the church fall in line with the current insurance period 31 October 2026. As this would provide a saving to the Parish as no further premiums would be payable for the Church. It is proposed, then, that the church would be insured only for “removal of debris”.
2. Then, following the closure of the church (if possible, prior to
31/10/2026), the insurer would request –
- The church is secured behind fencing and no longer occupied
- Contents of the church removed
- The site is subject to a minimum weekly inspection or weekly security patrol
3. It is then pointed out: The Parish would need to confirm acceptance of ROD (removal of debris) insurance until this property is cleared of all buildings (no insurance required for vacant land). The date put to those in attendance as the date for the final Mass in St. Margaret’s Church was 25th October, the Sunday prior to the end of the month. There were no objections.

Re The TwoQuestions:

Two Committees are in the process of being convened:

History Committee: the work of this committee is to consider what of the life and story of St. Margaretʼs Church, the Mass community, is to be held onto and honoured? How will this be done?
Adam Bui is the contact and leader -
[email protected]
Phone: 0469 583 228

Final Mass Committee: the work of this committee is to plan the liturgy and what might follow the Mass.
Richard Turnbull is the contact and leader -
[email protected]
Phone: 0438 377510

NB: Several parishioners have already expressed their interest in being in one or both committees. Further enquiries may be made, but the number on these committees may have to be limited.
At the end of this past week the Letter of Petition was forwarded to the Archbishop for his response.

23/08/2026

Please note the following timely report of the Gathering 2 is the work of an attendee, not official minutes of the meeting. There may be errors which will be corrected as they are uncovered.

Father Des welcomed us and introduced the purpose of today which is to discuss what it is about St Margaret’s Church that we want to capture, honour and share about the history / identity / story of St Margarets Church. and how is the Final Mass envisaged. Jacqui Giuliano, (Proclaim: Office for Mission Renewal), led the group in prayer and discussion on the situation as it stands in relation to the timeline for closure of St Margarets Church. Of crucial importance are the ongoing discussions with John Rudd, Principal of the Primary School, regarding the School Masterplan which includes hoping that a meeting space big enough for school Masses and weekend Masses might be included.

The assurance was repeated that Parish land will not be sold. Ongoing insurance is an issue. We are planning that the church remain open until 31st October 2026, ( the 25th October would be the last Sunday and the final Mass) after which date the Insurance company Eon would ask that the site be enclosed by a fence, with contents removed and regular security patrols implemented to ensure squatters did not take up residence.

A general discussion followed with the following points were raised:

• Father Des will be on annual holidays at the time of the last Mass but he will break his holiday to attend and celebrate the last Mass.
• Clearing of the site needs to happen within 24 months. That includes the building only, the trees surrounding the church need to be retained. All trees were planted by Leonie’s dad from the beginning of the parish until the 1980s.
• Who will inform local community (non church goers) that a Maribyrnong landmark is closing? Letterbox drop may be an answer.
• Discussion on moving final 8.30am Mass to a later time in the day may be useful if we decide to go for a Memorial Lunch, but a desire expressed that we retain the 8.30am time.
• Two new groups formed from people present- one to look at recording the history of St Margarets Church and the other to work on final Mass details.

Discussion continued in small groups which looked at what was to be retained and remembered about this great part of our Parish. Ideas from our group included:

• Livestream and recording of final Mass.
• Photo of St Margaret near Sacristy be re-housed in the Foyer area of the school along with a short biography of St Margaret. Need to discuss this with Principal.
• Handouts for all who attend final Mass should include a written history of the Parish in booklet form.
• Invite Fathers Justin, Jim and others connected to our Parish to concelebrate the Mass.

We finished with afternoon tea including food prepared by Bosko and cakes again prepared by Ron, this time including a diabetic friendly cake. Overall the meeting was a valuable step in walking with the worshipping community.

20/08/2026

There will be a morning tea at St Mary's after 10.30am Mass on Sunday 13th September. New parishioners are especially invited to come and meet fellow parishioners. Everyone else is also invited. Please come along and meet and chat with the people we see at Mass, but may not have spoken to. before - or just catch up with friends. We hope many of you will attend. Bring a plate of food if you can, we will be grateful!

16/08/2026

The second Gathering will spend time working out how we can respond to the question of what is to be captured, honoured and shared regarding the history / identity / story of St Margaret's Church. Any photos or other memorabilia that were taken at any time over these many years takes on a new significance as we glance back in history to the early days of the church and school. We express our gratitude to Carl who has contributed 15 excellent photos taken on the first few days of the schools opening in the back of the Church. Also if you can identify anyone in these photos that information would also be helpful. Thanks to the Ashton family for help given already.
We have an anonymous history written on St Margaret's Church which would be an excellent twin to the history we already have of St Mary's Church, possibly by the same author from around 1990. Illustrating a history of St Margaret's would be a great aim to have. It would be a good way to help commemorate this most important part of our Parish.

03/08/2026

Have you made plans this Saturday? We have just the perfect itinerary for you - observing the Feast Day of our one and only beloved saint of Australia: St. Mary of the Cross MacKillop!

The Feast Day of St Mary MacKillop is celebrated on Saturday, 8 August 2026.

St Mary's and St Margaret's are not affiliated with the organisation of the Mary McKillop Spiritual Centre Open Day.

30/07/2026

The recent Gathering at St. Margaret’s School brought to surface concerns that the parish land would be sold and “turned into apartments”. With this in mind, it is important that the following points are now clarified:
1. The Parish will not be selling the land on which St. Margaret’s Church now sits.
2. Future use of the land will be considered strictly within the context of the St. Margaret’s School masterplan and the Parish masterplan. A decision regarding the use of the land within these contexts
has not been made and will only be made following a further period of discernment and consultation.
3. The land will continue to serve the Parish’s Mission of Faith, although the form which that takes has not been determined, and will only be determined following further consultation. In sharing the above information, the fervent hope is that there be a walking with the worshipping community of St. Margaret’s, and so, taking the next steps together.
The next Gathering will take place on Saturday, 22nd August, from 2.00- 3.30pm.
The purpose of this Gathering will be to:
4. Update, providing any new information.
5. Respond to the question: what is to be captured, honoured, and shared about the history/ identity/ story of St. Margaret’s Church?
6. Respond to the question: how is a final Mass in St. Margaret’s Church envisaged?
For the Reception of Feedback: [email protected]

22/07/2026

The Gathering was held last Saturday 18 July. It was characterised by the spirited free form discussion that was held and a delicious afternoon tea thanks to Bosko and Ron (who baked a single cake that fed all 35 attendees). Carl also delivered on his promise of bringing photos from the earliest years of St Margaret's school (1949 - 1950) which was held at the back of the church in a curtained off area run by Mrs Rafferty. The image included in this report shows what we think of as the back of the church but it was the front of the school in those days. Notice the grounds which seem to be overgrown grass reaching out to the street. The footpath would have been indicated by a well worn furrow in the grass. The church from the outside looks identical to its looks today. This is drop off or pick up time, with mums arriving not in mid sized or large SUVs but with simple prams. Note the Nissen hut in the distance, another military echo.

In the photo below we enter the building and see possibly Father Catarinich, Pierce or Thomas who were all in the Parish at the time meeting with a parent with child with the woman in the dark coat presumably Mrs Rafferty. No carpet, and no walls covered in educational posters as you would find today (although a view to the front of the teaching space would have been more revealing) No kneelers on the church pews!

17/07/2026

The Gathering is on this afternoon at the St Margaret's Primary Multi Purpose Room 2.00 until 4.00pm. Come along and don't forget to bring any photos or memorabilia of this wonderful part of our Parish. Scripture preview: John: 20:11-18 Mary at the Empty Tomb experiences sadness, sorrow, loss and grief.

10/07/2026

Follow the link to read all about the future of St Margaret's Church: https://www.melbcatholic.org/s/articles/a19Ol000001xxMrIAI/background-qa-st-margarets-and-the-parish-masterplan

05/07/2026

The theme for Seafarers Sunday 2026 is ‘Harbours of Hope: The Church Alongside Seafarers, ’ celebrating ‘the local church as a place of welcome, refuge, and hope — a community offering both spiritual and practical safety to those who work at sea. It invites congregations to reflect on how they can stand alongside seafarers through prayer, hospitality, generosity, and justice.’
Further information: https://www.missiontoseafarers.org/sea-sunday

Though this Sunday's Mass readings does not have a special focus on the care of creation, all readings focus on seeds, soil, rain, wind, snow, harvesting, and all that emerges from them. God’s promise of final fulfilment to all creation is the utmost ‘harbour of hope’ for our troubled world.

Address

123 St Leonards Road Ascot Vale
Melbourne, VIC
3032

Telephone

+61393706688

Website

https://www.melbcatholic.org/ascotvale

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