Sacred Heart Catholic church marks 100 years
By Sonia Isaacs
ON Sunday, February 4, the whole community will be welcomed to attend centenary celebrations for the Maleny Sacred Heart Church. Archbishop Mark Coleridge will celebrate the 9am Mass, and unveil a commemorative plaque and dedication to mark the momentous milestone. To add to the significance of the occasion, Maleny stalwart, Vince Carberry, will welcome the current Archbishop, having also been in attendance to previously welcome the former Archbishop Rush, 50 years previously!
The morning’s official activities will be followed by morning tea provided by Maleny QCWA in the Pat Daley function centre and a historical AV presentation featuring a collection of old photos. To preserve the memory of the activities, the recently appointed parish priest, Fr Josh Whitehead, will house key documents in a specially commissioned red cedar time capsule.
Organising committee member and chair of the celebrations history committee, Anne Minter, said more than 20 parish members had been working around the clock for the last four months to pull the community celebrations together. She said as part of creating a treasured memory of the occasion, a strictly limited edition of a book commemorating the anniversary had been commissioned and would be on sale at the centenary.
She said the commemorative book provided an insightful collection of photos and stories from both present and past parishioners and priests. Written by Elizabeth Caffery with editorial input from well known local author Jack Wilcox, the book involved many months of painstaking research.
“Jack Wilcox was an integral part of ensuring the quality of this specially commissioned work which traces the story from the gifting of the land by Patrick Daley in 1924. Liz and Jack have worked extremely diligently and we are thrilled with both the book and plans for the day’s festivities,” said Anne.
Anne said she hoped that many former members who have moved away from the mountain would return for the celebration, and past parishioners, priests, and other dignitaries as well as all current community members are invited to attend. A 12.30pm lunch will be followed by cake, and placement of the time capsule at 1pm. The time capsule crafted by Vince Carberry’s nephew will contain an archival disc of early records and photos amongst other items.
While the original wooden church was replaced by the brick building 50 years ago, some items from 1924 remain today including the alter boys seat and holy water font. Attendees can join in at any time throughout the day for the celebrations.
For more details contact 0419 545 711.