September 12, 2016
Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge paid a visit to Durong on Sunday … the first time a Catholic Archbishop has visited the town in more than 50 years.
The last Archbishop to visit Durong was Dr Patrick O’Donnell, Archbishop of Brisbane from 1965-73.
Archbishop O’Donnell came to the tiny town on March 6, 1966, to officially open the new Church Of The Sacred Heart, which had been built by locals on land donated by a Durong farming family.
The purpose of Archbishop Coleridge’s visit was to mark the small church’s 50th anniversary with a celebratory Mass, assisted by Murgon parish priest Father Michael Carroll and former parish priest Father Mark Franklin, who served the area 14 years ago but now tends the Noosa parish.
Archbishop Coleridge, who originally considered a career in the Australian diplomatic service before being called to the priesthood in 1969, noted that parishioners at Durong had seen a “tumult of change” in both the church and society at large over the last half century.
Durong’s church had been founded shortly after Vatican II led to great changes within the Catholic Church.
And the Durong area itself – once very isolated – had been opened up to the wider world over the last 50 years, thanks largely to sealed roads, automobiles and modern telecommunications.
But throughout these decades of change, the church’s congregation had stayed true to their beliefs.
This was a testament to the strength of their faith, the Archbishop said.
Archbishop Coleridge also noted that Durong was located right at the western edge of Archdiocese, but said it was no less important for that.
“Everyone in Durong is important,” Archbishop Coleridge said
The Archbishop then read out the names of all congregation members who had died since the church was built, along with the names of parish members who were currently ill, and requested they be remembered in everyone’s prayers.
Towards the end of the Mass, Fr Michael Carroll announced he would be leaving the Murgon parish at the end of the year after six years service to the district.
Fr Carroll said a special meeting would be held at St Joseph’s Catholic Church in Murgon on September 27 so parish members can have their say about what services they’d like the Church to provide to them, moving forward.
Afterwards the 40 people in attendance – including some former members of the congregation who had made a special trip from Brisbane to attend the day’s celebrations – posed for photos outside the church before decamping to the nearby Duffield property for lunch.
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A Quick History Of The Durong Catholic Church
by Kathy Duff
I was only four when the Durong Catholic Church was opened on a piece of land donated by Robert Bond, and I can remember back then we all wore hats to church.
I had a white hat that sat at an angle like a discus, and I thought I looked really smart in my Sunday hat. But my little sister Susan had a white hat that was a tiered shape, and she didn’t like it when I told her I thought she looked like a mushroom.
Before the church existed, Masses were held in various homes from around 1922.
Later the gatherings were moved to the Durong Hall, and the priest would go back to one of the homes for lunch.
Father O’Halloran was one of the priests who said Masses in the hall, and he introduced Durong children to the idea of attending Sunday School.
John Kruger can remember a time in the early 1940s when he, Rita and Vince Kruger; Noelle, Clare, Paddy and Mick Duff; and Lorraine, Kath and Terry Bishop were taken to Murgon for confirmation in the back of my grandfather John Patrick’s truck.
It was Father O’Halloran who came up with the plan to build a church at Durong.
Jean Poole and Mary Bond visited Catholic families collecting funds to build it, and the generosity of the parishioners was so overwhelming the church was constructed and opened debt-free.
Tom Kemp, Keith Anderson and Jack Percival were the builders, and the altar was a secondhand one from Chinchilla.
My father Mick Duff can remember a working bee were everyone joined in to build the fence around the church – he and Stan Currin were assigned to the right hand side piece.
The Durong Catholic Church was opened on March 10, 1966, with a big celebration attended by many priests, nuns and visitors, along with the Archbishop of Brisbane Dr Patrick O’Donnell.
Father Brian Lee was the priest when the church was first opened.
Since then some of the parish priests who’ve conducted services there include Father Strathford, Frank O’Day, Joe McGheehan, Curate Father Simonis, Father Ellis Clifford, Father Mark Franklin, Father Dan Redhead, Father Henry and Father Michael Carroll.
A visit by missionary priests was a memorable time in the church’s history.
The missionaries ran special services at the church and stayed in various homes around the district.
I can remember when they stayed a few nights at our home, ‘Di Di’.
My brother Michael was only just learning to put sentences together, and our family were embarrassed when little Michael said to the missionary priest “Shut up or I’ll rip your bloody arms off” – a popular saying at the time and taught to him by my Uncle Paddy.
Kath Duff can remember her late husband Neil saying to one of the Missionary priests “you better get rolling or you will be late for Mass”.
The priest actually rolled the car over on that particular trip, but they laughed about it later.
Kath told me another story about missionary priest Father David, who was having a shower at Duffield, all soaped up singing “How Great Thou Art” at the top of his voice when the pump stopped, leaving him stark naked and covered in suds.
There was great embarrassment and merriment as he tried to alert the crew about his predicament.
The church has also been steadily improved over the last 50 years by a number of donations from local families.
Margaret Burns, Jean Pool and Kate Kruger funded the first carpet runner in memory of their late husbands; Dessy Riedy donated the church missal in memory of her husband Yorky Riedy; and Stan Currin donated the chalice.
There have been several weddings at the church including Brian and Annette Mearns, Scott and Janine McLellanan, Donna McInnes and my sister Susan.
There have also been lots of christenings, including the recent Creagh family christening.
Fay Kruger has been playing the church organ ever since the church opened, and there have been many families involved in the building’s care and upkeep, as well as participating in readings, eucharistic ministry and Prayers of the Faithful.
I have to especially mention Margaret Burns, Dessie Riedy, Fay Kruger and Kath Duff, who are just some of the people who have been active in ensuring the church has been looked after, and lately I believe Lauglin White and Annette McKeefe have been doing quite a bit of the maintenance, too.
Mass used to be held twice a month on the first and third Sunday, then it got changed to the second and fourth.
It took our family some time to adjust to the change and I can remember a few occasions being all dressed up to turn the corner and realise we had arrived on the wrong Sunday.
We also had to adjust to winter and summer times.
Fay Kruger has always been the person to ring to ensure it was the right time and the right Sunday.
For as long as I can remember, we have always had a cup of tea after Mass.
We now have monthly Masses, but we still have a wonderful Catholic community.
To conclude I will use the words of the late Mary Bond from her writings in “The Big Scrub” published in 1977, because I think these words are still very relevant today:
“On behalf of the community we would like to thank the parish priests who have served us faithfully over the last 50 years and the visiting Bishops – and today, on this special day, the Archbishop. May you continue to guide us and may we, your parishioners continue to serve both God and you faithfully for many more years to come.”
Note: This is an edited version of a speech Kathy Duff gave to lunch guests at Duffield on Sunday, September 11, following the 50th anniversary celebration Mass.
