IF one looks closely at the stained glass window behind the altar at the ten year old parish of Yangebup, a cat called Benedict can be seen curling behind the foot of an apostle at the Last Supper.
Benedict was Fr Bryan Rosling’s cat who faithfully accompanied him from parish to parish over the course of his 16 year life span until his death in August 2001 at Mater Christi parish in Yangebup.
From the day Fr Rosling took Benedict home as a kitten from Kulin parish – where he was with the priest for three years – in 1985 until his death, Benedict and Fr Rosling were company for each other at St Columba’s in Bayswater for six years and later at St Thomas the Apostle parish in Claremont for five years.
From Claremont, Fr Rosling moved to the 1,000-strong Mater Christi parish in Yangebup situated on Perth’s outer southern corridor at the end of 1998.
Since Benedict’s death in August 2001, Fr Rosling has been accompanied by Lionel (pictured), a Maine Coon cat he adopted from the cat orphanage in Jandakot and which suffers with ‘Cat AIDS’, otherwise known as feline hepatitis or Feline Immunodeficiency Disease (FIV). Cat AIDS can be transmitted to other cats, but not to humans, Fr Rosling said.
Lionel, adopted in 2001 in Yangebup, is also immortalised in a Yangebup stained glass window.
He’s pictured at the foot of the late Pope John Paul II, who died in 2005 – around the time the new parish was being planned and built.
It was at Fr Rosling’s request the cats were included in the stained glass windows, designed by architect Dana Quinn in the newly built church designed by architect Jean-Mic Perrine.
Benedict was named after St Benedict as he adopted Benedict on the saint’s feast day.
Lionel was already named when he was brought home from the orphanage in Jandakot to Yangebup.
“We chose him because he was the unfriendliest and most needy; we got him for free,” Fr Rosling said, adding that other people had returned him to the orphanage.
When The Record asked Fr Rosling if Lionel came to Mass regularly, he said, “(Lionel) looks in occasionally; he doesn’t come to church much.
“He welcomes people to the presbytery,” Fr Rosling said.
Silhouettes of black cats are also pinned around the door frame – a reminder, Fr Rosling says, of the company that a priest – or anyone, for that matter – can seek. “You need company in your life,” Fr Rosling said.
The Mater Christi parish was completed in 2000 for under $800,000. It has since been insured for replacement to the tune of over $3 million.