Holy Trinity Parish in Embleton celebrated its 50th anniversary on the Feast of the Holy Trinity on June 15.
To mark the milestone, parishioners and clergy gathered for a special Mass, which was concelebrated by Archbishop Emeritus Barry Hickey and parish priest Fr Joseph Rathnaraj.
“Usually we have two Masses,” Fr Rathnaraj told The Record.
“The first is on Sundays at 9am and one at 11am for the Indigenous people, but this time it was all in one Mass and we celebrated as one community.”
More than 200 people attended the parish’s Golden Jubilee celebrations, which continued in the parish hall after the Mass.
“We had a sumptuous festival meal that was partaken in by all present,” Fr Rathnaraj said.
“We had a cake cutting and it was a special honour for the parishioners that were present there who were also there for the original inauguration of the parish 50 years ago.”
Established by Archbishop Prendiville in 1964, the first parish priest appointed to Holy Trinity Parish was Fr Jeremiah McNamara.
Even though Holy Trinity Parish began functioning as a parish in the early 1960s, it wasn’t until nine years later in 1973 that the building was complete, with the parish celebrating 40 years since its completion in 2013.
“A memorial plaque has been fitted at the church entrance,” Fr Rathnaraj said.
“The parish council happily arranged everything and a lot of memories were shared with the people in a PowerPoint presentation at the end of the Mass.
“It was a happy celebration and lots of sharing memories, and as a new parish priest I had the happy privilege of celebrating the occasion with the proud people of the parish of Embleton.”