By Anthony Barich
FATHER Elver Delicano has picked up the pieces in Maida Vale Parish over the last eight months, establishing its first parish council in 10 years.
Fr Elver, 36, said he did not know where or how to start when he was installed on 13 August last year as parish priest at St Francis of Assisi, after long-time parish priest Fr Steve Durkin passed away after a long battle with cancer on 13 July, two weeks shy of his 54th birthday.
Fr Durkin was known as a great storyteller and parishioners still talk about his impressive homilies. Formerly stationed in Kalgoorlie, parishioners remember him as definitively Australian and very congenial.
He was particularly good with children, which subsequently brought many lapsed parents back to the Church.
When he transformed his pet dogs into reindeer for Christmas events, it was a “huge hit” with the kids. He also had four geese, which Fr Elver – who has a great devotion to St Francis – has since inherited.
Fr Elver initially joined the Franciscans in Manila and studied at the Franciscan Our Lady of the Angels Seminary in Manila. He was also ordained on the feast of the great saint, 4 October.
Parishioners say attendance is up and they are jumping at opportunities to become involved in new initiatives.
This year’s Anzac Day Mass drew more people than in recent memory, so Fr Elver invited them to the old parish hall – the shed that served as the original church – for a cuppa. It was so successful it inspired Fr Elver to see the need for a social committee.
A social committee’s fundraising efforts will be needed to install a fence surrounding the church property – which could cost tens of thousands of dollars – as vandals have damaged the outdoor statue of St Francis so often and so badly it had to be removed, and youths often do burn-outs on the church’s sizable parking lot.
The new parish council established by Fr Elver has several subcommittees looking after everything from the Legion of Mary and the St Vincent de Paul Society to commentators, special ministers, flowers and ground maintenance.
Importantly, Matthew Gibney Catholic Primary School Principal Ashley Arnold is on the new 18-person parish council to help facilitate greater unity between the parish and the nearby school.
“Ashley’s heart is truly in the parish,” Fr Elver said. “He goes far beyond what is normally expected of a school principal, especially in regards to the sacraments.”
Fr Elver ensures baptisms of families in the school take place during regular parish Masses so the parish embraces them.
He also has a particular focus on home visitations, including the sacraments. The new finance committee, headed by Roy, an accountant, has installed five air conditioners in the church while a new multimedia overhead projector is on the planning books. Fr Elver has invited the Legion of Mary Frank Duff Prayer Group to meet monthly to pray the Rosary after the 9.30am Mass in the church rather than in the hall.
He has also switched Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament from after the 9.30am Mass on the last Friday of each month to before the Mass, and has mandated 15 minutes of silence “to spend time with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament” before they start the Rosary.
These and other initiatives, he and the parish council have started, have helped the parish become a family, Fr Elver said.
He always allows several months of prayer, discernment and reflection before suggesting anything, as he learned much about lay empowerment in his seminary formation in the Philippines. “I love to work with people. When parishioners serve the parish it becomes a community of faith, a community of disciples,” he said, adding that permanent Deacon Trevor Lyra has been an invaluable help to his sacramental and pastoral ministry. Fr Elver was formerly assistant parish priest at Mundaring; Maida Vale is his first posting as parish priest.
Last year he invited close to 200 volunteers of the parish and their families to a Thanksgiving Mass to thank them for their time, service and talents, as “they are gifts of the Church”. “One thing I’ve learned as a priest in a new parish is it’s important to know your people. It’s not that important to do what I want or just to provide what the parish needs, but to allow God to inspire; because, as much as possible, I’d like to do what God wants in the parish,” he said. “Life as a parish priest is not easy or hard. It is a life of sacrifice – giving oneself for love of God, the Church and the people of God especially.”
New parish chairman George Favacho said his new role has also given him a broader perspective of what is involved in the running of a parish.
George and Roy, both daily communicants, said people are “quite enthusiastic” to take up roles, and Fr Elver has unified the parish.
“There’s better communication and awareness of what’s happening in the parish,” George said.