Page 24 - The Priest, Summer 2015

Fr Stephen Gorddard
Ordained 1 August 2015, in Perth.
Fr Gorddard inter- rupted a degree in Chemical Engi- neering and Man-
agement to discern his vocation. He lived informal community life with other young Catholic men until join- ing St Charles’ Seminary in 2009, co- inciding with his older brother. The younger Fr Gorddard is now assistant priest at Mary MacKillop, Ballajura.
Fr Trenton van Reesch
Ordained 28 August 2015, in Canberra.
Long attracted to the priesthood, Fr van Reesch locates the moment he dis-
cerned his priestly vocation to a rugby football match. He entered Sydney’s Seminary of the Good Shepherd in 2008. Fr van Reesch has now returned to Rome to complete his studies at the Gregorian University and obtain a Li- centiate in Dogmatic Theology.
Fr ISrael Quirit
Ordained 1 August 2015, in Perth.
Fr Quirit grew up in the Philippines, and was studying electrical engineer-
ing there when he discerned a voca- tion to religious life. He joined St Charles’ Seminary in Perth in 2009, but it was not until 2012 that he dis- cerned a calling to diocesan priest- hood and changed course. He is as- sistant priest at St Andrew’s, Clarkson.
Fr Grant Gorddard
Ordained 1 August 2015, in Perth.
Born in Bunbury, Fr Gorddard worked as a control systems engineer and then
completed post-graduate studies at Melbourne’s JPII Institute for Mar- riage and Family. He applied for St Charles’ Seminary in 2009, unaware that his younger brother had applied at the same time. Fr Gorddard is now assistant priest at St Brigid’s, Midland.
Fr Patrick Toohey
Ordained 1 August 2015, in Perth.
Fr Toohey was in the seminary during the 1960s, but left to marry, fathering seven children. Af-
ter a fresh call to the priesthood in his sixties, upon investigation his 20 year marriage was annulled. He entered St Charles’ Seminary in 2010 and trans- ferred to Rome’s Beda College in 2011. Archbishop Costelloe has appointed him to Our Lady of Grace, North Beach.
Fr Geronimo Dalipe
Ordained 22 August 2015, in Manila.
When Fr Dalipe was seven years old, his doctor announced, “You will become
a priest, because that is what I sense in you.” The idea took hold, and nine years later, Gerome joined a seminary in Manila. He moved to St Charles’ Seminary in Perth in 2013 to study for the Bunbury diocese. He is now assis- tant priest at St Joseph’s, Busselton.
Fr Conor Steadman
Ordained 1 August 2015, in Perth.
Fr Steadman was born in New Zea- land and raised in Australia. A quali-
ed dentist, he joined St Charles’ Seminary in 2008, and moved to Rome’s Ponti cal North American College in 2011. Since his ordination he has returned to Rome to complete his studies at the Angelicum and ob- tain a licentiate in Moral Theology.
Fr Lewi Barakat
Ordained 15 August 2015, in Sydney.
Fr Barakat credits 2008’s World Youth Day as critical to his discernment of a
priestly vocation. He joined Sydney’s Good Shepherd Seminary in 2009, and transferred to Rome’s Ponti - cal North American College in 2011. Fr Barakat has returned to Rome for 12 months to complete his studies in Dogmatic Theology.
Fr Patrick Bradford
Ordained 12 Septem- ber, in Melbourne.
Fr Bradford was born in New Zea- land, and spent his childhood at a Cis-
tercian monastery, where his parents were farm managers. He moved to Melbourne in 2006 and correspond- ing to graces he received at Sydney’s WYD in 2008, he joined Corpus Chris- ti College in 2009. He is now assistant priest at St Brigid’s, Mordialloc.
Fr Simeon San
Fr Thomas Stevens
Fr Justel Callos
Ordained 1 August 2015, in Perth.
Fr Casabuena was born to a strong Catholic family in the south-west of
Burma (Myanmar). He was heavily involved in the local parish, and im- pressed by the seminarians who fre- quently visited. He commenced his priestly formation in 2006 at St Char- le’s Seminary in Perth. He is now as- sistant priest at St Joseph’s, Northam.
Ordained 15 August 2015, in Sydney.
Fr Stevens worked as a maritime law- yer in Sydney and Singapore before
joining Sydney’s Good Shepherd Seminary in 2008. He cites the in- uence of his uncle, who is a parish priest in Wollongong. In 2011 he moved to Rome’s Beda Ponti cal Col- lege. He is now assistant priest at All Saints, Liverpool.
Ordained 12 Septem- ber, in Melbourne.
Fr Callos grew up in the Philippines and joined the seminary there. When his
family migrated to Australia in 2008, he joined them, and the following year he resumed his seminary studies, now at Melbourne’s Corpus Christi College. Archbishop Hart recently ap- pointed Fr Callos assistant priest at St Fidelis’, Moreland.
24 – Summer 2014 the