Bishop Vincent’s Homily for the 40th Anniversary of the Diocese of Parramatta

By Bishop Vincent Long OFM Conv, 31 May 2026

Bishop Vincent during the thanksgiving Mass and Celebration for 40 years of the Diocese of Parramatta.
Image: Alphonsus Fok/ Diocese of Parramatta

Most Reverend Vincent Long Van Nguyen OFM Conv DD STL, Bishop of Parramatta

2026 Celebrating 40 years of the local Church sharing life and love of the Trinity

The Solemnity of The Most Holy Trinity

Readings: Exodus 34:4-9; 2Cor 13:11-13; John 3:16-18

Dear brothers and sisters,

It is with a deep sense of gratitude, joy and hope that we have gathered at St Patrick’s Cathedral for the 40th anniversary of the foundation of our diocese. St John Paul II formally established this diocese on April 8th, 1986. However, long before the Diocese was created, Parramatta was known as the Cradle of Catholicism in Australia. From our earliest colonial history, our faith took root and was nurtured by humble generations of Catholics, many of whom were Irish convicts. They mirrored the life of Jesus -the stone rejected which became the cornerstone.

We take pride in the fact that the first Catholic school in Australia was set up in this precinct 200 years ago. Our pioneers championed a radical alternative system of equity, inclusion, solidarity and preferential option for the poor. They built not just schools but above all Catholic communities, to carry hope into a new and uncertain future. A collective witness to the Gospel of hospitality, generosity and compassion rose up against the background of a trickle-down, sectarian and merit-based society.

Today is, therefore, a day we look back to the past with thanksgiving in our hearts. We honour the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which the Diocese of Parramatta stands. We give thanks for the Darug and Gundungurra peoples for their resilience, faith, storytelling, and care for creation. We give thanks for our Catholic pioneers, including many missionary priests and religious who like St Patrick adopted a distant country as their home and left an indelible mark of the Gospel spirit in this place. They defied the odds and modelled a way of being together that is firmly anchored in Christ and the inspirational Church of our origins…

Source: Catholic Outlook. Used with permission. Read the complete homily here