Milestones of our Parish History…

  • 1885-1951: The first Catholic Church in the shire was a hall in Robertson Street, Sutherland, purchased in 1891 when the total population of the district was only 1,500.
  • 1934: Separate parish of Sutherland formed by Father Dunlea and Miranda was part of this new parish, with Mass celebrated in the School of Arts Hall in Kiora Road.
  • 1947-1958: Father Patrick McManus purchased surplus ex RAAF halls for use as church and schools at Miranda, Como and Oyster Bay. The new RAAF Church-hall was officially opened by Bishop O’Brien in January 1949.
  • 1950:Three classes commenced in the school.
  • 1951-1957:Miranda/Gymea was a parish in its own right, separate from Sutherland with Fr H.W. Slattery appointed as parish priest. Fright from the start Fr Slattery kept the two parishes separate as he predicted that Gymea would become a parish in its own right. Fr Slattery purchased the land and worked with many parishioners to build the first church (now the parish hall) and school. The church was opened by Cardinal Gilroy on the 11th of August 1957.
  • 1958-1989: Fr John Stack was appointed parish priest and served for 31 years. Fr Stack led the formation of the parish community and oversaw the ongoing building program of the parish. The current church, school and presbytery were built during his time as parish priest. The church was opened in 1972. The school library is dedicated to Father Stack in acknowledgement of his active involvement in the life of the school. Fr Stack died suddenly on the 9th June 1989.
  • 1990-1996: Fr Ken Sargent was welcomed to the parish in September 1989. One of the first decisions of Fr Sargent was to establish a Pastoral Council. He also held the licence to run Housie at Marrickville. In conjunction with the Parish Council Fr Sargent decided to spend the Housie Money on building a Parish Centre with facilities for youth. Building the Parish Centre on a very steep hill on the parish site was not a universally popular decision but eventually a meeting in the church managed to placate everyone and has now become the site of many parish gatherings and meetings.
  • 1996-2001: Fr John O”Keefe was parish priest in these years. During his time in Miranda he renovated the church sanctuary and was instrumental in planning the 2002 refurbishment of the school.
  • 2002-2014: Fr Kelvin Lovegrove with the Parish Pastoral Council were busy in these years reintroducing children’s liturgy and RCIA, participating in World Youth Day 2008 by hosting pilgrims, continuing and expanding youth activities in the parish, improving /renovating the church by replacing the lighting, installing air-conditioning and carpet and planning and celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of the parish in 2011. Also in 2009 the parish implemented a vision statement to guide the parish forward-“In Christ we believe, with Christ we belong, through Christ we become.” During this time Fr Kelvin also became parish priest of Our Lady of the Way Sylvania. *
  • 2014-2015– Fr Patick Njenga was administrator and guided the parish gently and kindly throughout his 9 months in the parish.
  • 2015-2020– Fr John Greig was appointed parish priest to Miranda and Sylvania in January 2015 and affectionately leads the faithful of our parishes with his friendly and affable demeanour. Always available “for the people of God.”