Content Editor In March 2024 Bishop Anthony Randazzo, after consultation with the parish, appointed Fr Stephen Hill to be 'Priest-in-Residence' in our parish and established our church at Killara (while continuing to be one of our two parish churches) as the base for the members of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross in Sydney. An ‘Ordinariate’ is very much like a Diocese, except that unlike a diocese it doesn’t have physical borders. For example in many countries there will be a ‘Military Ordinariate’, whereby the members of the armed forces belong to that ‘diocese’ regardless of the geographical diocese where their current posting places them, and are ministered to by the bishop and the priests of the Military Ordinariate. Some years ago Pope Benedict XVI established the possibility of an Ordinariate whereby former members of the Anglican Church who sought to be received into the Catholic Church could retain many of the traditions and liturgical forms of their Anglican heritage while embracing the faith of the Catholic Church. The Ordinariate established by Pope Benedict now exists the Australia-Pacific region under the title of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross. In 2023 Pope Francis appointed our Bishop Anthony Randazzo as Apostolic Administrator (essentially ‘bishop’) of the Ordinariate in addition to, and quite distinct from, his role as Bishop of Broken Bay. As in any diocese, the Bishop appoints a priest to be Vicar General to assist him (just as in addition to his role as Parish Priest of Chatswood, Fr David Ranson is Vicar General in Broken Bay). And this brings us to our welcome to Fr Stephen Hill - who is Vicar General of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross. Fr Stephen carries out his ministry to the people of the Ordinariate by, amongst their things, celebrating Mass in the rite of the Ordinariate in our Killara church each Sunday afternoon. While he is therefore not technically the Assistant Priest in our parish (since he belongs not to Broken Bay but to the Ordinariate) Fr Stephen in fact exercises that role in everything but name and indeed is very keen to be an integral part of our parish life. For more information on the Ordinariate please CLICK HERE for a brochure.