Archbishop Anthony Fisher has publicly thanked the Marist Fathers for more than 150 years of service at the oldest continuous Church still in use in NSW, reports The Catholic Weekly.

The Marist Fathers were entrusted with St Patrick’s Church Hill in 1868. From 2025, the Fathers will vacate the parish and continue their ministry in new and expanding areas of Sydney.

*Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP celebrates the 150th anniversary Mass with the Marists Fathers. PHOTO: Patrick J Lee/Catholic Weekly.*

For more than 150 years, St Patrick’s Church Hill has served the local Catholic community of The Rocks and Millers Point.

With many of those residents, such as those in the Sirius Building now relocated to other parts of Sydney, St Patrick’s has evolved to a parish where 80 per cent of the congregation now use it as a secondary parish to visit while in the CBD.

The Church has also become popular amongst those on holiday, staying at nearby hotels. Part of its popularity is attributable to the generosity of the Marist Fathers in offering the Sacraments at various times throughout the day.

The Parish is one of the busiest in the nation, with four Masses celebrated each week day, eleven Masses on weekends, hours of Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament each day and close to 30 hours of the Sacrament of Reconciliation offered each week.

The Marist Fathers have been called to western Sydney where they will continue their ministry of mercy.

The new custodians of St Patrick’s Church Hill, who will be invited to continue the generous sacramental ministry by Archbishop Fisher in due course will proudly continue the mission in one of the nation’s most revered places of worship.

This article by Michael Kenny was published in The Catholic Weekly.