As the parish of St Dominic in Melbourne’s Camberwell East celebrates the centenary of its founding, parish priest, Fr Paul Rowse OP, believes that one of the unique contributions the Dominican charism brings to modern society is the belief that, in the end, “truth doesn’t change”, reports Melbourne Catholic.
Fr Paul was appointed parish priest at St Dom’s in 2022, on the far side of the COVID lockdowns. This role is his third stint at the parish, having served as a student prior to ordination, assistant priest and now parish priest.
Fr Paul Rowse OP (centre) with two new student brothers, Br Kolbe (left) and Br Joseph (right). PHOTO: Melbourne Catholic.
Fr Paul sees his mission—a mission shared by the Dominicans in Camberwell as a whole—as helping people to recover a ‘robust’ sense of truth, the sense that we have been irrevocably given something that, while allowing for growth in understanding over time, is actually quite stable.
“We can deduce certain things for ourselves,” he says. “But ultimately, everything that we Christians know about God is revealed to us, given to us by Christ to bring us to believe in God in a way that we couldn’t possibly otherwise.
“If that’s the case, then we’ve got a point of unity to focus upon. The Church can become ever more herself, more eloquent in her witness and testimony to the truth, because we’ve been put on the same page.”
The pandemic meant that parish numbers thinned out considerably for a few years, but recently Fr Paul has noticed a steady growth once more, with Mass numbers doubling from what they were a few years ago. Even so, there have been shifts in attitudes that the Dominicans have noticed and made a particular focus in their ministry now.
“There’s a strange kind of movement towards a quieter faith,” he observes, “which I would oppose with everything I’ve got.
“Even in terms of morale, our people aren’t as bold as they once were … The Church has been beaten around a bit; she’s always a target. If there’s a mission I have, it’s making sure that the Church is robust enough to carry out her mission.”
Forming people holistically
What this looks like in practice has been a return to beauty in prayer, talking up the good things going on, and being formed together in community. Fr Paul is convinced that these are the places where spiritual renewal begins.
On top of annual parish retreats during Advent and Lent, the friars now hear confessions every day except Sunday, and for the jubilee celebrations of St Thomas Aquinas they have begun a teaching series every Thursday night on the great Dominican, introducing students and parishioners to his thought.
“As far as transcendentals go, what’s missing at the moment is truth, so we push that, offering opportunities for parishioners to engage with and hear the truth, explained charitably, clearly and unrepentantly,” he said.
Fr Paul is also interested in ‘beautifying’ the church, ensuring a holistic approach to the three transcendentals so that “everything would point towards the Lord in his truth, goodness and beauty”.
Providing a holistic formation for people is especially important for Fr Paul, since his own formation growing up was ‘patchy’.
Fr Paul Rowse OP. PHOTO: Melbourne Catholic.
His upbringing in Catholicism was more ‘cultural’ than anything else, he says, although to some extent religious life was inevitable.
“I remember being given a Bible for my 12th birthday and thinking that was the bee’s knees. So, I was destined for ministry,” he says.
He first recognised a calling to the priesthood when he was eight, struck by the way his local priest celebrated Mass. When he was 12, he wrote to his local bishop in Broken Bay expressing his interest. And when he was 17—"bored of reading the Tree of Man by Patrick White for Year 12”— he wrote to a number of religious orders hoping for a response. One of the only orders to respond enthusiastically was the Dominicans.
The truth, scars and all
Fr Paul clarifies that when he speaks of an “emboldened” faith, the boldness he speaks of has nothing to do with a brash or abrasive approach to mission.
In the eyes of many, he observes, the Church has lost its credibility in both morality and truth, in significant degree because of its own failings. The Church’s testimony, therefore, must always include an awareness of our “wounds and scars”, the ways we have sinned.
Fr Paul harkens back to the experiences of ancient Israel, especially as expressed through the psalms.
“If you look at someone’s testimony in the Scriptures, especially in the psalms, the general idea is: I was hopeless and in the gutter until the Lord came, and now I am restored to his favour and goodness. And that trajectory gets repeated over and over.”
“So, we don’t shy away from the wounds and scars of our people because they are part of the story,” he says. “But this doesn’t take away anything from the beauty and light of the Lord and his love for you.”
As we learn the art of telling our story, and the story of God’s goodness and favour to us, he believes, we will find a harmony between humbly, gracefully and confidently giving witness to the truth that has been given to us in Christ.
This is an abridged form of an article by Christian Bergmann, published in Melbourne Catholic. Read the full article here.