Parish News
Manangatang came alive on Sunday, September 7, as St Patrick’s Catholic Church marked its centenary with a packed celebration. The weekly congregation, which typically numbers a dozen, welcomed over 100 visitors for this milestone event.
St Patrick’s has long been a cornerstone of faith in Manangatang, its construction funded by a 1924 concert in Annuello. Once the centre of Manangatang parish, St Patrick’s is now part of Sts Anne and Joachim Parish of Sunraysia, centred in Mildura.
After the centenary Mass, everyone gathered at Manangatang Hotel for a delicious buffet meal. The lunch celebrations included speeches of thanks to the organisers, the cutting of a commemorative cake, and the distribution of bookmarks and historical booklets. It was both a reunion and a tribute to the many life events marked at St Patrick’s over the years.
Parish Priest Fr Matthew Thomas prepared the centenary booklet tracing the parish’s history — from early days of Mass in private homes, through the founding of a presbytery, to later changes and parish mergers. Highlights include the opening of St Patrick’s Primary School in 1963, staffed by the Sisters of Mercy, who served and lived in the community until 1982. Their work in the school and parish left a lasting legacy.
The town of Manangatang, established in 1911, once bustled with shops, a hospital, two schools and several churches. Today it is smaller but resilient, with one school, an aged care residence, hotel, golf course, and race track. As St Patrick’s enters its second century, it remains a vital symbol of faith and resilience in rural Victoria.
Fr John Corrigan – Sunraysia Parish