Previous News Articles

Christian charity 'must start with God' On a day when tributes to the late Fr Leo Donnelly featured prominently, Bishop Homeming issued his challenge – and invitation – at the Catholic Social Services Australia national conference. This year’s conference is being held in Port Macquarie because of Fr Donnelly’s work over almost 50 years in the New [...]

Beloved and renowned, Fr Leo Donnelly, farewelled by thousands at Requiem Mass Reverend Father Leo Donnelly, Emeritus Parish Priest of St Agnes’ Parish of Port Macquarie, passed away aged 91 at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney on 23 January and was laid to rest after a Requiem Mass attended by more than 1500 people on 1 February, [...]

Celebrating the life of Father Leo Donnelly - Requiem Mass Reverend Father Leo Donnelly, Emeritus Parish Priest of St Agnes’ Parish of Port Macquarie, passed away aged 91 at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney on 23 January and was laid to rest after a Requiem Mass attended by more than 1500 people on 1 February, 2019. [...]

Details for the Requiem Mass of Father Leo Donnelly The Port Macquarie community is invited to join Father Donnelly’s family and the St Agnes’ Parish family to celebrate his life at a Requiem Mass on Friday, 1 February at 10.30am in St Agnes’ Church, 47 Hay Street, Port Macquarie. Attendees will be seated from 9.30am. We [...]

Visionary Parish Priest Father Donnelly passes away aged 91 Great sadness is felt by his family, Parishioners and the local Port Macquarie community at the passing of Father Leo Donnelly on Wednesday 23 January at 10.30pm at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney. Father Donnelly passed away as a result of a stroke after being admitted to hospital [...]

Centacare Christmas Concert goes ahead Centacare’s annual Christmas Concert went ahead despite an untimely power outage caused by storms on Wednesday evening, November 28. The end of year performance night and Christmas party, held at Centacare Day Centre in Leith Street, West Kempsey got under way at 5pm with the premiere of the movie, ‘Who stole Christmas’, which was put together [...]

New relationships forged through memoirs project In early November, eight Year 10 English students from St Joseph’s Regional College English presented the Memoirs they wrote as part of their major assessment for the year, to the four CCA Mount Carmel residents who they interviewed for the project. St Joseph’s Regional College students: Cara Dowse-Collyer and Courtney Fyffe [...]

Working together to help John achieve his goals John Gough’s story is one of inspiration and perseverance.  He, pictured here with Matthew Fenton and Victor Patrzala, has been part of the Centacare community for more than five years.   Support worker, Matthew, has been working alongside John for much of that time. With the support of the Centacare [...]

Have your say in the future of aged care in the Hastings St Agnes’ Parish is looking to the future with the development of its aged care masterplan for the Port Macquarie/Hastings region, and are keen to involve the community in the conversation to identify the needs and expectations of retirees with regard to lifestyle, community and [...]

Youth Hub helps turn Jake's life around Growing up was tough for 19 year old Jake Donohue. A difficult home life contributed to serious mental health issues. Jake felt he had lost all hope, until he found a connection to community, and a future for himself, through the Youth Hub. “I grew up in a hostile environment, [...]

"Community Connections" still going strong after ten years Age is no barrier for the new friendships created through the “Community Connections” program. The program is celebrating ten years of bringing children from St Agnes’ Early Education Centre and residents from St Agnes’ Hostel together. “Intergenerational learning is a specific focus of the Community Connections program,” says Executive [...]

Caring for our common home is everyone's business Climate change has been in the news with the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change release of a special report on global warming targets in early October 2018. For a catholic perspective on this issue, Pope Francis’ encyclical letter Laudato si’ (which means ‘Praise be to you’) is a good [...]