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Archbishop visits St Ambrose’s for 150th celebrations

View a photo gallery of the visit by Catholic Archbishop Peter Comensoli on November 19

  • Archbishop Comensoli enters the church.
  • The Archbishop addresses the congregation.
  • Preparing for Holy Communion.
  • In a moment of levity, the Archbishop sprinkled the congregation with holy water used to bless a commemorative plaque.
  • After Mass, the Archbishop mingled with parishioners.

THE Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne, Peter Comensoli, conducted Mass at St Ambrose’s Church in Sydney Road on Sunday to bring 150th anniversary celebrations to a peak.

The church building was completed just before Christmas in 1873, and has been extended and improved since.

The church has evolved over the years, with the large Italian migration to Brunswick in the postwar years changing its make-up from what had until then been a largely Irish Catholic congregation.

It also acted as a hub for the anti-conscription movement in the First World War.

In a statement provided to Brunswick Voice before Sunday’s events, Archbishop Comensoli said the church owed deep gratitude to the early pioneers who established St Ambrose’s. 

“One hundred and fifty years inevitably sees great change,” he said. 

“Today the Brunswick and Moreland Catholic community embraces renewed ways to meet the spiritual and pastoral needs of their community that is truly local and that builds on a journey of faith which has been lived well and faithfully over so many years. 

“I congratulate the community on all that has been achieved, and for the missionary energy and spirit that will lead them well into the future. May St Ambrose, one of the great Doctors of the Church, be a guiding hand that continues to nurture this family for many years to come.” 

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A deep history recalled as church celebrates 150 years