The new parish of Emmaus came into existence on August 1 and will be celebrated with a special Mass on Friday evening at St Fidelis church in Coburg which will be led by the Archbishop of Melbourne, Peter Comensoli. 

The parish combines St Fidelis with the churches of St Ambrose in Brunswick, St Joseph’s in Brunswick West and Our Lady Help of Christians in Brunswick East. 

Father Brendan Reed, who will serve as parish priest, said the aim of uniting the four churches under the one parish was to revitalise Catholicism in Melbourne’s inner north. 

He said that without the amalgamation, there had been a very real possibility that at least one of the churches could have eventually been forced to close because its congregation was too small. 

A practical example of the benefits of the merger is a combined parish choir, whereas individual parishes struggled to have enough members to form their own choir. 

“It’s really reckoning with that reality and saying, okay, if we want to be vibrant and viable, you have to have a critical mass, and each of these parishes alone just simply wouldn’t have a critical mass,” Reed said. 

“It’s giving a second chance to communities that just might not make it otherwise.” 

All four churches have been part of the community for decades.  

St Ambrose in Sydney Road celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2023 and the two other Brunswick churches date back to the early-20th century. At 98 years, St Fidelis is the youngest. 

Primary schools are connected to the churches at St Fidelis, St Joseph’s and Our Lady. 

While the four churches have had informal links for several years under the umbrella of Brunswick Moreland Catholic Community – including sharing a senior priest – moves towards formal unification began early this year. 

Reed, who has been based at St Ambrose for about 18 months, had previously led a similar merger of several parishes in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. 

He said his predecessor Father Linh Pham had begun laying the groundwork towards the amalgamation at the start of this decade. 

The four churches were once the centre of thriving communities but as churchgoing and religious affiliation has declined, they have fallen to combined Sunday Mass attendances of fewer than 1000 worshippers at seven services each week. 

However, the three schools are still going strong with about 700 students up to grade six. 

In total, there are about 12,000 Catholics living in the boundaries of Emmaus, which makes it a medium-sized parish. 

“The Archdiocese of Melbourne is undergoing a quiet sort of restructure and refocusing on the core mission of what parish life is about and should be about,” Reed said. 

“Practically, what that means is that traditionally there’ve been lots of parishes erected around Melbourne, and particularly in the inner areas, parishes were built so people could walk to church.  

“So we’ve got a lot of infrastructure in the inner north, inner east, so forth.  

“Demographics have changed. Church affiliation has changed. Church regular practice has changed. So, in order to create what the diocese is calling vital, viable, and vibrant parish communities, we need to work together now.  

“So that’s what’s happened here.”