Catholic Diocese of Broome

Year of the Priest: Celebrating 30 years

By: Monsignor Paul Boyers VG

Monsignor Paul Boyers, Vicar General
Ordained 1 September, 1979

Mgr Paul celebrated his 30th Anniversary of Priesthood during the recent Clergy Retreat in Broome. A delicious Tiramisu was provided for the celebrations.
Photo: M Digges

While I was a student for the priesthood at Saint Columba's College at Springwood in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, Bishop Jobst invited me to spend my Christmas holidays in the Broome Diocese. I arrived at Beagle Bay in December 1975 and spent the next three months between Beagle Bay and Lombadina. I returned to the Diocese as a priest in February 1980.

My first three years as a priest were with Father Lorenz in Derby. Then I spent the next eleven years at Lombadina, Kununurra and Balgo-Kutjungka Parishes. I came back into ‘the big smoke’ for ten years as the Administrator of the Broome Parish, followed by a second appointment to Kununurra and for the last three years I have been Parish Priest of Derby.

As the Parish Priest you are involved in preparing people to receive the Sacraments, you pray with the sick in hospitals and nursing homes and visit families in your Parish, particularly in their sorrowful times. An important part of the Parish ministry is education, both in the Catholic schools and in adult education that enables people to grow in their faith. I feel privileged when people allow me to be part of their lives for important milestones like birthdays, anniversaries and weddings, or when I am invited to share a meal with them.

I see so many people living out their Catholic faith practising those Gospel values that we are called to as followers of Christ. People recognise that through their Baptism they are invited to commit themselves to the service of others. They can respond to this call by being a Minister of the Eucharist, becoming involved in children’s liturgy, being part of the music ministry at Mass and in so many other ways. The generosity and kindness of people to others brings me quiet hope for the future of our people.

The challenge that faces all of us in the Church is to make our Parishes really friendly places for people to belong to. When people come to Mass are they made welcome, are they part of this assembly that is celebrating Mass together, or do they just feel like an outsider? As Catholics we also need to build strong links among people outside Mass. We have to ask ourselves: are we a caring parish?

The one change I would like to see in the Kimberley is the weather towards the end of the year in the build up to the wet season. However, I think I might have to wait for the next ice age for this to happen.