The number of new seminarians in the Diocese has swelled considerably this year with the arrival of five aspiring priests from the tiny country of Timor-Leste.
This takes the overall number studying at the Holy Spirit Seminary in Harris Park to 15, the biggest group of seminarians in the Diocese in several years.
The five from Timor-Leste arrived in January and are spending the first few months settling into life in Australia and the Diocese, before they get stuck into more intense study later in the year. They spent the past 12 months learning English before their arrival.
They are the first in what is hoped will be a regular group of young men from Timor-Leste who join the seminary every couple of years.
This arrangement is the work of the Rector of the seminary, Fr Paul Marshall, who has been visiting Timor-Leste for more than 20 years to help deliver water projects in villages there. It was during a visit in 2024 that he met Cardinal Virgilio Do Carmo da Silva SDB, the Archbishop of Dili, the capital of Timor Leste, and asked him if he would allow some seminarians to come to Parramatta to study on a regular basis.
When Fr Paul returned in 2025 Cardinal Virgilio agreed to the request.
“The deal is that the seminarians would give five years ministry here to the Diocese of Parramatta after they’re ordained,” Fr Paul said. “Then after five years if they want to stay on here they can, if they want to go back to Timor-Leste they can.”
For a small country of about 1.4 million people – roughly the same size as the total population living within the Diocese of Parramatta – Timor-Leste is one of the most Catholic countries in the world, with more than 500 seminarians, Fr Paul said. This includes about 200 in the minor seminary, 80 in the middle seminary and 250 in the major seminary.
English is their fourth language, behind Tetum, Portuguese and Indonesian, but despite this the five seminarians are “settling well into the seminary lifestyle”, he said.
Already they have had introductory lessons in SRE, safeguarding and introductory aspects of theology, as well as spending a day in the Blue Mountains.
And the ties between these seminarians and the Diocese are already starting to strengthen. The village of Atsabe, where one of the seminarians, Francisco, comes from is in the process of building a new Catholic primary school, and Fr Paul said the Parish of St Oliver Plunkett’s in Harris Park is looking to help support this building effort.
“Francisco has spoken at some of our Masses about life and culture in his village of Atsabe,” Fr Paul said.
The arrival of these seminarians is an example of the Diocesan Pastoral Plan priority of Formation, and the objective to be An Inclusive and Welcoming Church. Visit Synodality to learn more.
To find out more about the Holy Spirit Seminary, click here.
