PARISH HISTORY
The Catholic Parish of Forster-Tuncurry officially came into being with the arrival of its first Parish Priest, Father Daniel Linehan in January 1957, who, on the 18th March 1957, officially notified Stroud Shire Council that a new Parish to include the district of Forster and Tuncurry had been formed.
Prior to the formation of the new Parish the districts of Forster and Tuncurry formed part of Krambach Parish, and for some years prior to that, the spiritual needs of Forster-Tuncurry Catholics were attended to by the Parish Priests of Krambach, Father James Bernascone being the last Priest to carry out these duties.
Father Bernascone had already on the 14th May 1952, purchased two blocks of land in Lake Street Forster, and on 25th June 1953, applied to the Lands Department for this land to be set aside for school and church use. Father Bernascone also applied for Lot 8 Section 10 on the 2nd December 1954, now the present site of Holy Name School.
The old wooden church at Kent Street Tuncurry had been established around about 1908 and served Tuncurry parishioners, whilst Forster parishioners were obliged to use the School of Arts Hall at Forster where Mass was celebrated, usually about once a month at each location.
Many of our older parishioners remember those early days quite vividly, and state that it was not uncommon for Father to be one or two hours late during bad weather, remembering that the present bridge linking the two towns had not yet been built. Flooded creeks and other hazards would force him to take other roads. One amusing side-light to this, although probably not amusing to the parishioners, was that Father Bernascone was notorious for his lengthy homilies, sometimes in the vicinity of thirty to forty five minutes, so it could become quite a long day for the patient parishioners, remembering also that Confessions were always heard before Mass. Father Linehan on his arrival actually had no official residence available for him and was forced to reside temporarily in guest houses or wherever he could find accommodation, which was not particularly encouraging for the new Parish Priest.
Our older parishioners recall how they would take it in turns to prepare evening meals for Father, and how at one stage he was nearly on the point of despair at his inability to obtain a suitable residence.
Help finally came however in the person of Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Wright of Tuncurry who made a house available at 16 Manning Street Tuncurry, which is now St. Joseph’s Convent.
Meanwhile Father Linehan had already bought, in June 1957, Lot C Section 11 in Lake Street Forster, on which the new church hall was erected and consecrated by his Lordship Bishop Toohey on the 23rd December 1957. This hall was used for the celebration of Mass and other church activities until it was converted to a school in March 1959, upon the arrival of the Sisters of St. Joseph from Lochinvar in that year. The Forster Presbytery was built on land adjacent to the church hall and consecrated by his Lordship Bishop Toohey on 4th January 1959.
The Sisters of St. Joseph then took up residence at 16 Manning Street Tuncurry, which became St. Joseph’s Convent, the three original Sisters being Sister Francesca, Sister Hilda and Sister Florence Mary.
The Sisters then continued to conduct classes in improvished class rooms in the new church hall until on the 14th April 1960, Lot 8 Section 10 Village of Forster was gazetted as church land. Quotes were then received and contracts signed on the 1st June 1960, the new Holy Name School being erected and subsequently opened and blessed by His Lordship Bishop Toohey on 1st January 1961.
The Parish continued to grow rapidly under the spiritual guidance of Father Linehan and as a result it became necessary to pull down the sixty year old wooden church of “Our Lady Star of the Sea”, with a new church dedicated to “Our Lady Star of the Sea” being subsequently erected and duly consecrated by His Lordship Bishop Toohey on 16th February 1968. Prior to this event the bridge linking Forster and Tuncurry had already been opened on 18th July 1959, which now made the new church readily accessible to Forster parishioners.
After thirteen years as Parish Priest, Father Linehan was transferred in December 1970, and as a result of his faith and perseverance the parish by that date had grown in numbers and had made rapid strides both spiritually as well as materially.
Father Harry Fenton succeeded Father Linehan as Administrator in January 1971, remaining until August 1973, in which time Lots 9, 10, 17 and 18 Section 10 were purchased for Holy Name School.
Various administrators followed - Father J. Hughes in August 1973, Father W. Cantwell in January 1974, and Father P. McAlinder in December 1975. In May 1976 Father A. Brady was appointed Parish Priest and in 1978 proposals were received for the erection of the church at Forster.
The new church was eventually erected on land adjoining the Presbytery in 1980, and subsequently consecrated by His Lordship Bishop Clarke on 15th August 1980, and dedicated to the “Holy Name of Jesus”. Subsequent to this, on the 2nd March 1983, His Lordship Bishop Clarke also opened and blessed new extensions at Holy Name School, which celebrated its Silver Jubilee on 29th June 1986.
Father Tony Brady was transferred in April 1988, and was succeeded by Father Kevin Corrigan, who served as Parish Priest until his transfer as Parish Priest of Gloucester on 1st February 1996.
Prior to Father Kevin’s transfer, Father Danny Austin had been appointed Assistant Priest to Father Kevin who had also been appointed acting Parish Priest of Gloucester and Krambach, which post had been vacant for some time. Father Kevin and Father Danny shared the pastoral duties of both parishes for some months in 1995.
As a result of Bishop Clarke’s impending retirement due to ill health, Bishop Michael Malone was appointed Coadjuter Bishop of Maitland with right of succession and was consecrated on 15th February 1995. Bishop Malone visited Forster-Tuncurry soon after and subsequently it was announced that Father Danny Austin had been appointed Parish Priest as from 1st February 1996 with Father Kevin Corrigan being appointed to Gloucester.
Father Danny Austin was duly installed as Parish Priest by Bishop Michael Malone on 5th March 1996.
In October 2000, Father Danny took Sabbatical leave till July 2001. Father Derek Garner became Administrator to the Parish in November 2000 and served in that position until Father Danny’s return in July 2001.
After resuming duties for a short period, Fr. Danny again took leave in October 2001. Fr. Pax Scarfe, a Franciscan Priest served the parish from 4th October till the end of December 2001.
On 1st January 2002 Fr. Tony Stace became Parish Priest of Forster/Tuncurry Parish.
