Our Father Frank Has Faith in His Flock

OUR FATHER FRANK HAS FAITH IN HIS FLOCK

The priest who loves a chat….and his cherished Blues.

Father Frank Monaghan is proud of the fact he was trying to chase skateboarders away from church property.Now retired, Fr Monaghan recalls a time in the mid-80s when he was parish priest at Mildura.An encounter with skateboarders turned out differently to the recently publicised incidents at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne.

“There was a group of young people skateboarding around the church and I felt they were damaging some of the brick work,” Frank says.“I suggested they should stop and leave the grounds, but they didn’t seem inclined to and they had a camera with them.”“I took the cowardly option and put my tail between my legs and went home”.“We later put up some signs.”

Fr Monaghan has been a favourite with the Catholics and non-Catholics across north-west Victoria since he first came to Mildura as a newly ordained young priest in 1955.“It wasn’t long before the 1956 floods came along and I was doing funerals via a row boat to get to the Nichols Point cemetery,” he says.

Francis Aylmer Monaghan was born 78 years ago into a farming family near Stawell. His parents were Hugh and Kitty and he had two siblings.“I went to primary school in Stawell, then to St Patrick’s College at Ballarat.”“I suppose I was a St Pat’s failure because I was no good at footy.”“I did a bit of athletics and academically I was about average.”“I liked farming, but I don’t think I would have made much of a farmer. I got the calling to become a priest and I went to the seminary at Werribee in 1948.”

“After eight years of study I was ordained and sent to Mildura.”“My immediate and overwhelming impression was that water is life. You come out of this harsh, brown scrubland into the lush greenness of Sunraysia….it really left an impression on me.”Fr Monaghan’s first parish priest at Mildura was Fr Tom Hussey – “a good bloke.”In 1962 Fr Monaghan was posted to Maryborough and then Swan Hill from 1962 to 1966.

He found the climate different to the north west while posted at Colac and Ballarat between 1966 and 1970. He spent four years at Edenhope before beginning six years at Merbein.From 1980 to 1984 he was at Birchip, then nine years at Mildura before moving to the parish of Red Cliffs from 1993 to 2004.“The wheels fell off while I was at Red Cliffs and I became very ill with heart troubles and a stroke,” he says.

Fr Monaghan lives independently near his beloved SacredHeartChurch in 11th Street which he attends every day.

“I’m at a lot of funerals these days because they are the people I knew over the years.”He still does a small amount of pastoral work, which includes hospital visits, but is frustrated he can’t read was much as he would like.In his darkened flat he has plenty of time to reflect on the religious and social changes he has lived through.

“I think the pace of life these days has obligated people to embrace consumerism and materialism. We live more for ourselves.”“I live in the hope that people will rediscover the value of their own selves and their own communities.”“Mildura has grown tremendously and I think that’s a good thing.”“Multiculturalism is a wonderful facet of this community.”“I remember when the Italians, Greeks and Croats came out in the 1950s. The language barrier for them was a huge hurdle, but they saw Sunraysia as a land of hope.”“They used to say they came here with only two things – muscles and hope.”“I know there are a lot of social problems in the community and the current rural situation with the drought is very bad.”“But I don’t like those managed investment funds…..they are ruining small farms and communities.”“The unbundling of water was a mistake and the water business has been mishandled.”“I still have faith that country people have the strength to pull through these adversities.”

Fr Monaghan still gets around the town frequently.“I like it when people pull me up and want a yarn. I have always wanted to be part of the community.”Many friends stop to talk about his beloved Carlton football team.“Yes, I have a passing interest in the Blues.”“I suppose I still have the same values I had as a young priest.”“I would like to be remembered as having helped people link up with God and also that I was able to help people discover their potential and the gifts they had to aid society.”

By Phil Madden

Acknowledgement with thanks: ‘Sunraysia Daily’ 20/9/07