The Catholic Leader Flipbook - Issue 5577 - November 10

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The Catholic Leader, November 10, 2019
News
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‘I don’t know how many
times I broke down crying,
just tears of joy’
Fr Emene ready to serve
Townsville diocese
Sacred moment: Bishop Tim Harris ordains Fr
Emene Kelemete.
By Joe Higgins
“THERE was that feeling of …
this is it, this has happened,” newly
ordained Townsville priest Fr
Emene Kelemete said after he was
ordained a priest in front of 1200
people at Ignatius Park College on
October 31.
It was an overwhelming night, he said.
“It was full of joy and happiness, especially
to have my family there, who a lot of them trav-
elled from afar from the Tokelau Islands, from
New Zealand, Samoa,” Fr Kelemete said.
“To have that cultural side of the ordination, it
was so emotional.
“I don’t know how many times I broke down
crying, just tears of joy.”
Fr Kelemete was ordained a priest by Towns-
ville Bishop Tim Harris.
It was Bishop Harris’ first time presiding over
a priesthood ordination and the first Townsville
diocese ordination in years.
“I have come to know Emene as a man of
deep faith, hope and trust,” Bishop Harris said in
his homily at the ordination.
“All who know him are delighted with what is
happening tonight.
“The formation process for Emene has not
been easy and that, in my view, gives him a
credibility that has been tested in fire.
“He has grown and is growing through all of
that.”
Fr Kelemete, originally from the Tokelau
Islands off the coast of New Zealand, has spent
many years in formation in Townsville and Holy
Spirit Seminary.
Many took to social media, offering Fr Ke-
lemete and the Townsville diocese their prayers
and well-wishes.
After the ordination, Fr Kelemete said many
people told him how overwhelmed they felt just
to see an ordination; “they could feel the Holy
Spirit working in themselves”.
The next day Fr Kelemete celebrated his
Thanksgiving Mass at Holy Spirit Church,
Cranbrook.
He said he had practised the Mass so many
times but when he got up there and turned
around to look at the people – about 700 in the
nave – he said his mind just went “blank”.
Fr Damien McGrath leaned in and whispered:
“You’re alright, keep going”.
After that, he said the nerves went away, and
it started to fall into place and he could feel
himself growing more confident.
He said he realised just how much of a bless-
ing it was to celebrate the Mass.
“To have the bishop (Bishop Harris) there in
amongst the people, he had a big smile on his
face that he had a new local priest so it was great
but also nerve-wracking,” Fr Kelemete said.
It felt right, too, he said.
“For me to do this Mass, to do the Thanksgiv-
ing Mass, it really gave me the strength to see
the gift that I have been given,” he said.
It had been a week of Masses – the welcoming
Mass for Fr Kelemete’s family, the ordination
Mass, the Thanksgiving Mass and a Tokelauan
Mass with Confirmations and First Holy Com-
munion.
Into the future, Fr Kelemete said a big part
of his ministry would be engaging and being
present with the youth.
With more than 200 cousins in Townsville, Fr
Kelemete had a good deal of experience with it.
“I want to try to find ways to create a bond,
or strengthen the bond between the youth and
God,” he said.
In his formation, Fr Kelemete had worked
with a group of high-risk young people in Mount
Isa and created a program just to engage them
and be present with them.
“A lot of them (high-risk young people) hadn’t
felt what it was like to be a part of something,
even felt that element of love, (to have) someone
who cares for them,” he said.
“And showing those elements to those young
people, honestly it was life-changing for them.”
Shortly after starting the program, many of
them started riding and walking to the parish
every day just to hang out.
Fr Kelemete said those young people started,
“out of the blue”, to talk about the faith and say
things like, “ know who Mary is”.
Newly
ordained:
New
Townsville
priest Fr
Emene
Kelemete
(right) with
Bishop Tim
Harris at Ig-
natius Park
College
after Bishop
Harris had
ordained Fr
Kelemete.
Photos:
Diocese of
Townsville