Brisbane’s Vietnamese Catholic Community fulfilled a dream that has been 45 years in the making this month with the opening and dedication of its new church.

About 2000 people attended the opening of the Queen of Vietnamese Martyrs Catholic Church at Inala.

Fr Joseph Vu SVD, Chaplain to Brisbane’s Vietnamese Catholic Community, said the project had been a long-held dream for the city’s Vietnamese Catholics.

“It has been a long road,” he said. “The Vietnamese Catholic Community had a long dream over 45 years, from when they first came here, to have their own place for worship and cultural events.

“We carried that dream on from generation to generation. We had a good team of people who worked together and, with the Holy Spirit behind it, it has come together and worked out very well.”

Fr Joseph thanked Archbishop Mark Coleridge for his support of the project, as well as the Archdiocesan property team who shared their expertise and helped bring the church to fruition.

Speaking at the consecration of the church, Archbishop Coleridge said the new church was “a monument to the faith, dedication and generosity of the Vietnamese people”.

“This church is so magnificent that I think I am going to make it my cathedral,” he said with a laugh.

“It is the sort of thing that is born of the blood of the martyrs. It has been a most extraordinary journey and a most extraordinary effort.

“My hope here is that it won’t just be a magnificent set of buildings, but it will build a real community into the future.

“This is not just for the sake of the Vietnamese Catholic Community, but for the sake of the whole Church, because we need your gift at a time like this.”

Queen of the Vietnamese Martyrs Catholic Church is a modern style stone church with an abundance of natural light. It was built in a way that maximises the view of the altar from all angles, even outside the church where glass panels can be removed for larger gatherings like at Christmas and Easter.

Part of the new building works will include spacious classrooms for the Sunday School, which at the previous site saw hundreds of children ready to learn about faith and culture.

Archbishop Coleridge thanked the many people who had helped support the project, including special guests at the opening, Parramatta Bishop Vincent Long, SVD Vice-Provincial Fr Albano Da Costa and Fr Joseph.

In a message sent from Rome where he had been attending the SVD General Chapter, Provincial, Fr Asaeli Rass SVD extended his congratulations on behalf of the Divine Word Missionaries to “all who have made this dream a reality”.

“For 45 years, ever since the first group of Vietnamese Catholic immigrants arrived in Brisbane, the dream has always been to flourish in faith in constructive dialogue with your Vietnamese culture and  language, and in practice to contribute to the missionary activity of the Brisbane Archdiocese,” he said.

“May this new church embrace the task of fostering in the community the light of the Word that is Jesus Christ, without which it would be only a building.

“As you embark on this new chapter in the life of your community, may you continue to humbly carry the same spirit of love, unity, and service that has brought you to this momentous occasion.”

The consecration ceremony began with a Welcome to Country and smoking ceremony. Local, state and federal politicians and community members also spoke at the ceremony, giving their thanks for the Vietnamese Catholic Community’s contributions to the Brisbane community. Messages of congratulations for the new church were received from Queensland Premier Steven Miles, Speaker of the House of Representatives and Member for Oxley Milton Dick, State Member for Inala Margie Nightingale and Member for Mount Ommaney Jess Pugh, Queensland Senator Paul Scarr, and local Councillor Sarah Hutton.

The new church and community centre will cater for the current and future needs of the expanding Vietnamese Catholic Community of Brisbane.

The community was established by the first group of Vietnamese Catholic immigrants escaping the Vietnamese War in the 1970s.

“Those people, about 20 in number, laid the foundations for the vibrant Vietnamese Catholic Community of today, which numbers more than 3000 people,” Fr Joseph said.

Bishop Long, who also arrived in Australia by boat as a Vietnamese refugee, said the opening of the church was a significant event for all the Vietnamese people in the community.

“The day marks not just the completion of a beautiful Church, but the growth and coming of age of the Vietnamese Catholic Community,” he said.

“The community has had a very traumatic journey, and I don’t just mean the boat journey many of you made in the wake of the fall of Saigon.

“But the challenges you have faced as a community on the way to making this place your new spiritual home.”

The first sod of soil for the building of the new church was turned in August 2018, but work came to a halt during the COVID pandemic.

“But we continued to hope and wait, and then with the help of the Archbishop and the Archdiocese, it all came together,” said Fr Joseph.

“The people are very happy,” he said.

“I am thankful and very proud of the community. I am happy that I’ve had the chance to journey with the community to build the church. We worked together and completed the mission, which was to make God present among the people and invite the people to come to God.”

Works are continuing on a new office, kitchen and hall for the centre.

Following the official opening and speeches, a plaque was unveiled, followed by Mass and a community lunch. The day was capped off with live musical entertainment and a fireworks show in the evening.

Parts of this article were first published in The Catholic Leader.

PHOTOS

TOP RIGHT: Bishop Vincent Long OFMConv and Archbishop Mark Coleridge cut the ribbon to open Queen of Vietnamese Martyrs Catholic Church, Inala (Photo by Alan Edgecomb/Purple Moon Photography via The Catholic Leader).

TOP LEFT: Chaplain to Brisbane's Vietnamese Catholic Community, Fr Joseph Vu SVD speaks at the opening.

MIDDLE RIGHT: Children throw flower petals during the Gospel Procession (Photo by Alan Edgecomb/Purple Moon Photography via The Catholic Leader).

MIDDLE LEFT: The official opening was followed by celebration of the Eucharist in the new church.

BOTTOM RIGHT: The new church is of a modern style stone church featuring an abundance of natural light.