St Joseph’s parishioners farewelled Fr Vince Amaro for the second time last week as he prepares to return to his homeland after four years in Australia.
Fr Vince travelled from Quirindi parish for the day to enjoy morning tea and fellowship with the many friends he had made during his time in the parish.
Ordained to the priesthood in 2000, Fr Vince came to St Joseph’s as assistant priest to Fr John McHugh in 2019 after Fr Thaddeus Ike was transferred to Inverell in 2018.
He arrived in Australia from the Philippines in June 2018 and spent time in the Inverell and Armidale parishes before being appointed to St Joseph’s, bringing a wealth of experience to his new role, after serving as hospital chaplain with the Disciples of Hope order in the Philippines.
Fr Vince stepped into the role of parish priest when Fr John became ill at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and parishioners are grateful for his support and guidance although he admitted to “feeling inadequate at times”.
Although he had only been in St Joseph’s parish for 16 months, Fr Vince had endeared himself to parishioners and his appointment to the Quirindi-Werris Creek Parish as administrator was met with sadness.
After cutting the farewell cake, Fr Vince was presented with a souvenir by Sr Christine Belling – an Australian koala with a scarf around its neck – the new koala tartan created recently by the Lawsons at Spring Ridge.
After 14 months at Quirindi, Fr Vince is on his way home but will go with many happy memories of his time in Australia.
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