This announcement of the proposed opening of St. Philomena’s School in Brisbane, Queensland, was made in May 1988. With the help of Divine Providence, the school opened in February, 1999 as a primary school. Today, St. Philomena’s school is thriving, serving 250 children from prep to grade 12.
This article comes from the archives of the traditionalist journal, Catholic, and has been republished here by permission.
St. Philomena’s School, Brisbane
The Fathers of the Society of Saint Pius X, God willing, will open a Primary School, Grades One to Seven, in January 1999 at Park Ridge, in the southern suburbs of Brisbane. Enrolments are already being accepted.
A small part of the land, 12 acres in area, has been used up to the present as the priests’ residence. Acquired in 1993 through the great generosity of one of the parish families, a great deal of work has already been carried out.
A 50 metre classroom which was formerly part of the Southport Public School, has been on the site for some time. On St George’s Day this year, three other buildings were moved to the site. These buildings were part of the historic Witton Barracks at Indooroopilly on the Brisbane River. They will become the Administration Block, Library and Art/Music departments for the new school.
The Brisbane parishioners have shown themselves to be very generous towards the school. They have paid for the first building, extensive waste disposal works and the massive landscape requirements of the Logan City Council, which included a formed and sealed roadway and parking facilities.
The new buildings from the Australian Army are being acquired wth the help of an interest-free loan.
All the paperwork is being progressively submitted to the Queensland Education Department. The Fathers earnestly ask your prayers to Saint Philomena, the Patroness of the School, so that all the necessary permissions and permits will be granted as soon as possible. The Logan City Council have been helpful, though exacting.
It is hoped that a small private chapel or shrine might be built in the later half of this year. Father Gerard Hogan, School Board Chairman, sees this as essential for the establishment of a Catholic Rule of Life in the hearts and minds of the children.
A Library sub-committee has been formed and will be very active in seeking donations of books of any age or subject for the school library. The provision of a library is pivotal to registration, as has been shown at both the other schools of the Society of St Pius X, St Dominic Savio Primary School in Sydney and St Thomas Aquinas Secondary College at Tynong in Victoria.
If any reader knows of a school which is either closing or updating its library, please contact both the school and Father Hogan, no matter where the school might be. St Philomena School needs books, not just school books, but books on the widest variety of subjects and references possible.
A meeting will take place next month for the active Parents and Friends Association, who will try to emulate the very successful Parents and Friends of St Dominic Savio School in Sydney, who have worked heroically through the years to support that school.
Father Hogan, as School Board Chairman, makes a special plea to those parents of children who have grown up, finished their education and left home. He asks first for prayers that St Philomena School may provide the Catholic education that was not available for their own children. He also asks these parents to look on their book shelves for books that may be useful for the any school library. He reminds us that “Holy Writ tells us that God is never outdone in generosity.”
Father Hogan then quoted an example from history:
“Cardinal Vaughan of Westminster, who was the brother of Roger Bede Vaughan O.S.B., the second Archbishop of Sydney, founded the Mill Hill Fathers as Missionary priests for Africa. His reason was that if England, Protestant for the most part, would send missionary priests to give the Faith to the pagans who did not know the true God, so God would reward England by again converting her to the Faith of its Fathers.
“If we all do likewise, God will help us build up this school and convert our loved ones whose steps may have strayed these past years.”
Long-term planning is that St Philomena School will expand to include a Secondary School, which in Queensland, begins at Year Eight. This could happen as soon as the second year of the school, in January 2000.
‘Catholic’ was a traditional newspaper printed in country Victoria, Australia from 1982 to 2000. Its founders were Silvester Donald McLean and his late wife, Andrina. Among its contributors were the famous defenders of tradition, Michael Davies and Yves Dupont.
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