We don’t know how many souls it may help save, but a large new Catholic Church under construction is generating plenty of local jobs in Ingleburn.
Father Peter Caruana, the parish priest at Holy Family in Oxford Road, Ingleburn, says that it’s hard to give an accurate figure of the number jobs created by work on the new church opposite Ingleburn High school.
“I believe there’s been more than 100 workers on site including bricklayers, plumbers, drainers, carpenters, engineers, consultants, machine operators, drivers, roofers, gyprockers and electricians,’’ Father Caruana told the Voice in Macarthur.
The new Catholic place of worship will be much bigger than the one it’s replacing.
Once complete later this year, the new Holy Family Church will have a capacity of 600 parishioners.
Father Caruana said planning for the church took into consideration the anticipated population growth of the South West Sydney corridor.
“If we are true to the Gospel of spreading the Good News and Pope Francis’s call to the New Evangelisation, all our actions, including planning the future size of our churches, needs to reflect this,’’ Father Caruana said.
“Also, when deciding on the size of the new church, we needed to consider the population increases projected for Ingleburn and Minto.
[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“With the new estates going in around the area, the population of Ingleburn and Minto will be close to doubling over the next 15 years, so we need a church that can cater for such large increases in population,’’ Father Caruana said.[/social_quote]
When you first see the Holy Family Church the most impressive part of it is the scale.
It really is quite a large new church under construction, both in height and in length.
The second thing that captures the eye is a certain grandeur in the design, which is a little unusual in suburban churches.
So we asked Father Caruana to take us through the thinking behind the scale and style of the new church, which was designed by the local firm of architects, De Angelis Taylor & Associates.
“The aim for the new church was not to produce a grand design that was over-bearing or superfluous in any way,’’ Father Caruana said.
“My motive was to build a dignified church that didn’t merely look like a building with a cross.
“The design is Romanesque in style modelled on the churches in Europe.
“Any grandeur it portrays is only meant to point to the grandeur and glory of God,’’ Father Caruana said.
While Father Caruana said he could not disclose the cost of building the new church, “it has not been a small exercise’’.
“The development includes a new parish office, expanded car park and renovating the current church into a parish/school hall,’’ he said.
“It is a project that the parish has been saving up for over 20 years so it is wonderful to finally see the vision become a reality.’’
There’s no official completion date yet but Father Caruana said he was hopeful the new Holy Family Church would be ready before the end of this year.
“Like all new churches in the diocese, it will be officially opened by our Bishop Peter Ingham,’’ he said.
