Fr Joe Taylor’s name is one known by most Catholics in Shepparton, but also plenty of other community members.
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For the past 13 years he has been the parish priest at St Brendan’s Catholic Church, but now the time has come for him to retire.
Fr Joe will step down from his role, saying his last mass as parish priest on Sunday, September 28, before leaving town the following day.
It is a move he feels the time is right to take, but still thinks letting go of what has been a busy ministry will take some getting used to.
Fr Joe said he had enjoyed his time in Shepparton and meeting people through his work.
“I love it here (at St Brendan’s),” he said.
“It’s a lively parish.”
For Fr Joe, it was hard to pick just one highlight from his years in Shepparton.
Instead, he pointed to lots of different things that had made his time here enjoyable, but in particular it had been the people he had met that stood out the most.
“Just the encounters with people day-to-day — that’s been special, and the friendships made,” Fr Joe said.
He made special note of the priests he had lived with, as well as several seminarians who had also spent periods at St Brendan’s.
“We’ve had some amazing priests here,” he said.
He also paid tribute to the church’s Faith and Light program for adults with an intellectual disability, and the great staff that worked in the parish.
The work with the Catholic schools in the area has also been a highlight of Fr Joe’s time in Shepparton.
“One of my great joys has been to work side by side with our Catholic school principals and teachers,” he said.
“It has been an inspiration to see their faith and inspiration come to life.”
With his days filled with masses, weddings, funerals, forming groups, in-servicing for groups, and visiting people in their homes and in hospital, among his many other duties, Fr Joe’s days have not been dull.
“I’ve found Shepparton to be a great place,” he said.
Fr Joe said his time in Shepparton had also seen Catholic churches work well with other church denominations for ecumenical services.
“I’ve enjoyed working with other churches and other faiths,” he said.
For Fr Joe, Shepparton has provided a home not far from where he grew up in Lockington and Echuca.
It is one of 10 parishes in Australia and Papua New Guinea he has been a part of during his 51 years as a priest.
Fr Joe was ordained in Echuca on May 18, 1974, a day he remembers well.
“It was in the floods. It was tricky and a lot of people couldn’t get there,” he said.
He remembers the floodwater on that day stretching “from Mooroopna across to Echuca”.
Of the 24 priests who were ordained the same year as he was, only one other has not retired, but will do so on Boxing Day.
Another one retired only a few weeks ago.
Fr Joe said the highlight of his time being a priest was the six years he spent working in Papua New Guinea, working in remote areas that had only opened up to the wider world only six years earlier.
There, he spent four years in a parish, before also working in a seminary for two years.
“That was a very special time,” he said.
“Other highlights of being a priest are the people I worked with.
“I’ve loved parish ministry, and working in faith situations.
“Sundays are also weekly highlights (saying mass).
“Priests have an amazing parish life.
“Pastoral ministry is enormous.
“We’re really blessed in so many ways.”
For the 75-year-old, the time feels right to move on to the next chapter in his life, but that doesn’t mean he will not miss this current one.
“In my heart, it will be a challenge. Letting go of what I love,” he said.
However, he believes it is time for younger priests to step up into the role he has left behind.
“I believe as older priests you have to let go and give younger priests some responsibility,” he said.
While he will retire from parish life, Fr Joe will not be leaving all of his roles in the church.
He will remain as a diocesan consultor until the next bishop of Sandhurst is appointed after the previous bishop, Shane Mackinlay, made the recent move to Brisbane to be an archbishop there.
He has also already been lined up to fill in for some masses in the region and will help with a Catholic youth festival.
While no longer in Shepparton, Fr Joe will not be moving far away.
His next home will be at a house in Longwood he has owned for several years.
There, Fr Joe’s days will be slower than he is used to.
“I’m going to read, walk, garden and watch a few movies,” he said of his retirement.
“It will be quite a lot of adjustment and letting go of priesthood.”
Fr Joe will be farewelled at the 11am service at St Brendan’s Church on Sunday, September 28.