Bishop Vincent Long installed as the fourth Bishop of Parramatta (photo thanks to the Diocese of Parramatta).
Western Sydney and the Blue Mountains warmly welcomed Bishop Vincent Long Van Nguyen OFM Conv as the fourth Bishop of Parramatta on the evening of Thursday 16 June 2016 in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Parramatta.
The Catholic Mass, attended by thousands, was concelebrated by His Grace Most Rev Anthony Fisher OP, Archbishop of Sydney, the Pope’s representative to Australia, His Excellency Most Rev Adolfo Tito Yllana, Apostolic Nuncio to Australia, Archbishops and Bishops of Australia, clergy of the Diocese of Parramatta and visiting clergy.
During his homily, Bishop Vincent said he was humbled by his appointment. ‘I am very honoured and humbled by this appointment and grateful for the opportunity to serve the Church in Parramatta during this time,’ Bishop Vincent said. ‘As your Bishop, I am committed to be a bridge builder.’
‘The Scriptures we have heard tonight speak of a radical vision of love, inclusion and human flourishing,’ he said. ‘We should ask ourselves what it means to apply this expansive vision of God to our social matrix and what it means to be a house for all peoples.’
Bishop Vincent said he wanted to be a bridge builder to all communities and reached out to abuse victims, divorcees and the LGBTIQ community in particular.
‘There can be no future for the living church without there being space for those who have been hurt, damaged or alienated, be they abuse victims, survivors, divorcees, gays, lesbians or disaffected members,’ Bishop Vincent said.
Echoing Pope Francis, Bishop Vincent continued, ‘we are urged to be a church where everyone can feel welcomed, loved, forgiven and encouraged to live according to the Gospel… I am committed to make the church in Parramatta the house for all peoples, a church where there is less an experience of exclusion but more an encounter of radical love, inclusiveness and solidarity.’
(Video thanks to the Diocese of Parramatta)
Catholic Schools Parramatta Diocese
www.parra.catholic.edu.au
-
22 Jul 2026
Little Learners - School Readiness Program
Little Learners is St Canice’s School’s fun, free, play-based school readiness program designed for children aged 3.5–5 years who will be starting school in the next 1–2 years.07 Aug 2025
St Canice's Brekky Club
All students are invited to join the St Canice's Brekky Club. Brekky Club will now run on Thursdays – 7th, 21st, and 28th August.
-
20 Oct 2026
From Facebook
Our Stage 1 Mathematicians have been busy learning how to gather and organise data! We surveyed each other on what ultimate superpower we’d choose if we could have one, using tally marks to carefully record everyone's answers in a table. It turns out we have some pretty amazing heroes in our classroom—and some top-notch data collection skills! What superpower would your child choose? Let us know in the comments! 👇📊20 Oct 2026
From Facebook
🎨🌈 Creative Little Artists at St Canice’s! 🌈🎨 Our Kindergarten students have been exploring the wonderful world of watercolour painting with our specialist art teacher, Ms Dani! 🖌️💛 It’s been lovely to see our Kinders experimenting with colours, expressing their creativity and bringing their imaginations to life through art. Every masterpiece is unique! 🖼️✨ We love seeing our students learn, create and grow through these wonderful artistic experiences. Well done, Kindergarten artists! 🎨👏 #StCanicesKatoomba #Kindergarten #CreativeLearning #WatercolourArt #LittleLyrebirds #ArtAtStCanices
MORE NEWS
20 Oct 2026
From Facebook
Our Stage 1 Mathematicians have been busy learning how to gather and organise data! We surveyed each other on what ultimate superpower we’d choose if we could have one, using tally marks to carefully record everyone's answers in a table. It turns out we have some pretty amazing heroes in our classroom—and some top-notch data collection skills! What superpower would your child choose? Let us know in the comments! 👇📊
20 Oct 2026
From Facebook
🎨🌈 Creative Little Artists at St Canice’s! 🌈🎨 Our Kindergarten students have been exploring the wonderful world of watercolour painting with our specialist art teacher, Ms Dani! 🖌️💛 It’s been lovely to see our Kinders experimenting with colours, expressing their creativity and bringing their imaginations to life through art. Every masterpiece is unique! 🖼️✨ We love seeing our students learn, create and grow through these wonderful artistic experiences. Well done, Kindergarten artists! 🎨👏 #StCanicesKatoomba #Kindergarten #CreativeLearning #WatercolourArt #LittleLyrebirds #ArtAtStCanices
20 Oct 2026
From Facebook
🏉 AFL Clinic at St Canice’s! 💙❤️ What a fantastic day at St Canice’s! Our students took part in an exciting AFL clinic today, developing their footy skills, practising teamwork and sportsmanship, and most importantly, having lots of fun! 🏃♀️🏃♂️ It was wonderful to see everyone getting involved, giving new skills a go and enjoying an active day together. A big thank you to everyone who helped make today’s clinic possible! 👏 #StCanicesKatoomba #AFL #ActiveKids #Teamwork
20 Oct 2026
From Facebook
🐦💙 Little Lyrebirds Free Playgroup is on tomorrow! 💛🎨 Looking for a fun morning for your little one? Come along to our FREE Little Lyrebirds Playgroup tomorrow, Wednesday, from 9:00am–10:30am at St Canice’s Primary School, Katoomba! Our playgroup is a wonderful opportunity for children aged 0–6 years to play, explore, create and connect with other families in a welcoming school environment. 🌈 ✨ Enjoy: 🎨 Arts, crafts and creative activities 📚 Stories and songs 🎶 Music and games 🧸 Playtime and new friendships ☕️ A relaxed morning with other local families Whether you’re a regular visitor or joining us for the first time, we’d love to see you there! 📍 St Canice’s Primary School, 158 Katoomba Street, Katoomba ⏰ Tomorrow, 9:00am–10:30am 💙 FREE – everyone is welcome! Bring the little ones and come along for a lovely morning of fun, friendship and learning! 🐦 #LittleLyrebirds #StCanicesKatoomba #FreePlaygroup #BlueMountainsFamilies #PlayLearnGrow
20 Oct 2026
From Facebook
🎭 Drama at St Canice’s! 🎭 Lights, camera, action! 🌟 Our students enjoy Drama with Ms Dani every week, building confidence, creativity and communication skills while exploring their imaginations, expressing themselves and having fun together. Through drama, our students develop teamwork, problem-solving skills and the confidence to shine both on and off the stage! 🎬✨ At St Canice’s, every child has the opportunity to discover their talents and let their creativity shine! 💙 #StCanicesKatoomba #CreativeLearning #Drama #ConfidentLearners #LittleLyrebirds
14 Oct 2026
From Facebook
📅 SAVE THE DATE! Our Year 6 Graduation and End-of-Year Mass will be held on Wednesday 25 November 2026 at 9:30 am. We look forward to coming together as a school community to celebrate the end of the school year and acknowledge our Year 6 graduates. More details to follow. 💙💙
08 Oct 2026
From Facebook
🐦💛 Little Lyrebirds Playgroup is back! 💛🐦 We’re excited to welcome our Little Lyrebirds families back for Term 4! 🌿✨ 📅 Wednesday 14 October ⏰ 9:00am – 10:30am 📍 St Canice’s Primary School, Katoomba Come along for a morning of play, music, creativity, stories and fun with our wonderful Little Lyrebirds community. 🎶🎨📚 We look forward to seeing all our little Lyrebirds and their grown-ups for another wonderful term of fun and friendship! 🥰🫶 Everyone is welcome! 💙💛
28 Sep 2026
Celebrating 40 years of Voice of Youth and the power of student voice
Six Year 6 students from 58 Catholic Schools Parramatta Diocese (CSPD) Primary schools came together at St John XXIII Catholic College Stanhope Gardens on 22 September for the Voice of Youth Grand Final, showcasing their public speaking skills through a series of thoughtful and engaging speeches.
24 Sep 2026
From Facebook
Stage 1 presented their learning about the Great Barrier reef to the school today. Each class came down with their teachers to hear all the amazing facts about the Great Barrier Reef and why it is so important that we look after the largest living structure in the world! Everyone was so impressed with their hard work and Stage 1 were so proud to show off their efforts! Great job stage 1! The work will be on display in the library before school on Friday morning and parents are invited to come in and look at the work and then take the reef boxes home.
23 Sep 2026
From Facebook
🥁 Thank you, Emily, for an incredible day of drumming! 🥁 On Monday, our Kindy to Year 6 students had the absolute pleasure of drumming with Emily, and what a wonderful experience it was! ❤️ Emily shared such beautiful words about our school community, describing our students as diverse, incredibly creative and an absolute delight, and highlighting the musicality, inclusiveness and warmth that make St Canice’s so special. Our students (and staff!) had so much fun joining in, learning new skills, making music together and sharing plenty of smiles along the way. 🥁🎶 A huge THANK YOU, Emily, for bringing your energy, enthusiasm and joy to St Canice’s. We loved every minute of it! 🥰🫶 What a fantastic day of music, connection and fun! 💙💛
23 Sep 2026
From Facebook
What a privilege it was to have the wonderfully talented Emily Cooper from Hands, Heart and Feet visiting St Canice's last Monday. Emily was here to facilitate our African Drumming Circle incursion, working in the music room with Ms Frazer and every student from Kindy to Year 6, with the goal of developing our drumming skills. Our student set up crew were excited to discover Emily's van full to the brim with handmade djembes of varying sizes and tones for each student to use during their hour drumming session. The children had a fun and fabulous time discovering different percussion instruments from West Africa, as well as learning and playing new rhythmic phrases on the Djembes, and of course, making a whole heap of noise! Thank you, Emily, for inspiring every student at St Canice's with your positive energy and your addictive rhythms. #handsheartandfeet #africandrumming #africandrummingcircle #africandrummingworkshop #MusicMatters #stcaniceskatoomba #stcaniceskatoomba💙 #stcaniceskatoombamusic #stcaniceskatoomba💙🩵 #stcaniceskatoombapercussion #stcaniceskatoombapercussion🥁 #stcaniceskatoombarhythmreading
23 Sep 2026
From Facebook
This Friday is the final day of Term 3 for our staff and students! 🥳 We wish all our St Canice’s families a safe, happy and restful break. We hope you enjoy some quality time together, have plenty of fun and make lots of wonderful memories. 💙 We can’t wait to hear all about your holiday adventures when our students return on Tuesday 13 October! 🏖️🌏✨ Have a wonderful break, everyone! 💛💙
22 Sep 2026
From Facebook
Can you guess what Stage 1 has been learning about? 🌊🐳🐠🐙🐬🦐🐋🦈🐡🦑 Our Stage 1 students have been busy learning, creating and bringing their ideas to life—and the results are incredible! 🎨✨ Their amazing dioramas will be on display in our Library this Friday, and we’d love you to come along and take a look. 👀 A diorama is a three-dimensional model or scene that uses miniature figures and objects to create a setting and bring learning to life. We’re so proud of the creativity, effort and imagination our Stage 1 students have shown in creating these masterpieces! 🌟 📚 Stage 1 families: Parents and carers are invited to collect your child’s diorama and take it home on Friday afternoon. 📸 Keep an eye out for more photos of the final masterpieces coming soon! Can you guess what they’ve been learning about? 🤔
22 Sep 2026
From Facebook
🕊️ A Prayer for Peace 🕊️ Yesterday, our whole school community gathered for a special Prayer for Peace around our Peace Pole. The Peace Pole is a wonderful reminder of our shared hope for peace, kindness, respect and harmony in our school, our community and throughout the world. 🌏💙 Our students and staff came together in prayer and reflection, sharing a simple but powerful message — may peace prevail on Earth. A very special thank you to Rotary for this meaningful gift and for helping us create a lasting symbol of peace within our school grounds. 🕊️ Peace begins with each of us.
22 Sep 2026
From Facebook
✏️ Every morning in Stage 2, our literacy block starts with teacher-guided learning and a trusty whiteboard! Whiteboards are a fantastic learning tool - they encourage every child to participate, makes thinking visible, keep students actively involved and gives them the opportunity to receive instant teacher feedback. 🧠✨ But our whiteboards come with rules too! 😄 I wonder… does your child know the difference between a 3 Second clean and a Respect clean?