Saint Josephs rises from the ashes

The “some” and “ill-gotten” were of course references to the gambling aspect.

Glad that the story had some basis in truth 🙂

What? No anti-religion comments? So much love…

That’s so cute, willo!

: )

i grew up a few hundred metres away from this church…..good to see it back i seem to recall that the winning tatts ticket was a gift to the priest from a parishioner…i was present when it was officially opened….all of 7 yrs old

Good to see that particular church back. One of my Brothers funeral was held there in ’83. It is a nice church.

Looked like a packed house there tonight!

It was the whole church. 1973, I think.

As the Archbishop said in his homily this evening, only a Catholic church could possibly be built from the proceeds of a Tattslotto win.

He also recollected that three years ago or so the parish priest was severely bashed on the front steps of the church. And then his church burns down. Really quite amazing he’s still going strong.

xman said :

Any truth in the story that this church was originally funded from a Tattslotto win by the Parish Priest? He’d apparently hidden the win from the Parish at large but was eventually found out. My father told me this and I don’t know if I should believe it or not – he’s a long time Canberra resident, but also a notorious bull-shite artist.

Some might say the fire was just desserts for ill-gotten gains.

It’s true – but it wasn’t a secret. It happened in the early 1980s, and I think he funded the stained glass windows, not the whole church.

Can anyone seriously doubt the Church’s ability to accept a donation?

That’s kind of romantic. I like stories like that.