Due to a heavy hailstorm which hit the southern parts and CBD of Brisbane on Thursday 27 November, a very small band of catholic churches and schools have encountered disruption to their services.
From a liturgical perspective the Kangaroo Point East Brisbane parish has suffered damage at both of its mass centres (St Joseph’s Church, 26-36 Leopard St, Kangaroo Point and St Benedict’s Church, 81 Mowbray Terrace, East Brisbane) and is closed until further notice.
This will mean no Masses or services will be conducted per the regular schedule. Parishioners are encouraged to attend neighbouring parishes (e.g. Bulimba, Coorparoo St James, the Cathedral parish) until such time as it is safe for the local services to resume.
Please note the Personal Ordinariate parish (St Thomas á Becket), which operates out of the St Benedict’s Church at East Brisbane, will also be effected and not holding any regular Masses and services.
Further south, the Annerley Ekibin parish suffered damage to its Annerley mass centre only (Mary Immaculate Church, 616 Ipswich Rd, Annerley) and consequently has had to cancel the regular 8am Mass for Saturday 29 November. All three of its regular Sunday services on November 30 will go ahead, but these shall be celebrated in the parish hall instead of the church.
If you need to find nearby Masses and service our Archdiocese of Brisbane app may be able to help.
In education services, on Friday 28 November the Brisbane Catholic Education twitter feed (@Cath_Ed_BNE) advised that nine Catholic schools had been closed for the day due to flood damage
These schools, a mix of Brisbane Catholic Education and Religious Institute facilities, were as follows: All Hallows, Gregory Terrace, St Laurences, St Ita’s at Dutton Park, St Sebastian’s Primary at Yeronga, St Brendan’s Primary at Moorooka, Our Lady’s College and Mary Immaculate Primary at Annerley and St Joseph’s Primary at Kangaroo Point.
At this stage, BCE have advised that Kangaroo Point, Moorooka and Mary Immaculate Primary at Annerley will not be open on Monday 1st December.
For the other schools, assessments will be made over the weekend as to whether closures will again be needed into next week.
It is best to access the Brisbane Catholic Education twitter feed or the individual websites of effected schools for the most up to date information on school operation for December 1st and onwards.
As at Friday 28 November Centacare Brisbane had not suffered any significant property damage to their services or agencies and so no disruption or closures were recorded.