The History of
the Apostolate in Canberra

The apostolate of the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter (FSSP) in Canberra began in 2002, when Archbishop Francis Carroll invited the priests of the Fraternity to minister to the spiritual needs of the faithful in his Archdiocese who were devoted to the traditional Latin Mass. The first priest of the Fraternity to serve the Latin Mass community were Fr John Fongemie from the United States who arrived towards the end of 2001 and took up residence at the Archbishop’s House while at the same time saying Mass at Sts Peter and Paul, Garran, providing catecheses to the children as well as pastoral care to the sick in hospitals. During this time the community grew as more families came for the Masses since they wanted good catechetical formation for their children. The congregation began to grow in numbers over the years.  Fr Fongemie returned to the States in 2006 and was succeeded by Fr Webb, from Canada who remained until 2009 when he returned to Canada and was replaced by Fr Dominic Popplewell who had been ordained in the same year. Fr Popplewell resided at Ephesus House which was rented from the Archdiocese. At this time, there was an additional Sunday Mass at St Thomas More, Campbell. 

 
In 2014 Fr Christopher Blust assumed pastoral care of the Latin Mass community while at the same time carrying out his duties as regional superior from Parramatta. This required him to commute regularly between Canberra and Parramatta each week. The priests transferred their residence from Ephesus House to a house in Kambah that had been bequeathed to them by a parishioner – Margaret Clifford. The community continued growing with adults coming to ask for instruction in the faith and baptism. Some members of the community also began committing themselves to the pro-life cause by praying the Rosary one Saturday a month in an open space near where the life of the unborn was being threatened. In 2020 Fr Blust returned to Canada and was succeeded by Fr Paul Leung.