Serving the needs of the People of God – Fr Benjamin Saliba

Fr Benjamin Saliba is an Assistant Priest at St Mary’s Cathedral.

The importance of serving the pastoral and sacramental needs of the people of God is a key component for Fr Benjamin Saliba’s Priesthood.

 

Fr Benjamin arrived at the St Mary’s Cathedral Parish in January 2024 after his first appointment as a priest at St John the Baptist, Bonnyrigg Heights; and serving as a deacon at Our Lady of the Rosary, Fairfield. Having served at the major liturgies of the Cathedral as a Seminarian since 2017 and being ordained here in 2022 by Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP, he still sees the cathedral as a place of “awe and wonder” and has always been a “spiritual home” for him.

Through his vocation to the priesthood, Fr Benjamin wishes to “serve the people of God faithfully, giving them the beauty and truths of our Faith in an accessible way – equipping them with the tools to grow in love for their faith, to be able to understand even the ‘hard’ teachings.”

“As an assistant priest of the Mother Church of Australia, there is a standard of service and expectation that is to be met for the people of God to be exposed to goodness, truth and beauty.” Fr Benjamin hopes to contribute to this through “reverence and clarity when he preaches, offering counsel in the confessional and being a priest after the heart of Jesus who is meek and humble.”

The most profound things that he has experienced as a priest, Fr Benjamin mentions, “is being able to offer the sacrifice of Mass and being at the Mercy of God in the Confessional” and he is grateful that here at the Cathedral there are multiple Masses offered each day and opportunities for the Sacrament of Confession to be heard.

Outside of his priestly ministry, Fr Benjamin loves spending time with his family and friends as they keep him “grounded and balanced.” He is grateful for both his parents supporting his vocation and is a proud Godfather to the 5 children (and counting) of his brother and sister-in-law, who are ‘his biggest fans.’

On the side, Fr Benjamin also has a podcast – ‘Against the Grain – Father and Son talk faith and footy.’  The podcast discusses faith and sport with professional athletes and other Church personalities about how to effectively engage a culture that is highly secular.  Fr Benjamin encourages you to take a look at it here – Against the Grain