The De Mazenod Family team came to fruition after the inaugural De Mazenod Family Gathering held in Perth in 2019. There is a desire to be part of the wider De Mazenod Family across all our ministries and the De Mazenod Family Team has come together to help us unite as a family.

At the inaugural Gathering, we began with the theme “Finding your place in the family”, and we have spent time over the past 2 years, looking at what that means for us as individuals – how are we connected to the De Mazenod Family? It will look different for each one of us.

This year, as we hold our Gathering event, we launch our new theme “Being the most united family” and we will begin our journey over the next 12 months about how we can unite together as one extended De Mazenod Family.

The De Mazenod Family Team comprises Fr Christian Fini, Fr Andrew Chen, Emma Rice, Eileen White, and Tony Coghlan. Below we introduce you to each member, a little about them and their role on the team.

Fr Christian Fini OMI

As Provincial of the Australian Province, Fr Christian keeps a watchful eye on the team and helps guide us in our planning and offers helpful suggestions along the way.

 

Fr Andrew Chen OMI

While Fr Andrew is the Rector of St Mary’s Seminary, we are blessed to have Fr Andrew as our Oblate Chaplain to the De Mazenod Family. Fr Andrew is the main Oblate contact for the De Mazenod Family.  

Emma Rice

Emma grew up as part of Mary Immaculate Parish, Eagle Vale, where during High School, she joined the parish youth group and has been part of Oblate Youth Australia ever since. In 2015 Emma moved from Sydney to Melbourne to take on the role of Oblate Youth Australia Project and Operations Manager and Rosies Coordinator (Vic). Emma was part of the team that helped coordinate the De Mazenod Family Gathering in 2019 and now in 2022, she takes on the role of Coordinator of the De Mazenod Family as well.

Eileen White

Eileen came to first know the Oblates when she and her husband started attending Mass at St Mary’s Star of the Sea Parish, Sorrento in 1995. After moving down there permanently to work as a primary school teacher in 2004, she got to know the Oblates better and in 2014, Eileen became Pastoral Associate of the parish. Eileen and her husband moved back to the city in 2020 where she was working with the Sisters of St Joseph until taking up the role of Assistant Coordinator for the De Mazenod Family. 

Tony Coghlan

Tony Coghlan is the Director of the De Mazenod Family Education Network. Tony has a long history in Education, and spent many years working at Mazenod College in Victoria and was the first Lay Principal of the college.