Catholic Outlook Magazine | Advent | Summer 2022 Issue

Fr Paul Slyney (centre) with Bishop Vincent (right) and
parishioners at the Chrism Mass 2018 at St Patrick’s
Cathedral, Parramatta. Image: Diocese of Parramatta.
A cuppa with the priest
Fr Paul Slyney, Parish Priest of
Our Lady of the Nativity Parish, Lawson
STORY CHRISTINA GRETTON
A six-month ‘trial’ of seminary life has turned
into a lifetime of joy and contentment for Fr Paul
Slyney, Parish Priest of Our Lady of the Nativity
Parish, Lawson.
As he reflects on his priestly life, Fr Paul Slyney says
it began with a feeling about a vocation “he couldn’t
shake”. The priesthood wasn’t necessarily his first
choice, he admits, but his internal compass was
pointing him in that direction. To honour that feeling,
he started at St Columba’s Seminary in Springwood
(now since become St Columba’s Catholic College
Springwood), intending to stay for six months.
As the six-month mark in the seminary went by,
he hardly noticed. After a few years at St Patrick’s
Seminary at Manly, he was ordained a priest in 1981.
Today, his gratitude and love for his vocation is obvious.
I’ve met extraordinary people.
In particular, the diversity he has found in Catholicism
delights him. “Diversity is truly Catholic” he says,
commenting on the different approaches to worship
he has seen through encounters with Catholics of
the many cultures and traditions that make up the
Diocese of Parramatta community. “The one thing
that unites us is the gathering around the table of the
Lord at the Eucharist,” he explains. “We become a
holy people. The Eucharist makes us aware of the
goodness of God.”
It is the part of Mass which gives him a distinct joy.
“When I say ‘Behold the Lamb of God who takes
away the sins of the world’, I smile,” he says. “I feel
the sense of liberation that Christ gives us, that sense
of belonging in those words, that sense of being
embraced by the love of God. No one can take that
away from us.”
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