Priest’s ministry of ‘bringing joy to migrants’

Sydney
20 April 2003

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Priest’s ministry of ‘bringing joy to migrants’

Scalabrinian Fr Francis Lovatin, 71, assistant parish priest of St Therese, Mascot, and former chaplain to the Mission to Seamen, died on Saturday, April 12, six days after suffering a stroke.

Fr Anthony Fregolent, Scalabrinian provincial superior, says a hallmark of his ministry was “bringing joy to migrant families”.

He was “a good priest and very funny”, with a gift for helping people adjust and for easing their homesickness.

Francis Lovatin, who was born in Verona, Italy, spent almost all his priestly life in Australia.

He was ordained in the US in 1956 and came here in 1958 to help with the parish of Unanderra, Wollongong.

He was the secretary for the Apostolic Delegation in Sydney for three years in the 70s and ministered to the Italian community in Wollongong, Newcastle and Brisbane.

He tended to the Italian community at Liverpool for more than 10 years.

He was assigned to Mascot last year. He had also served in the parishes of Surry Hills, North Lismore, Fitzroy (Melbourne) and Seton (Adelaide).

Scalabrininan Fr Dominic Ceresoli, parish priest at Mascot, said his close friend of 40 years would often say “all of us are on loan to other people so we had better treat them well”.