The
Catholic Weekly
Online
Sydney
23 November 2003
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Sydney welcomes its newest cardinal
Not to be missed
Help for Jenny, Luke
Take heart from teenagers
Caritas stays put
Irishtown revisited
The company they keep
Pregnant pause: Making room for the little person
Editorial: Young hopefuls
Letters: Quiet revolutionary
Conversation: Fr Michael Anghel, parish priest and grandfather of three - Priest
made rite choice
Chance or Hand of God?
Presto, adagio, it’s art Caravaggio
The last retreat
Virtual boost to learning
‘Big kids’ meet ‘littlies’
Teacher, student in De La Salle double history win
Prize for playground plan
Gospel values alive in L’Arche
Conversation: Fr Michael Anghel, parish priest and grandfather of three - Priest made rite choice
RITE CHOICE: Fr Michael Anghel ... persuaded by prayer, purgatory and the primacy of the Pope
By Marilyn Rodrigues
Fr Michael Anghel was a very happy and proud dad when his youngest child, Maria Magdalena, was married in his parish last month.
Fr Michael, 56, has been parish priest of Our Lady of the Assumption Church, Homebush, since 1998.
He is also a married father of three and grandfather of three, one of a small number of married Catholic priests in Australia - former Anglican or Orthodox priests who have been received into the Catholic Church.
A migrant from Romania, Fr Michael married in 1969 and was ordained a Romanian Orthodox priest in 1975.
He joined the Roman Catholic Church in Australia in 1996.
When he converted, his wife Maria and two daughters did too. His son, who lives in Romania, did not.
The Anghels came here in 1989, having fled Romania the year before when Fr Michael found himself under pressure from authorities in the then police state led by dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.
“I had made action against the Ceausescu family and I was very afraid,” Fr Michael says. “We decided to leave Romania.
“I fled with my wife and stayed in Budapest for 2½ months and then went to Austria, where we stayed for one year and two months.
“Then the children joined us and we decided to come here.”
Fr Michael was happy to minister to Sydney’s small Romanian Orthodox community but because of his recent experience he felt disillusioned with his Church.
He says: “I had been very disappointed with the Romanian Orthodox Church from when we were in Romania because they co-operated with the communist government.
“Because of this I wanted to convert to Catholicism.
“I had a meeting with Cardinal Clancy (then Archbishop of Sydney) and he asked me why I wanted to become a Catholic.
“I told him the truth and he saw that I just had a political reason, not any theological or spiritual ones, so he advised me to go back and to pray and think about it.
“So I did and I realised then that I couldn’t do it and be at peace with myself. It was very hard.”
Fr Michael continued to serve the Romanian Orthodox community for the next six years.
At the same time he worked full time as a machine operator in a factory, which left little time for him to read, reflect and discern what he should do about his priestly vocation.
“It was a very hard time for me,” he says.
“I served the Romanian Orthodox liturgy here and was involved with the people’s needs and I did my best, but during the week I also worked very hard.
“I was very tired and I had no time to inform myself.
“But in 1995 I had an accident at work and I stopped working. Then I had the opportunity to find out something more about the Catholic faith and more about the Romanian Church, including the history of the Romanian Church and the universal Church.
“I compared the teachings I found with what I had learnt at university and I decided to become a Catholic because I found that the truth is in the Catholic Church.”
Two of the things crucial to Fr Michael’s decision were that he became convinced of the primacy of the Pope, and also of the existence of purgatory, two teachings not held by the Romanian Orthodox Church.
As an avid reader of theology back in Romania, Fr Michael had to bring his knowledge and intellect into his discernment process but he also spent a lot of time praying over what he read.
“I prayed a lot, and I continue to pray,” he says.
“The decision was then very easy. I don’t regret what I did and I am very happy.
“I think it was difficult for my family at first, until I explained my reasons. Now my youngest daughter especially is very a devoted Catholic and my wife is also.”
Once he felt sure of his desire to become a Catholic, Fr Michael spent a year and a half studying English at TAFE to improve on what he had picked up while working.
He also wrote to Pope John Paul II, asking to be received into the Church, and approached Cardinal Clancy again.
This time he was accepted.
“I received permission to celebrate Mass for the Romanian Greek Catholics in this church at Homebush,” he says.
“Then in 1996 the cardinal asked me if I wanted to say the Roman rite as well.”
Fr Michael had to visit the Good Shepherd Seminary at Homebush every week to study and practise the Roman rite.
His permission to celebrate the Mass came through from the Vatican in 1997.
The following year he lived at the Homebush presbytery for five months as assistant parish priest under Fr Paul Monkerud before being appointed parish priest.
He wasn’t sure how he would be received by the parish, but says the parishioners have always been very supportive.
Fr Michael celebrates the Roman rite liturgy for the Homebush parishioners but also has a Romanian liturgy at 11am on Sundays.
The Romanian Greek Catholic rite uses the Byzantine liturgies of St John Crysostom and St Basil.
“Singing is very important in the Byzantine rite,” he says. “Everything is sung. It’s very nice.
“They are great liturgies. But they are very long, up to two hours, when compared with the Roman rite.”
Balancing family life with Fr Michael’s priestly ministry has not been easy for the Anghel family, but they have had no problems, he says.
“It is not easy work, but I come from a different background where people like their priest to be married,” he says.
“But they also admire those priests who do not get married and who choose to dedicate their entire life to Jesus.
“So I respect the Holy Father’s position; I agree with him.”
In Romania there are strict conditions for men who want to be married priests.
“You must decide before you are ordained whether you want to be a married or celibate priest and you cannot change your mind after,” says Fr Michael.
“Then you must get married before you are ordained. When you get married you must have approval from the bishop to marry that person and it’s not so easy.
“She must be a very good Christian, either Orthodox or Catholic, and have a reference from the parish priest. Otherwise you cannot marry her.”