Bishop Tarabay, Sister Seaade, Hashem, Consul Makaroun his wife

Anwar Harb, his wife and Tony Khattar

The proposed Maronite Centre will encompass some of the following:

•         The Maronite Chancery including the Bishop’s office and the Vicar General’s office

•         Maronite Care, Counselling, Family Office and Youth Office

•         Education, Vocational Work, Faith Formation, Maronite Courses and Mentoring

•         Media Centre

•         Offices of the Maronite Agencies

•         Conference and hospitality facilities

•         A welcoming entrance with a Chapel, the Maronite Heritage Centre, library, and book shops

•         Outdoor landscaping with Maronite identity and recreational areas

•         And, possibly Commercial leases until these spaces become necessary for our Church work

"Each organisation will retain its own identity and will continue to have their own administrative structures and continue to conduct their business as usual, while working together and raising awareness together. We are also proposing to have an Operational Manager running the Centre and applying for numerous Government Grants. Eventually, we expect the Centre to be self-sufficient and viable in procuring necessary funding for all the different organisations involved and to have full Legal and accounting capabilities to service the wider Eparchy, Parishes, Agencies and organisations."

Businessman Sarkis Nassif (C) and other guests

President of the MCS Anthony Hachem and Fr. Maroun Moussa

"Together we will have stronger and more effective collaboration, and our events will not overlap as experienced on many past occasions. The generosity of our individual sponsors will then become a consolidated effort. As a result, each unique organisation can focus on providing specific needs of the Eparchy. Furthermore, to ensure our “Shared Vision” with greater unity and communication, selected representatives from each of the organisations will meet at least quarterly to present their plans to the others. This will reaffirm our mutual support for one another in our shared vision for the Maronite Eparchy and will ensure we have no overlaps."

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank first, all the sponsors who supported me on this vision. Secondly, I would like to thank the Board of management of the MCS for supporting me on this initiative. Finally, a special thank you from all of us to the soldiers behind closed doors who worked so hard and gave from their personal time to make this possible.  Thank you to Mrs Salwa Elias of the AMPC and Ms Natalie Boustanie of the MCS."

Tarabay

In turn, Bishop Antoine Charbel Tarabay, the Archbishop of the Maronite diocese of Australia,  delivered a speech welcoming the attendees, congratulating the management of the new Maronite Catholic Society and its President Dr. Anthony Hashem.

"The starting point for the service of the Church and our Maronite community in Australia in the future is a “shared vision” to guide our youth to cooperate in unity and build our Maronite and Christian personality," he said while noting the many challenges that must be addressed.

In his speech, Archbishop talked about his "recent visit to Canada and his attendance at the Fifth Conference of the Maronite Bishops under the chairmanship of His Beatitude Beshara Boutros Rahi, during which they studied a number of important projects and discussed some ideas and experiences."

Bishop Tarabay concluded by saying that this conference is the first of its kind and is scheduled to be held again on November 9 and 11 in Lebanon, where the most important item of its agenda is planning to achieve the goals and stabilize the Christian presence in Lebanon and the Middle East.

Natalie Terry Kayrouz (C) and other guests

Members of the media

Nissrine Khadra and other guests