On Thursday evening 10 April, the University Chaplaincy will host an evening of Passiontide carols at the John Paul II Centre at 150 City Road, Darlington.
The initiative of Sydney organist Christian Catsanos dates back to 2007, in response to his concern that while evenings of Christmas Carols were widely recognised in Catholic society, the same is not true of the “holier and more solemn days in the church’s calendar.”
Christian is especially keen for the initiative to bear fruit during this Jubilee Year.
He thanks his mother, Ruby Catsanos, for her idea to utilise the Jubilee Year to further establish the event, and his godson, Liam Chang, for his suggestion to incorporate themes from the Stations of the Cross to make it more pertinent to the Jubilee Year.
The Archdiocese of Sydney University Chaplaincies has played a part in the Passiontide carols service over several years, previously at St Benedict’s Broadway in connection with the University of Notre Dame.
Over the years, services of Passiontide Carols have taken place in a variety of sacred settings, including Christian’s former school, Redfield College, Dural, where he began the initiative in 2007, Hornsby Catholic Cathedral Parish, St Benedict’s Church Broadway, and now the John Paul II Centre.
“This promises to be a special evening to draw us nearer to the sufferings of Christ at this time of year,” Christian said. “All are very welcome to be present at 6.30pm on Thursday 10th April 2025, with supper to follow.”
