Priest retires from daily juggling act
by Yvette Brand Officiating at a funeral in the morning and a wedding in the afternoon is typical of the journey of a Catholic parish priest. For Fr Herman Hengel, he likened his vocation to being a juggler.
“Imagine a juggler. If he is fairly competent he can juggle three balls easily. He can complete other tasks at the same time.
“Juggling is the story of a priest in a parish. Three or four things happen most days, sometimes even simultaneously: daily mass is celebrated, people are sick and need pastoral care, meetings are planned and schools look for attention, sacraments and other programs are in place.”
Fr Hengel’s journey ended on Sunday, on his 75th birthday, when he celebrated his final mass as the permanent parish priest for Warragul and Drouin.
After 49 years as a priest in the Sale diocese, Fr Hengel is looking forward to retirement and being a “fill in” where needed.
One of 10 children, he grew up in Holland, moving to Australia in 1958 when he was 17-years-old.
He says his years of service have been rewarding, but also challenging, particularly in recent years, with fewer numbers attending mass.
“The greatest challenge has been how to be a priest in a parish, in a society, in a world, for that matter, where enormous social, cultural and demographic changes have taken and are taking place.
“That has been the most challenging in the past couple of years because of the anti-religious sentiment across the board amongst all communities. Every Christian church is struggling with numbers.
“The sins of the Catholic Church hasn’t helped; paedophilia has been really badly handled,” he said.
He said during challenging times and attitudes it was difficult for some people to remain strong in their faith.
“But as God taught us, human beings fail some times. The human church is made up of saints and sinners,” he said.
In his first permanent appointment as assistant priest in Iona and Maryknowll, he organised the funeral for parish priest Fr Pooley in the morning and then officiated at a family wedding in the afternoon.
“It is all part of the rollercoaster – you become involved with people and their tragedies of life but also the joys that life brings with births and weddings.
Fr Hengel believes the biggest change in the church during his time has been in teaching and education.
“I was brought up in life where we were told to believe but now we teach our children to question and learn through research,” he said.
Fr Hengel said his greatest rewards have been helping people and embracing the gifts of volunteers who give so much to the church and community.
In retirement, Fr Hengel looks forward to writing a family history and having more time and energy to pray, read, reflect and meditate.
Fr Peter Slater, who grew up in Poowong and was educated at Warragul’s Marist Brothers, will take over from Fr Hengel as parish priest for Warragul and Drouin. His most recent appointment was Berwick parish.
More than 480 people donated blood when the Australian Red Cross Blood Service mobile donor centre visited Warragul recently, potentially saving 1443 lives.
One in three Australians will need blood or a blood product in their lifetime, but only one in 30 currently donates.
The mobile donor centre will next Warragul from August 15 to September 2.
Call 13 14 95 to make an appointment or visit www.donateblood.com.au for more information. visit