INTRODUCTION BY OUR ASSISTANT PRIEST: FR JOHN VESPA
Friday 5 December 2025
For as long as I remember I have followed Jesus because He has been in my heart, he has been my friend and the love of the Holy spirit has strengthened and guided me since I was young.
My name is Fr. Vespa and I was born at St Andrew’s Hospital, East Melbourne, 31 January 1984, and baptised on Easter Sunday, 22 April 1984, at Holy Spirit Catholic Church, Thornbury East. When I was still young my family moved to the parish of St. Mary’s Greensborough where I attended primary school and received my primary level sacraments.
When I celebrated my first holy communion Christ’s love came over me but it was an unconscious love, not in the head but in the heart. That was the first time I felt the true sense of God’s grace in my life, it was Sunday, 24 October 1992, when I was eight years old.
It was not until I was 18 years old while in year 12 when I felt the same feeling again – that same feeling I experienced when I was 8 years old.
Ten years later it was different. This time it was in the head as well as the heart, but because of this I consciencely knew that it was God calling me.
After year 12 I discerned about joining the seminary, though I felt the Holy Spirit prompting me to go and gain life experience. Which I did –
Following secondary college, I began work in the hospitality industry, working as a traditional pizza maker, waiter, restaurant manager and finally completing a Certificate III in Hospitality, becoming a qualified chef. On completion of the chef apprenticeship, I travelled abroad for two years to work in London, also spending some time working in a small village restaurant in the Abruzzo region of Italy. Following this I returned to Australia in late 2009 and began studying a Bachelor of Nutritional Medicine. Upon graduation, I worked in a private clinic until making the decision to apply to the seminary in April 2018. While on a family holiday in Rome with my father and mother in August 2018 I mentioned to them, I was going to begin seminary formation in 2019. I told my mother in front of ‘la pieta’ and told my father while we were in St peters square.
I entered Corpus Christi College, the regional seminary for Victoria and Tasmania on the 17 February 2019. During my time in the seminary, I was deeply involved in the life of the college, experienced many elements of formation and learned through a variety of different pastoral experiences. My parish pastoral year was 2022 when in fourth year, I was appointed to the parish of St Anne’s and St Bede’s under the guidance of the Fr. John Salvano, during which time I learnt not only about the parish and church duties, but I also gained a variety of lived and personal wisdom and experience from Fr John. I was ordained a deacon on 26 October 2024 at St Bede’s Catholic Church by the Most Reverend Anthony Ireland. As a deacon I was appointed at the parish of St Francis of Assisi, Mill Park, under the guidance of Fr Anthony Girolami.
As many of you know on the 27 of June 2025, I received the unbelievable blessing to be chosen to represent Australia for the year of Jubilee and was ordained in St peters basilica by Pope Leo XIV.
I look forward to beginning assistant priest at St. Catherine of Siena under the guidance of Fr. Richard Rosse and have the blessed opportunity to journey in faith with all of the parishioners.
May you have a blessed advent,
Fr. Vespa.