Today, we were privileged to welcome the Superior General of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, Fr Luis Ignacio Rois Alonso OMI, to Cannon Hill Parish. Fr Chicho, as he is warmly known, celebrated a special Mass at St Oliver Plunkett Church, followed by a morning tea with parishioners.

In the Oblate tradition, each priest receives an Oblate Cross at ordination, often passed down from a former Oblate. As the 14th successor to St Eugene de Mazenod, Fr Chicho wears the very Cross once worn by St Eugene himself over 200 years ago, blessed by Pope Leo XII at the time the Oblate congregation was formally recognised. The presence of this sacred Cross—and of Fr Chicho himself—served as a powerful reminder of the Oblates’ enduring legacy and their unique place within the global Church.