General News
24 July, 2026
Final mass for Fr John
AFTER almost five decades serving the Catholic Church, Father John Fitzgerald will say his final mass as Parish Priest of ‘Star of the Sea Parish’ later this month.
Fr John grew up in Killarney and Koroit and spent much of his youth working on the family farm alongside his siblings.
He attended St Brigid’s Crossley and St Patrick’s Koroit before attending St Patrick’s College in Ballarat.
Fr John entered Corpus Christi College Seminary at Werribee in 1970 and when that closed, he completed his studies at the new seminary in Clayton.
He completed his theological studies in 1978 and later that year was ordained in Koroit – and has faithfully served the Catholic Church for nearly 48 years.
After Ordination, Fr John’s first appointment was to the Parish of Horsham.
He then spent three and half years at the Cathedral College, which included serving as Chaplin at St Patrick’s College.
He spent a year in Terang, after which the Bishop invited him to undertake further studies prior to taking up the appointment of Director of Religious Education for the Ballarat Diocese from 1988 to 1993.
In 1994, Fr John was appointed Parish Priest of Daylesford, with the Parish of Creswick later included in his ministry.
In January 2004 he was appointed Parish Priest of St Joseph’s, Warrnambool, and in October 2021, he became moderator of the Star of the Sea Parish.
Twenty years later Fr John was elected as a Director of the Diocese of Ballarat Catholic Education Limited (DOBCEL), where he continues to support and nurture Catholic Education for students across the Diocese’s schools.
According to parishioners, he has demonstrated a truly selfless lifelong commitment to God and the church, extending into the everyday lives of parishioners.
His compassion, generosity and dedication to the parish will now doubt be greatly missed.
Fr John will say his final Mass as Parish Priest of Star of the Sea Parish on Sunday, July 26 at 10.30am.
Each church will host its own special celebration, including St Anne’s Purnim this Sunday (June 14), St Patrick’s Port Fairy (June 28), Infant Jesus Koroit (July 5), St Pius X Warrnambool West (July 12), Our Lady Help of Christians Warrnambool East (July 18), St Joseph’s Warrnambool (July 19 and 26).
