BISHOP Pat Power describes the day he was ordained 50 years ago as one of the happiest days of his life.
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The 73-year-old celebrated five decades since he was first ordained as a priest at St Raphael's Catholic Church on July 17, 1965.
Bishop Power marked the occasion by returning to the local church and holding a number of masses over the past weekend.
"It's a little bit hard to believe [it's been 50 years]. I often think of myself as being young because I was only 23 when I was ordained a priest and I was the youngest in the class," he said.
"I remember when I was studying to become a priest, we did seven years. A group of priests came back who were 25 years ordained and I thought they had one foot in the grave in those days.
"But then, as time goes on it's hard to believe that I have been a priest for 50 years. They have been very happy times for me."
Bishop Power now resides in Canberra but spent much of his childhood in Queanbeyan. It was during this time that he decided he wanted to become a priest.
"Sometimes I hear or read of people never doubting that they would achieve their dream or accomplish what they wanted from life," he said.
"The first thought of the priesthood came to me as a seven-year-old, making my first Holy Communion in St Christopher's, Canberra.
"I just felt it was a way to bring God's love and goodness to people and it never left me. It's been lovely to do that and it's a two-way thing. You share with others but they give to you too."
Bishop Power's early career included stints in Braidwood and as a chaplain at St Clare's and St Edmund's in Griffith.
He spent two years in Goulburn and then spent three years at Propaganda Fide College in Rome to study Canon Law.
He returned and was secretary to Archbishops Cahill, Clancy and Carroll. It wouldn't be until 1985 that Bishop Power would return to Queanbeyan as parish priest.
Mother Teresa visited Queanbeyan a week after he arrived and he says it was a lovely experience to meet her.
Just a year later in 1986 Bishop Power was ordained as a bishop and at 44-years-old was the youngest bishop in the country, a title he held for six years. He also was the first native born priest of the Canberra/Goulburn diocese to become bishop.
Reflecting on his time in the church, Bishop Power said the highlights that come to mind aren't meeting dignitaries but just witnessing human kindness.
"A lot of the times, I've had opportunity to meet the Queen and prime minister and they're a nice thing to do. It's the ordinary good people you meet sometimes in times of joy, sometimes in sorrow," he said.
"It's day to day things that are significant and fill my heart with joy."
Bishop Power has conducted many significant ceremonies - baptisms, weddings and funerals. He had the pleasure of baptising Evelyn Mary de Jongh, the newest addition to his extended family, on the weekend.
Bishop Power said Queanbeyan has been a "very special" community to be part of.
"There will be people who were at my ordination 50 years ago that will be here for the anniversary so that will be special. It's lovely; people tap me on the shoulder and say 'you've celebrated my wedding'," he said.
"I'm very proud to be a Queanbeyan boy. I talk about the fact of 'struggle town' and I'm never ashamed of that title because it means we're there for the battlers and for those who are struggling in one way or another.
"I think there's a lot, as a church, that we can do about that."
