Sacred Heart

Sacred Heart Catholic parish is located within the old Sacred Heart Monastery, which was owned by the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart and opened by Archbishop Mannix in April 1939.

The complex included a chapel, library, cloisters, classrooms, refectory, kitchens and domestic offices. Accommodation was provided for 65 students, 10 priests and several lay brothers. Due to declining numbers, at the end of 1985, the location for seminary studies was changed to apartments in Drummoyne, Sydney.

In 1991 the monastery and a surrounding parcel of 5 hectares of land was sold to the Archdiocese of Melbourne to serve as the parish centre of Croydon and East Ringwood. In 1993 the new parish of Sacred Heart, Croydon, was established using the monastery and chapel as its centre of worship and community activities.

The original chapel was extended in 2000 to handle the greater number of people attending Mass from the merged Croydon and East Ringwood parishes. It now seats 500.

The monastery building is heritage listed and the parish hopes to maintain the heritage of the monastery as a place of learning, spiritual living and a communal hub for the surrounding district.