Daniel & Ruth De Valentin

Daniel & Ruth are members of St Anthony’s Parish, Wanniassa. They have been married for 6 years and have 3 daughters Claire, Gabrielle and Lucy. Ruth is a primary school teacher. She loves catching up with her other mum friends and sleeping-in on weekends whenever the kids allow! Daniel is an engineer and aritist. He loves taking his daughters on bike rides around the lake and trips out West to visit family.

Roby & Jerlin 

Roby & Jerlin are members of St Alphonsa Syro Malabar Parish and St Benedict’s Mission Centre, Narrabundah. They have been married for 5 years and are blessed with two children, 3 years and 1 year old. Roby works as a business analyst with the Australian Government. Both are involved with Jesus Youth community where Jerlin runs a group for Teens.  They also run the “Christ couple” YouTube channel which focuses on videos for parents and kids.

Joe & Jess Rebbechi 

Joe and Jess are members of St Joseph’s parish in O’Connor. They have been married five years and are expecting their third child to arrive around Easter. 

They are involved in assisting with the Family and Mother’s groups at their parish. Joe and Jess both work and volunteer in various political roles as well. 

Ushantha & Chitra Jayawardena

Ushantha & Chitra have been very active members of St John the Apostle Parish in Kippax since arriving in Australia from Sri Lanka in 1987. They have been married for almost 49 years and have 2 children aged 43 (daughter) and 39 (Son) and 4 Grandsons aged from 2 to 11 years.  For the last 7 years they have been members of the Community of the Risen Lord (Sri Lankan, Catholic).

Ralph and Angela Frank

Ralph and Angela are members St Christopher’s Cathedral parish and have been married for 15 years.  They lead the Archdiocesan Ministry to the Newly Married program which provides a mentoring to couples for the first five years of marriage.  They have been involved in many ministries in Australia and overseas.  They are passionate about helping families and couples build loving, enduring and faith-filled relationships. 

Peter & Judy Mullins

Peter & Judy are members of St Thomas the Apostle Parish, Kambah and have been married for 40 years. They spent several years in Washington DC where Peter worked for the International Monetary Fund. They have six adult children, three of whom are married, and seven grandchildren. They were part of a Catholic Charismatic prayer group in the 1970s and ‘80s and have been members of Disciples of Jesus Covenant Community since 1987.

Jeff and Anne Smart

Jeff and Anne have been members of Holy Spirit Parish, Gungahlin, since it began in 1993.  For 30 years they have been members of Faith and Light – an international Christian community for people with disability, their families and friends. They have been married for 26 years have two adult daughters. Living with Parkinson’s disease, Jeff enjoys challenging himself with multi-day walks. Anne works as a Classroom Support Assistant at Good Shepherd Primary School, Amaroo. 

Alex and John Eyers

Apart from periods overseas, Alex and John have been members of North Woden Parish since joining the Garran parish, in 1981. They have been married for 44 years and have five children and nine grandchildren – eight close by in Canberra and one in San Francisco. They have been enthusiastic members of the marriage movement, Teams of Our Lady, for about 30 years. They live in Curtin and enjoy singing in choirs and walking dogs.

Grace & Brendan Price

Grace & Brendan are members of St Thomas the Apostle Parish,Kambah. They have been married for 17 years, and have 5 children aged 16 down to 1 year old. Brendan is a public servant and leader of the L’Arche Gennesaret community. Grace juggles mothering duties with part time work for the Disciples of Jesus Community, of which they are members. They involved in the Marriage Encounter movement and would love to help it grow and flourish in Canberra.

Babitha Geevarghese & Antony Mathew

Antony & Babitha are members of the St Alphonsa Parish (Syro Malabar Catholic Rite) and are also part of the Jesus Youth community in Canberra.  They have been married for 5 years and have two boys aged 3 years and 4 months. Antony is a chef at the Canberra Hospital and Babitha is a nurse at the same hospital.  

Sajay & Teena

Sajay & Teena both work at Calvary Hospital as Theatre Nurses and have been married for 7 years. They are blessed with 3 boys aged 5 years, 3 years and 1 year old. They members of the Syro Malabar Catholic community which gathers at  Joseph’s Church O’Connor. They also attend masses at St John Vianney, Waramanga and St Jude, Holder. They are active in the Jesus Youth community. 

Anna & Tony

Anna & Tony Di Pietro are members of St Thomas More Parish in Campbell. They have also been involved in the Teams marriage movement for 37 years.  They have been married for 41 years and have two adult married sons and two granddaughters. Tony is a retired RAN test pilot and Anna is an interior designer.

Rene & Annette Jose

Rene & Annette are members of North Belconnen Parish and are active members of Couples for Christ community. They have been married for 38 years and have two children, now both working and married. They have lived in Canberra for 23 years and conduct charity work to extend support back home in the Philippines. Rene is a Health Service officer at the Canberra Hospital. Annette is an Educator with community services after retiring from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Tim & Kate Watson

Tim & Kate Tim met in France where they were both members of an ecumenical community called Chemin Neuf.  Tim is the rector of Holy Cross Anglican Church, Hackett, Kate a parishioner Holy Rosary, Watson. They have been married for 15 years and have an 11 year old son and an 8 year old daughter. The helped run joint Catholic/Anglican Alpha courses for adults and teenagers at their Catholic & Anglican parishes. Tim plays percussion for the Canberra Symphony Orchestra.

Helena Zobec & Richard Marson

Helena & Richard have been members of Holy Rosary, Watson since the mid-1980s and support couples in the first 5 years of marriage through the Ministry to the Newly Married mentoring program. They have lived rurally for most of their 36 years of and have an adult daughter and son-in-law of whom they are very proud. Helena is interested in the Church renewal and Richard spends much of his weekends working as a motorcycle training instructor.

Tony and Jude Stuart

Jude & Tony are members of the music ministry at Mary Queen of Apostles Parish, Goulburn. They are also members of the Focolare movement. They met through their love of Celtic music and dance and have been married for 5 years. They are the proud grandparents of two girls, aged 10 months and 2yrs. Tony works as a Chaplain at the Goulburn Corrective Centre and Jude has recently retired as Principal of a large high school.

Richard & Siobhan Tanzer

Richard & Siobhan Tanzer are members of Holy Rosary Parish in Watson ACT and have been active in Ministry to Newly Married for nearly 28 years. They have been married for 45 years and have 5 children aged from 30 to 43 years and 8 grandchildren aged from new born to 13 years. They both work part-time and are looking forward to getting away together on trips after COVID – if they can tear themselves away from their grandchildren.

Bernadette Rayner  

Bernadette is a member of Our Lady of the Annunciation Parish in Weston. She is raising four beautiful children aged 12, 15, 16 and 18 years of age. Bernadette is a primary school teacher who is currently employed as a Teaching & Learning Officer at the Catholic Education Office.

Keith & Anna Linard

For 30 years Keith & Anna have been members of Holy Rosary Parish, Watson where they are deeply involved in the Parish School of Religion. For all of their 51 years of marriage they have been members of the Focolare movement which works for unity within families, the Church, between the churches, and among all people of good will. They have 4 children (2 deceased) and 4 grand-children and 12 years were members of the ACBC Council for Marriage and Family.

Mark McRae

Mark is a member of St Augustine’s Parish, Yass. He came back to the faith 12 years ago after a 40 year absence. The love of his life, Beth, passed away recently after 49 years of marriage. He is very close to his two sons and their families.

After a career in parliamentary administration and helping run a farm at Wombat he is very much involved in community work in Yass and is a Collingwood supporter.

Mark & Louise Daniher

Mark & Louise are members of St Joseph’s, Ungarie, within the West Wyalong Mission. Married for 27 years they have three children aged 26, 24 and 21 who live and work around and around Wagga Wagga. Mark & his brother work the family farm growing cereal grains and raising merino sheep. Louise is as acting Religious Education Coordinator at St Mary’s, West Wyalong and works as the Parish Secretary in West Wyalong.