The Catholic Weekly 4 December 2022

IN WHAT many would regard as a near-miracle, Fr Chris Ri- ley AM has beaten the odds and is on his way to a full re- covery. Unconscious for the best part of two years, the pop- ular priest celebrated his first public Mass in Menai last weekend telling parish- ioners that while it’s been a long road, he’s ready to get back out on the streets. Due to complications associated with diabetes, the founder of Youth Off the Streets (YOTS) has no memory of his illness and was completely unaware of COVID, spending months in respite care with his future considered “grave”. However the man regarded by many as a living saint for his work helping more than 150,000 street kids has made what YOTS Chairperson Anne Fitzgerald said was “nothing short of a quite miraculous recovery”. Recuperating at his South- ern Highlands home for the past few months with his be- loved Great Danes, he said all he wants now is to get back to work. “I was born for this and my life without the kids doesn’t really mean that much to me to be honest,” Fr Chris, 69, said. “I was dying, my body was slowly shutting down, ev- erybody was sure I was going to die. “Everything of mine was given away, my clothes, my animals, my possessions … everything. “I even had to borrow vest- ments to celebrate Mass here at Menai. “I died three times during the past two years, I honestly don’t remember anything, not even COVID. “I have been left with noth- ing, but at the end of the day as long as I have the kids, I am incredibly rich, they are all I need to keep going.” What started as a single food van delivering meals to young homeless people on the streets of Kings Cross in 1991, has be- come one of the largest youth services inAustralia. CONTINUED P2 ¾ Words and photos by Debbie Cramsie SUNDAY 4 December, 2022 CatholicWeekly The www.catholicweekly.com.au THE CHURCH. ALL OF IT GYMEA LAUNCHES LABOURÉ LECTURE FROM ATHEIST TO CATHOLIC P16 $2 “I have been left with nothing, but at the end of the day as long as I have the kids, I am incredibly rich, they are all I need to keep going.” Fr Chris Riley AM Aged Care with Purpose Scalabrini Caring for the community for over 50 years Ready for the street again After nearly dying from a serious illness, Fr Chris Riley is ready to return to helping kids living on the streets. However he and the charity he founded have different views on what that might mean Fr Chris Riley relaxes at Holy Family Parish, Menai, with his Great Danes Magpie, at left, and Collingwood. P18