‘A few quiet minutes with Our Lord’: how Adoration came to St Canice’s in Katoomba

The Adoration Chapel at St Canice’s in Katoomba provides parishioners with a dedicated space for prayer and Eucharistic Adoration. Completed in 2024, the small chapel is located in a room next to the sanctuary in the main church building and can accommodate up to eight people. It is available for adoration 24 hours a day during weekdays.

The permanent space follows an earlier effort by former parish priest Fr Carlos Walker, who established a small prayer room near the sacristy approximately eight years ago. The current parish priest, Fr John McSweeney, supported the creation of the permanent chapel when he took over the parish in 2020.

The chapel contains a tabernacle on a small altar with a crucifix above it. It houses a relic of the True Cross along with relics of St John of the Cross, St Teresa of Avila, St Mary of the Cross MacKillop, Pope St John Paul II, and St Teresa of Calcutta.