Parish Officers
Parish Pastoral Council Members and Ministry Representatives
Get to know who does what on the Parish Pastoral Council
Parish Priest & Deacon
| Parish Priest | Fr Robert Bissell |
| Parish Deacon | Richard Aguirre |
Parish Office
| Parish Secretary | Deborah Jordan & Vivien Cones |
Parish Pastoral Council
| President | Fr Robert Bissell |
| Chairperson | Howard Donnelley |
| Vice Chairperson | Barry Smith |
| Secretary | Maurice Bergoff |
| Buildings/Maintenance | Brian Pickup |
| Communication | Karen Parkin |
| Evangelization | Barry Smith |
| Liturgy / Altar Services / Eucharistic Ministers | Allan Corbello |
| New Parishioners | Vacant |
| Events & Fundraising | Luke Musgrave |
| Deanery | Don Bowden |
| Justice and Peace | Justine Hansen |
| Outreach | Richard Aguirre |
Association Representatives
| Snr Catechism | Fr Robert Bissell |
| Jnr Catechism | Sonja Davids |
| Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary | Sr. Iona MacKenzie |
| Youth | vacant |
Other Associates
| Finance Chairperson | Mike Brooks |
| Choir | vacant |
| Folk Choir | Julian Springer |
Parish Ministers
| Care Group | Fran Robertson |
| Flowers | vacant |
| Altar Servers | Alan Corbello |
| Head Sacristan | Sonja Davids |
| Sunday School | Zoe Needham |
| Webmaster | Karen Parkin |
Contact: Put a face to the name!
Meet the people who work on the various ministries in the church (listed alphabetically by name below). They welcome people contacting them to say hello, to find out more, or to get involved!
Richard Aguirre
Parish Deacon, Outreach
Rev. Richard Aguirre, an American, arrived in Johannesburg in the 1970s to start up a business.
He was ordained a Deacon in 1998. After a stint as a missionary Deacon in the Canary Islands from 2000 to 2004, he came to Constantia where he assisted Father Andrew. He was married to Isabel who was Spanish and with whom he had 8 children, none of whom live at home.
Maurice Bergoff
Secretary PPC
Information coming soon!
Fr. Robert Bissell
Parish Priest
Information coming soon!
Mike Brooks
Finance Chairperson
I was born in Johannesburg, attended St John's College and thereafter the University of Cape Town where I completed under and post-graduate degrees in accounting. I completed articles with Deloitte and am a registered Chartered Accountant. I have a Masters in Finance from Manchester Business School.
Having been blessed with incredible parents, I have been equally blessed in marriage. I am married to Di and have two wonderful children, Matthew and Emma.
I have been involved in Investment Banking all my professional life and currently am a founding partner in a group that owns and manages private equity, structure finance and fund management initiatives. My main focus is on renewable energy.
We have lived in Cape Town for 20 years and have been a memeber of the Constantia parish for most of that time. I hold my faith at the centre of my life.
Adrienne Mary Beasley
Ecclesia
I was born in Eshowe, the second child of five children of Catholic parents. I attended the Holy Childhood Convent School in Eshowe as a weekly boarder as my parents were farming. I then attended Maris Stella Convent School in Durban as a full-time boarder.
I am a qualified Montessori pre-school teacher, and a qualified florist, and I enjoy both occupations.
I met my husband, Peter, in Durban and we were married in 1983 in my old school chapel. Peter converted to Catholicism with Fr. Andrew in 2012. We are both happy to assist with duties at our church. We have lived in Namibia, England and Cape Town. We have two special, adventurous children, Christopher and Philippa, who are living abroad.
My Catholic faith is my anchor in this uncertain world.
Lara Colananni
Child Protection Officer
I was born in Queenstown in the Eastern Cape where my family were active members of the Queenstown Catholic community. I matriculated at Queenstown Girls' High School and then studied law at Rhodes University in Grahamstown. One turn of events lead to another and I found myself doing articles at Fairbridge Arderne and Lawton Inc in Cape Town and have lived here for just over 15 years. Craig and I were married in the Kommetjie Catholic Church in 2000. In the same year I became a partner at Fairbridges, which is the oldest law firm in Africa.
I have been blessed with two boys, Quinn and Gus, who remind me of God's power and grace everyday. On Holy Saturday in 2013, Father Barry Matthews baptized and confirmed Craig, who is now Catholic too! Quinn received his First Holy Communion at the hand of Father Frank Conlisk in 2013 and Gus will do his First Confession at the end of 2014.
I now practice with my husband under the name and style GUTHRIE COLANANNI ATTORNEYS. I specialize in commercial property law and conveyancing. We have offices in Fish Hoek and at the Steenberg Office Park.
I started teaching Catechism in 2013 and absolutely love it. The children in our parish are filled with God's wisdom, grace, mercy and humor. They teach me so much more than I teach them. We are blessed to have the future of our parish in the hands of so many special souls.
I have been involved in Investment Banking all my professional life and currently am a founding partner in a group that owns and manages private equity, structured finance and fund management initiatives. My main focus is on renewable energy.
We have lived in Cape Town for over a decade and have been a member of the Constantia parish for most of that time. I hold my faith at the centre of my life.
Vivien Cones
Parish Secretary
Coming Soon!
Allan Corbello
Alter Servers
I was born and raised in Rondebosch my parents had 7 children,we all attended St.Micheals in Rondebosch where I was trained to be an Altar Server (Boy ) .
I attended St. Columbus Catholic School and married Ruth in 1972,we had 2 children Gary and Sherri-lyn and have 2 children Zephyr and Luna.I have always active in the church,at the last Parish I was the M.C. trained all the Altar Servers,belonged to the S.V.P.,Minister of the Eucharist and also had to handle that portfolio.I served on the Parish Council for a number of years. At one stage I also sang in the choir.
Howard Donnelly
Chairman PPC
Born in Johannesburg to Scottish and English parents and lived all my life in Cape Town. Attended Loreto Convent in Sea Point, CBC Green Point and Bergvliet High School. I am a quantity surveyor by profession and I have had my own contracts management company since 1994. Married to Christine (of choir fame!) and we have two incredibly gifted children.
We have been in this parish for 13 years (previously St. Michaels, Rondebosch) and my second stint on the PPC where I trust I can continue to contribute to the spiritual growth and enrichment of this Parish.
Choir
Information coming soon!
Sonja Davids
Head Sacristan & Jnr Catechism
Information Coming Soon!
Rene Esson
Readers, Care Group
Born in Benoni, and bred in various towns around Southern Africa. Finished my high school at St Teresa’s Convent, Rosebank, Johannesburg. I joined Constantia Parish in 1983 and have been involved with various ministries over the years. I have a daughter, Nicky and a son, Ross, both of whom live in Cape Town.
Deborah Jordan
Parish Secretary
Information coming soon!
Justine Hansen
Justice & Peace
Having spent my childhood in the Eastern Cape, Gauteng & Western Cape, I matriculated from Westerford High in Cape Town and obtained degrees from UCT in Maths, English & Computer Science. I taught Maths in the early 1990's and have experience in the outdoor media industry, but my primary work experience has been as a software developer and systems analyst.
My children and family remain a priority as well as addressing problems relating to social ills and injustices in society, seeking to understand and tackle root causes rather than symptoms. The Justice & Peace Commission which I joined in 2013 was a good vehicle for this through its affiliation to CPLO (the Catholic Parliamentary Liason Office). Following the encyclical Laudato Si’, the area of environmental justice has received increased focus (especially in relation to the effect on our poorest communities). This is an area of particular importance to me.
Sr. Iona Mackenzie
Schoenstatt Sister of Mary
Information coming soon!
Brian Pickup
Buildings / Maintenance
Information coming soon!
Luke Musgrave
Events
I was born in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu\Natal on the 15th February, 1983. I was brought up in the Methodist Church by my parents, although always visited the Constantia Catholic Church on school holidays as my uncle, Father David Musgrave was the parish priest here for over 20 years. The Constantia Parish has therefore always harboured very dear feelings to me.
Both my wife and I decided to become Catholics well over 2 years ago, and we were baptized, confirmed and married in the Constantia Catholic Church. We both hold this particular parish very close to our hearts as in such a short space of time we have endured so much with the parish being our focal point.
I have owned my own LPG gas business for the past 2 years and continue to assist various drug rehab centres around Cape Town in addressing the in-patients on various issues related to drug and alcohol abuse.
I have been living in Lakeside for the past 2 years, together with my wife Sindy, son Dale (9), and daughter Chloe (2).
Zoe Needham
Sunday School
I was born in Cape Town and schooled at Rustenburg. My home parish was St Michael’s in Rondebosch.
When I left school, I studied a B. Comm and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1998. It was at UCT during my studies that I met my husband, Mike through the UCT Catholic Society. We were both very involved in the local Cathsoc and also the National Cathsoc activities and conferences.
We married in February 1999, only to move to Istanbul for a 4 month period. It was a very interesting time, exploring early Constantinople! We spent 4 years in the UK and were very fortunate to go on a number of pilgrimages while we were overseas, including Medjugorje, Lourdes and Knock.
Once Theresa was born in 2003, we decided it was time to head home to Cape Town where we could be close to our families and enjoy beautiful Cape Town. In 2006, our son, Joseph was born. In January 2014 we have been blessed with the birth of Patrick, our third addition to the family. We have been at Constantia parish since 2007. We look forward to our children growing up in this active, friendly and welcoming parish.
Fran Robertson
Care Group
I was born in Baghdad, Iraq where my parents lived for several years before moving to Lebanon and finally Switzerland our country of origin.
In 1952 my family immigrated to South Africa. I was educated at Notre Dame Convent and after matriculating trained as a Registered Nurse and Midwife. Later I trained as a Marriage Counsellor, particularly doing pre-marital work. I worked at FAMSA for several years.
I met Brian when we were both working in the same hospital and married 47 years ago. Brian is a Child, Adolescent and Adult psychiatrist. We lived 4 years in Montreal and still travel extensively, often work related.
In 1991 Catholic Welfare asked us to draw up a course to train Carers in all the Parishes in the Archdiocese of Cape Town. This project is still running but now by Catholic Welfare.
Brian and I run Alpha Marriage courses when requested. We have 3 wonderful daughters and 8 energetic grandchildren with whom we are very involved.
Barry Smith
Vice Chairman PPC, Evangelisation
"Although I was born in Cape Town many, many years ago, I was schooled at Christian Brothers Colleges in Pretoria (primary school), and Kimberley (senior school), the latter as a boarder because the family was living in South West Africa (now Namibia) at the time. In fact, I spent most of my adolescent and early adult years in Namibia and, accordingly, often think of myself as Namibian rather than South African.
I studied and graduated from Universities of Stellenbosch, South Africa and Harvard, primarily in the quantitative sciences - which is somewhat embarrassing as I can no longer do basic arithmetic!
My working career spanned diamond mining, wholesaling and brewing, the latter with SAB (later SABMiller) with whom I was employed for 26 years (monthly allocation of free beer, that's why). SABMiller not only transferred my family across South Africa but also to Poland, USA (New Jersey and Wisconsin) and, ultimately, to Colombia. All in all, very interesting and exciting but at times difficult for wife and family.
I am married to Margaret (35 years) and we have a married son in USA, a daughter in Cape Town, and another son in Johannesburg - two out of three relatively close by which is most fortunate considering they all completed high school and university in foreign lands.
Margaret and I are now retired in Cape Town and have been members of both Hout Bay and Constantia parishes for the past six years. Life is no less busy than when I was gainfully employed but happy nonetheless. We have much for which to be grateful".
Karen Parkin
Webmaster
I was born and brought up in Johannesburg and Middleburg (Mpumalanga). I matriculated at Brescia House convent and graduated from Wits with B.Economic Science. I started my career with IBM in the early days of computing (long before PC's, the internet, cell phones and Facebook!). I met my husband, Godfrey, while at university and we married in 1981, and spent a year travelling around the world.
Shortly after returning home, my husband was transferred to Switzerland and what started as a 3 year assignment turned into 12 years in Switzerland, 5 years in the UK and 8 years in Washington DC. During this time I had the pleasure of having some interesting jobs and projects in the chemical, broadcasting, new media/internet and hospitality industries.
While in the US, we stayed in a little town called Clifton, VA which fell under the Archdiocese of Arlington. I assisted with the Rooted in Faith fundraising initiative in our parish, was active in the Legion of Mary and volunteered as a counsellor in a pregnancy crisis clinic which was situated right next door to an abortion clinic.
After 25 years abroad, we are delighted to be 'home' and closer to family. My husband and I started a digital strategy consultancy and training company which has taken the lion's share of our time and energy. I've been in the Constantia parish since 2008 and have been involved in the Mater Domini home. More recently its been a privilege and pleasure to develop the Constantia website and serve as its webmaster. I am also a Eucharistic Minister and Sacristan - both of which I consider to be great honours. My husband and I dont have children - but we do have a very dear, somewhat eldery and idosynchratic but well travelled cat (born in the UK, brought up in the USA, and now blissfully retired to Cape Town!).
Julian Springer
Folk Choir
I was born and bred in East London in the Eastern Cape where I attended Hudson Park High School where I matriculated in 2008. I was involved in St Patrick’s church there as part of the music group, and later part of the Young Adults group.
I then moved to Grahamstown to study Computer Science and Information systems at Rhodes University, where I also attended another St Patrick’s church believe it or not, and was involved as a Minister of the Eucharist as well as a committee member of ACTS (Association of Catholic Tertiary Students) for 2 years.
I moved to Cape Town in 2013 with my BSc Honours and became a software developer focusing on web application development. I currently run the Life Teen music group Faith Jam, am a core team member for Life Teen itself, am a Eucharistic Minister and a Sacristan.
