Meet Our Formators

The Rector
Fr Michael De Stoop

Father Michael de Stoop was born in Eastwood, a son of six children. He himself is a graduate of the Seminary of the Good Shepherd where he commenced his priestly formation when it opened for the first time in 1996 (his first 2 years were in St Patrick’s College, Manly). From the seminary he was appointed to St Charles Borromeo Parish, Ryde to prepare for his ordination to the Diaconate. He was ordained a deacon on 4 August 2000. He was then ordained to the Priesthood on 8 June 2001 and took up his first appointment at All Saints’ Parish, Liverpool on 17 June 2001. Fr Michael was then Assistant to the Dean at St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney (2003 to 2009). During that time he was Cardinal Pell’s Master of Ceremonies, Director of Vocations, chaplain for Catholic Youth Services, and the NSW Chaplain for the Knights of the Southern Cross. He then served as the Parish Priest of St Benedict’s Parish, Broadway from 1 March 2009 to 31 May 2015. On 1 October 2015, Fr Michael was appointed Parish Priest of Our Lady of the Rosary Parish, Fairfield. During this time, he was also appointed as the Dean of the Archdiocese of Sydney’s South West Deanery. Additionally, he was appointed as the Director of the Permanent Diaconate Directorate. On 13 October 2020, Fr Michael was appointed Rector of the Seminary of the Good Shepherd on 1 January 2021.

In 2013, Cardinal Pell appointed him to study at the Institute for Priestly Formation and Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska, the USA during Summer Intensives where he completed a Masters of Christian Spirituality and a Graduate Certificate in Spiritual Direction and Directed Retreats in 2016. Then, from 2017 to 2018, he completed a Graduate Certificate in Pastoral Supervision at Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology, Saint Meinrad, Indiana, USA.

The Vice Rector Fr Paul Durkin

Fr Paul was ordained for the Diocese of Broken Bay, where he has been Assistant Priest in the parishes of Holy Cross Parish, Kincumber and MacKillop Catholic Parish, Warnervale. He was then Parish Priest of St Agatha’s, Pennant Hills and Holy Name, Wahroonga. Fr Paul also served the Diocese as Consultor and as a member of the Council of Priests, and as Chair of the Clergy Retirement Remuneration and Sick Fund.

Fr Paul was Director of Vocations for the Diocese of Broken Bay from 2013-2022. He has a deep commitment to encouraging and promoting vocations to the Priesthood and Permanent Diaconate, to promoting the call of all the Baptised, and to actively supporting seminarians and diaconal aspirants in their formation programs. Fr Paul has been actively involved in four World Youth Days.

In training for the priesthood, Fr Paul completed Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Theology through the Sydney College of Divinity. He has also undertaken a course in Spiritual Direction and various courses of interest in prayer, liturgy and spirituality.

Fr Paul’s background before becoming a priest was in Catholic Education. He undertook his initial teacher training at Mt St Mary College, Strathfield (then Australian Catholic University, Strathfield campus) and later a Bachelor’s degree at Macquarie University, Sydney. Fr Paul then completed a Graduate Diploma in Educational Leadership at the Australian Catholic University.

Fr Paul held various positions of responsibility in four Sydney Catholic Secondary schools and colleges, including that of Religious Education Coordinator. Fr Paul then worked as a Religious Education and Curriculum Adviser, and as Project Leader of ‘A Sense of the Sacred’, a Values-across-the-curriculum initiative in Sydney Catholic secondary schools.

With his background and experience, Fr Paul looks forward to contributing to the life of the Seminary and Church, and to the formation of seminarians.

First Year Director Fr Dominic Nguyen

Fr. Dominic Nguyen is an alumnus of the Seminary of the Good Shepherd and was ordained a priest by Cardinal George Pell for the Archdiocese of Sydney on 6 July 2013. He served as assistant priest at St. Mary MacKillop’s Parish, Rockdale City and St. Gabriel’s, Bexley from 2013 to 2015, before being appointed as full-time chaplain of St. Vincent’s Hospital, Darlinghurst and the Society of Our Lady of Lourdes from 2015 to 2017.

In July 2017, Fr. Dominic was sent to Rome for further studies. He obtained a Licentiate in Spiritual Theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in 2019, and has been completing a doctorate at the same university on the life and ministry of St. John Vianney in the context of Jansenism and the French Revolution when he was appointed to the seminary in 2023.

The Dean of Study Sr Susanna Edmunds

Sr. Susanna grew up in Broken Bay diocese as the oldest of five siblings. She studied Biomedical Engineering at the University of Sydney, while also discerning God’s call to religious life. In 2010, she joined the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia. For five years, she lived at the community’s Motherhouse in Nashville, Tennessee, completing a Bachelor of Education (Secondary) and studies in philosophy and theology. She taught high school religion in several states before being sent back to Australia in 2018.

In addition to her work at the Seminary, Sr Susanna is involved in university chaplaincy, high school education, adult faith formation and vocation ministry. She is currently completing a Masters thesis in Biblical Theology.

Spiritual Director Fr John Armstrong

Fr. John Armstrong was ordained a priest in 1990 for the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn. He has served as Parish Priest in Central Canberra from 1994-2000, Administrator of St Christopher’s Cathedral from 2001-2005, Parish Priest of South Tuggeranong Parish from 2005-2014, Parish Priest of Batemans Bay Parish from 2014-2017, and Administrator of Moruya Parish from 2015-2017. He also served as the Director of Clergy Life and Ministry from 2001-2011 and has served on the Council of Priests from 1996-2017 and as a Diocesan Consultor from 2001-2017. He has experience working for the NSW/ACT Marriage Tribunal as an Advocate. He was appointed as Spiritual Director for the Seminary of the Good Shepherd in October 2017.

Fr. John also completed a Doctorate Degree in Demography from the ANU in 2001 and a Doctorate in Practical Ministry from ACU in 2012. He completed a Master of Arts from ACU in Spiritual Direction in 2004, a Certificate in Spiritual Direction from CenterQuest in Los Angeles in 2017, and most recently a Certificate of Spiritual Direction/ Directed Retreats at Creighton University, Omaha in 2020. He has undertaken supervision in leading the Spiritual Exercises at Campion College of Ignatian Spirituality in Kew in 2015. He is a member of Companions Australia and the Conference of Spiritual Directors. He also serves as Spiritual Advisor to the National Secretariat of the Cursillo Movement in Australia.

Human Formation Consultor Mr Anthony Kendrick

Anthony was born in Sydney, NSW. He attended the local Catholic school St Josephs, Rockdale. He is the middle child of nine. He attended Sydney Technical Boys High School. He received his bachelor’s degree in Business Information Technology at the University of NSW. He worked in information technology for a number of years including two years in London.

Anthony joined the Police academy in 2013 and worked as a General Duties officer and Detective Senior Constable in Sydney City Local Area Command (the Command in Australia with the greatest number of licensed premises). After being in the Police for 10 years, Anthony studied a Graduate Diploma of Counselling from the Australian College of Applied Psychology. He has counselled individuals both in private practice and at a bulk-billed psychological clinic in Burwood and is completing studies for couples counselling. Anthony is a founding member of Life/Theatre and Artes Christi – a Christian performing arts company. He is also a founding member of the Raphael Network, a Catholic network of therapists.

Anthony has always enjoyed keeping fit, playing touch football and running. He is a fan of minimalist barefoot shoes and enjoys reading fantasy novels, programming, sunshine, theatre acting, architecture, and camping in the Blue Mountains. He has cycled across Germany, visiting many breweries and monasteries along the way.