Maronites in Brisbane

A century-old Queensland community, and a new church rising in Greenslopes

The Maronites in Brisbane are one of the oldest Lebanese communities in Australia, and one of the most patient. For roughly forty years the faithful of Queensland have gathered in a modest building on Bunya Street in Greenslopes, and in February 2026 they finally broke ground on a church worthy of the wait. This is the story of how they got here, a story the national picture of the Maronites in Australia can only sketch in passing.

How the Lebanese Came to Queensland

The Lebanese presence in Queensland goes back almost 140 years. In the last two decades of the nineteenth century, part of the great emigration out of Mount Lebanon reached the colony, and the State Library of Queensland records that by 1890 Lebanese families were already living in Brisbane, Townsville, Charters Towers, Barcaldine, Rockhampton, Maryborough, and on the Darling Downs.

They came with almost nothing and made a living the way Lebanese migrants did across Australia: by hawking. Carrying suitcases and bundles of drapery, haberdashery, and clothing, they walked and rode through the towns and remote stations of Queensland, and around eight in ten of them ended up self-employed in some form of trade. Many of the famous country storekeeping families of Queensland began on those roads.

Until the 1940s the official records called them Syrians, since Lebanon did not yet exist as a state. Unlike Sydney, where the community concentrated in a few suburbs, Lebanese settlement in Queensland was dispersed, with the largest clusters in Brisbane and Toowoomba. The White Australia policy kept numbers small through the first half of the twentieth century, and the community that remained was tightly bound by village and family.

The waves that followed the Second World War, and above all the Lebanese Civil War after 1975, renewed the community with new arrivals who carried the Maronite rite fresh from the villages of Lebanon. Nationally, just under 250,000 Australians reported Lebanese ancestry in the 2021 census. The overwhelming majority live in Sydney, but the Queensland community numbers in the thousands, and community estimates run higher still.

Saint Maroun's Parish Today

The home of the Maronite rite in Queensland is Saint Maroun's Maronite Church at 29 Bunya Street, Greenslopes, about four kilometres south of the Brisbane CBD. It is the eparchial parish for the whole state, the place where Queensland Maronites are baptized, married, and farewelled.

The parish is led by Fr Fadi Salame, and the Divine Liturgy is celebrated in a blend of Arabic and English, with the Syriac words of consecration sung in the old tongue, as they are in every Maronite church on earth. Mass times change, so confirm the current schedule through the parish's own channels before you visit. Newcomers are welcome, and you do not need to be Lebanese to attend.

For decades the parish made do with a humble building, closer to a hall than a church. That it held the community together anyway says something about the Maronite instinct: the faith lives in the liturgy and the people, and the walls can wait.

A new church for Queensland

The walls are waiting no longer. On 15 February 2026, on the Feast of Saint Maroun, the parish broke ground for a new church building and hall. Bishop Antoine-Charbel Tarabay concelebrated the Mass with Brisbane's Archbishop Shane Mackinlay and Fr Salame, before a packed congregation of about 400 that included the Lord Mayor of Brisbane.

The plans go beyond a church. The project includes a hall and a school teaching Arabic, Aramaic, and catechism, so that the next generation of Queensland Maronites receives the language of their grandparents and the language of the liturgy in the same rooms. After forty years of waiting, the community is building for the next hundred.

The Sydney Connection

Brisbane has no Maronite eparchy of its own. Saint Maroun's belongs to the Maronite Eparchy of Australia, formally the Eparchy of Saint Maron of Sydney, established in 1973 and later extended to cover all of Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania.

The eparchial seat is Saint Maroun's Cathedral in Redfern, Sydney, and the current bishop is Antoine-Charbel Tarabay. Brisbane's clergy, its sacraments, and its Maronite calendar all flow from that one see, and the bishop's presence at the 2026 groundbreaking made the bond visible. The Maronites in Sydney remain the centre of gravity of the Australian community, and many Brisbane families have cousins in Parramatta and Punchbowl. For the full list of parishes city by city, see the directory of Maronite churches in Australia.

Keeping the Faith in Queensland

A small community holds its faith differently than a large one. In Sydney a Maronite can choose between a dozen parishes. In Brisbane there is one, and that single altar carries everything: the feast of Saint Maroun on 9 February, the novena to Saint Charbel, the Syriac chant, the trays of kibbeh after the liturgy.

That concentration has made the parish the true centre of Lebanese life in Queensland, the place where the village associations, the youth, and the new arrivals all meet. It is the same pattern the Maronite tradition has followed in every land it reached: build the parish first, and let everything else grow around it.

For the scattered families further north and west, in the towns their hawker great-grandparents once walked, the faith travels the old way, by visits, by feast days, and by the daily habit of prayer kept at home.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a Maronite church in Brisbane?

Yes. Saint Maroun's Maronite Church on Bunya Street in Greenslopes, on Brisbane's south side, is the eparchial parish for the Maronite community of Queensland. It celebrates the Divine Liturgy in Arabic and English and belongs to the Eparchy of Saint Maron of Sydney. Confirm current Mass times with the parish directly before you visit.

Where is Saint Maroun's Maronite Church in Brisbane?

Saint Maroun's is at 29 Bunya Street, Greenslopes, a suburb about four kilometres south of the Brisbane CBD. The parish has gathered on this site for roughly forty years, and it is where the new Maronite church and hall for Queensland are now being built.

When will Brisbane's new Maronite church be built?

Ground was broken on 15 February 2026, when Bishop Antoine-Charbel Tarabay and Brisbane's Archbishop Shane Mackinlay concelebrated the Feast of Saint Maroun with parish priest Fr Fadi Salame before about 400 faithful. The plans include a new church, a hall, and a school teaching Arabic, Aramaic, and catechism. Check the parish's channels for construction updates.

Does Brisbane have its own Maronite eparchy?

No. Brisbane has no separate eparchy. Saint Maroun's in Greenslopes belongs to the Eparchy of Saint Maron of Sydney, which covers all of Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania, and is led by Bishop Antoine-Charbel Tarabay from Saint Maroun's Cathedral in Redfern, Sydney.