Port Pirie Diocese Bishop Greg O’Kelly SJ joined past and present diocesan priests and parishioners for the Mass in the unique underground church. A Catholic priest took up residence in the town in 1965 to cater for the growing number of European migrants hoping to make their fortune from opal mining and the church opened two years later. Today, the parish priest of the expansive Inland Mission is Fr Brian Matthews who lives in Coober Pedy.