It’s been several weeks of highs and lows for the Central West Queensland Catholic Church, with the parish community facing serious floods while at the same time celebrating 125 years of Catholic education and the arrival of a new assistant priest.

Fr Rius Salu SVD has arrived from his previous assignment in Daly River, NT, to assist parish priest Fr Peter Bang SVD as the district mops up from the record floods.

Small communities with a big heart have joined together to kick off the SVD African Hurricane Appeal, by donating generously to assist the recovery of people in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Mali, who had their homes and communities destroyed.

Mission Secretary, Fr Truc Quoc Phan SVD, says that some of the Divine Word Missionaries’ ethnic chaplaincy communities and parish and chapel communities were among the first to respond to the call for assistance.