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News & Events

Fr Henry Adler SVD close hs 150You may have seen in the news recently that the Catholic Church in Australia was the first non-government institution to sign up nationally to the National Redress Scheme for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse, which was a key recommendation of the recent Royal Commission.

I am pleased to confirm that the Divine Word Missionaries AUS Province has joined the National Redress Scheme as a firm sign of our deep commitment to treating the victims of child sexual abuse with the compassion and justice they deserve.

 

Monday, 28 May 2018 19:41

We must be reconciled - a reflection

Aboriginal flag 150Reconciliation Week is observed in the last week in May. This year, it runs from Sunday May 27 through to the June 3, also coinciding with the first anniversary of the ‘Uluru Statement from the Heart,’ issued by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander elders at their gathering in Central Australia in 2017.

The voiced essence of the Uluru Statement was the seeking of constitutional reforms to empower the First Peoples to take their rightful place in their own land: not tokenistic gestures of recognition, but true voices enshrined in the Constitution of Australia, with all peoples walking together into a better future.

 

Monday, 28 May 2018 18:57

'Listen to what the Spirit is saying'

Fr Henry Adler SVD close hs 150“What do you think God is asking of us in Australia at this time?”

That’s the question we are being urged to consider as the Church in Australia embarks on the journey toward Plenary Council 2020. A tall order perhaps, but the key might be found in the Plenary Council logo: ‘Listen to what the Spirit is saying’.

 

SVD General Chapter 2018 logo 150Final preparations are underway for the SVD General Chapter to be held at Nemi, outside Rome next month, with Divine Word Missionaries from all around the world, including the AUS Province, set to take part in the important gathering, held once every three years.

And for the first time there will be a significant presence of lay partners at the Chapter, highlighting the Society’s growing formal relationship with its lay collaborators.

 

Fr Erwin Schmutz SVD 150Fr Erwin Schmutz SVD has worn a few different hats over the last 60 years – priest, missionary, medic and botanist to name just a few – but as he celebrates his Diamond Jubilee, he says it is the people he has lived amongst and ministered to that stand out for him.

Fr Erwin was born in Ingolstadt, on the River Donau in Bavaria, Germany, and spent 30 years as a missionary in Indonesia, then some years as a German Airforce chaplain, before arriving in the SVD AUS Province where he was chaplain to Adelaide’s German community for many years.

 

SSpS Pentecost celebration dance 2018 150The Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters in Australia celebrated their big feast day of Pentecost with music, dancing and communion with others, including refugees and asylum seekers.

The Sisters, who were founded by St Arnold Janssen, along with the Divine Word Missionaries and another order of women religious, the Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters, had Pentecost celebrations in Melbourne, Sydney, Townsville and Brisbane.

 

Anthony Le Duc SVD Vietnamese migrant chaplaincy 150Fr Anthony Le Duc SVD loves his ministry with Vietnamese migrants in Bangkok, not only because he is able to serve these people on the margins and be part of their lives, but because he is also able to be a bridge to connect them with the larger church and the society in which they live.

Chaplaincy to Vietnamese migrants has recently moved from a volunteer ministry to one formally recognised by the Catholic Bishops of Thailand, a move he says which makes the ministry more systematic and effective.

Good News He Lives 150By the time this reflection appears in the newsletter, we are well into the Easter Season, in fact almost towards the end of it. However, the message of Easter which proclaims the Good News of the Resurrection of Christ is by no means a message that has an expiration date.

Indeed, the entire Christian religion is founded on this very message that must be ceaselessly proclaimed all year round. Day after day, year after year, generation after generation, Christians are asked to witness to the truth of the Christ event of suffering, death and resurrection.

 

Vietnamese Chaplaincy 150Vietnamese Chaplains from across Australia came together in Sydney recently to discuss their ministry and to consider how Vietnamese Catholic communities can contribute their experience of faith life in Australia to the 2020 Plenary Council.

Fr Joseph Vu SVD, who is Chaplain to the Vietnamese community in Brisbane Archdiocese, says the chaplains gather every year to share with one another their activities, to listen and learn from each other, and to plan for the future.

 

Elmer Philippines Bible course 150The Bible is not a static collection of ancient works but the living Word of God which continues to speak to us today, so for Fr Elmer Ibarra SVD, a recent Biblical study course in the Philippines provided new insights which he is eager to share upon his return to Australia.

Fr Elmer is the Biblical Coordinator for the SVD AUS Province, and he took part in the course with two other new members of the Province, Fr Mariusz Kubista SVD, a Polish priest who has been in Kenya for some years and Fr Tuyen Nguyen SVD, from Vietnam, who has been in Argentina for 10 years. Both Fr Mariusz and Fr Tuyen were taking part in the Biblical study course in the Philippines to prepare them for their upcoming assignment teaching the Bible in Myanmar, the AUS Province’s newest mission.

 

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