This month has been a time of celebration and thanksgiving for the Australia Province of the Divine Word Missionaries. We have marked the conclusion of our 100^th anniversary year of SVD presence in Marsfield, Sydney, and also the 20^th anniversary of our presence in Central Australia.

As we look back to our foundations in Australia, we give thanks for those dedicated and tenacious missionaries who left their homeland and came across the seas to share the love of Jesus Christ in this part of the world. And we give thanks for all the fruits that have grown over the ensuing decades.

Fr Ennio Mantovani SVD has launched his latest book - 'A History of Yobai in Pictures'.

The book gives a pictorial history of Fr Ennio's many years as a missionary in Yobai, Papua New Guinea. Arriving in 1965, at the same time as the Second Vatican Council was encouraging the Church to go out into the world, Fr Ennio lived his missionary life in the belief that mission needs to be carried out in dialogue with the people and their culture.

More than 70 members of the Divine Word Missionaries Australia Province – came together this month for the first ever online Provincial Assembly.

Provincial, Fr Asaeli Rass SVD, says the Zoom platform created both challenges and opportunities for the gathering.

Guest speakers at the 2021 Provincial Assembly challenged members of the SVD community to be invitational, to get to know people’s story and to discern and act with vision – the vision of Jesus Christ.

Emeritus Bishop of Darwin, Bishop Eugene Hurley spoke on the Leadership of Pope Francis, and Dr Janine Luttick, a lecturer in biblical studies at Australian Catholic University (ACU), in the faculty of theology and philosophy, presented on Leadership, Mission, Women and the Church in Australia.

During his prime, Muhammad Ali, the heavyweight-boxing champion of the 60s and the 70s proclaimed one day, “I am the greatest! I am the greatest!” When he said this nobody tried to refute it, for during his time, he was indeed the greatest. 

The Divine Word Missionaries AUS Province had cause for great celebration earlier this year when five young confreres from three different countries made their Final Profession of Vows and were ordained to the Diaconate.

The young men making their commitment in Melbourne were Nicholas Duc, Marius Razafimandimby, Francois D'Assise Andrianihantana, Edward Okletey Teye, and Hai Nguyen. They are from Ghana, Madagascar and Vietnam.

After 20 months being separated from his missionary assignment due to COVID border closures, Fr Toub Anisong Chanthavong SVD is set to return to Thailand with a thankful heart in September.

Fr Toub took the short trip from Thailand to Laos in December 2019 for three months of home leave with his family, but the worldwide pandemic prevented him from returning to his ministry for almost two years.

The Divine Word Missionaries this month celebrated 125 years in Papua New Guinea with a range of celebrations, giving thanks to God for all the blessings bestowed on the mission, the people, and the missionaries themselves.

SVD Superior-General, Fr Paul Budi Kleden, was special guest at the celebrations, having made it all the way from Rome, despite the COVID-related difficulties in international travel.

As I write this message, millions of Australians are once again living in COVID lockdown across New South Wales, the ACT, and Victoria. Gatherings are banned, families are separated and many people have either lost employment or taken a blow to their income. Of course, many are also suffering from the health effects of COVID and a significant number of people have died. We pray for them.

In amongst these challenges and difficulties we have been forced to continually adapt to the new circumstances we face. The SVD has also been called upon to adapt to new ways of doing things and in September we will hold our first ever online Provincial Assembly.

The Divine Word Missionaries are embarking on a fundraising campaign to help secure a small campervan which would allow the missionaries in Central Australia to stay with outlying Aboriginal communities for longer periods.

At the moment, the missionaries drive hundreds of kilometres to be with the people in those communities, but often, after celebrating Mass or other sacraments, they have to turn around and make the long drive back to Alice Springs again.