Debra Vermeer

Debra Vermeer

SVDs at 2nd Plenary Council Assembly July 2022 250The movement of the Holy Spirit in the Second Assembly of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia left the SVD participants “shaken but not stirred” and hopeful for the future of the synodal Church.

Provincial, Fr Asaeli Rass SVD, said he entered the Assembly “with the sure hope that it would not deceive nor disappoint” him (Rom 5:5).

Published in News & Events
Thursday, 28 July 2022 19:30

Celebrating vocations - new and old

Fr Asaeli Rass SVD profile pic 250The Catholic Church in Australia is about to celebrate Vocations Awareness Week from August 7–14. It’s a time to stop and listen in awe to the way God has worked in people’s lives and called them to walk different paths in service to God and others.

In the AUS Province we are blessed to once again have a ‘full house’ at our formation house, Dorish Maru College in Box Hill, Melbourne. The pandemic-related international border closures meant that for the past two years, the young men who had been due to start their theological studies here could not gain entry to Australia. It is a delight to now be welcoming them into our Provincial community.

Published in News & Events

Bp Tim Norton SVD is ordainedThe Harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few.

Today we celebrate the fact that God has always been present with, and loved, our First Peoples in Australia, a love that God extends to all First Peoples across the world, reflects Bishop Tim Norton SVD for National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday.

Published in News & Events

Fr Asaeli Rass SVD profile pic 250As this edition of In the Word reaches you, my thoughts and prayers are with the Oceania Delegation of the Laudato Si Movement whose members are attending the United Nations Oceans Conference in Lisbon, Portugal.

Having recently been nominated to join the new Laudato Si Oceania Regional Council, and, of course, being a Pacific Islander myself and knowing the impact of the climate on our Pacific region and the world at large, I’m praying for those gathered in Lisbon who will give voice to the ocean and its needs.

Published in News & Events

Plenary Council logo 250Two of the Divine Word Missionaries who will be taking part in the upcoming Second Assembly of the  Plenary Council say that while aware of the challenges, they remain filled with hope that a Spirit-led discernment will bear fruit for the Church in Australia.

The Second and final Assembly of the Plenary Council will meet in Sydney from July 3-9, where a range of motions concerning the future of the Church in Australia will be considered and voted on.

Published in News & Events

Nuncio visits Palm Island June 2022 group photo 250The simplicity and heart-to-heart encounter of a visit by Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Charles Balvo to Palm Island made the event truly extraordinary for all those who were part of it, says Parish Priest Fr Manh Le SVD.

Archbishop Balvo, who is American and is a veteran of several decades in the Vatican’s diplomatic service, made the trip to Palm Island, now known by its traditional name of Bwgcolman, during his visit to the Diocese of Townsville earlier this month.

Published in News & Events

Seminarians visit St Marks Inala 250The seminarians in the Divine Word Missionaries’ Australia Province have been hitting the road recently to spend time getting to know some of the youth in SVD parishes in Queensland and sharing their vocation stories with them.

The road-trip from Melbourne’s Dorish Maru College to the parishes of St Maximilian Kolbe in Marsden and St Mark’s, Inala, is part of the mission outreach of SVD Youth, which was established in the Province earlier this year.

Published in News & Events

Shehan Fernando at Uluru 250SVD student, Shehan Fernando, says his pastoral experience in Central Australia has been a great learning experience in his training for life as a missionary, as he encounters Christ in the people and the land.

Shehan, who is Sri Lankan, and has been undertaking studies and formation at Melbourne’s Dorish Maru College, arrived in Santa Teresa in March, and will be based there until September when he moves on to Alice Springs.

Published in News & Events

CRA National Council Rass elected 250Religious are stronger when they work together in fostering their prophetic gospel voice in society, says SVD AUS Provincial, Fr Asaeli Rass, who has been elected to the National Council of Catholic Religious Australia.

Fr Rass was appointed to the Council at the CRA National Assembly in November and says he has been impressed by the scope of the work being done to support Religious in this country.

Published in News & Events

Thailand home renovations with Br Damien 250More than 20 years ago, the SVD established its presence in Thailand by creating the Mother of Perpetual Help Centre to assist people with HIV-AIDS. Today, the Centre is still providing its much-needed care, along with a range of outreach services to help poor families and school students, while also educating the local community about HIV spread and prevention.

On top of that, SVD confreres are serving the poor and marginalised in rural parish ministry, supporting Vietnamese migrants in Bangkok in a series of ministries described by the Provincial, Fr Asaeli Rass SVD, on a recent visitation as “truly missionary and truly inspiring”.

Published in News & Events
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY

In the spirit of reconciliation, the Society of the Divine Word, Australia Province, acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea, sky, and community.

We acknowledge their skin-groups, story-lines, traditions, religiosity and living cultures.

We pay respect to their elders, past, present, and emerging, and extend that respect to all indigenous peoples of New Zealand, Thailand, and Myanmar.

We are committed to building with them, a brighter future together.