The SVD Australia Province rang out with joy this month when Peter Wang SVD was ordained to the priesthood in Melbourne in a celebration filled with faith, culture, love, family and mission.

Peter, who was born and raised in China, was ordained by Broome Bishop Tim Norton SVD, in a Mass marked by poignant moments, including Peter being clothed in his priestly vestments by his parents and his brother Andrew, also an SVD priest, and the inspiration for Peter’s vocation.

As we begin the season of Advent we enter into a time of prayer, reflection, waiting and preparing for the arrival of Jesus at Christmas.

At the same time, people in the United States have celebrated Thanksgiving this week. In our part of the world, Thanksgiving is not such a prevalent holiday, but it can prompt us to realise that we have much for which to give thanks, especially in the month of November when we remember in prayer those who have gone before us.

St Anne’s Parish, Palm Island is a small but mission-focused faith community built on outreach, presence, and accompaniment for the island’s mostly First Nations residents

Parish Administrator, Fr Manh Le SVD, says his ministry is largely one of personal encounter, taking the time to share in conversation with the people of the island as they go about their lives.

Fr Ennio Mantovani SVD has been remembered as a dedicated missionary priest whose life and ministry touched the hearts of many, especially through his years of committed service in Papua New Guinea and Australia.

Fr Ennio returned peacefully to the Lord on October 18 in Sydney, Australia and his Requiem Mass took place on Tuesday, October 28 at the St Arnold Janssen Chapel in Marsfield.

A two-day ecumenical mission conference held in Melbourne this month brought together academics, missiologists and mission practitioners from Australia and beyond to engage in conversation about the history, development and current realities of being a missionary church.

‘Missio Dei: An Ecumenical Conversation’ was a joint project of the Australian Association for Mission Studies (AAMS) and the Society of the Divine Word and took place from October 2-3 at St Paschal’s, Box Hill.

The Divine Word Missionaries Australia Province has celebrated the culmination of the Jubilee Year marking the 150^th anniversary of the founding of the Society of the Divine Word with a Thanksgiving Mass earlier this month.

It brings to completion a year of celebrations to mark the SVD Jubilee across the Province, in Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and Myanmar, under the theme: ‘Witnessing to the Light: From Everywhere, for Everyone’.

I am incredibly proud to have been part of the historic event of the canonisation of Peter To Rot, a Melanesian from Papua New Guinea, writes Vanuatu-born Fr Olivier Noclam SVD. His canonisation marks a significant milestone as he becomes the first Pacific native saint, inspiring many within our community and beyond.

The ceremony took place in St Peter's Square on October 19, and was officiated by Pope Leo XIV. It was a momentous occasion, and I was deeply moved to see the flags of the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea flying among the crowds, symbolising the unity and pride of our Melanesian nations. During the service, a member of Peter To Rot’s family brought forward the relics of the saint, creating a powerful link to his spiritual legacy.

As we celebrated World Mission Month in October, under Pope Francis’s theme: ‘Missionaries of Hope Among all Peoples’, the SVD Australia Province came together in Melbourne for the triiennial Provincial Assembly, and it truly was a time of Missionary Hope.

With my term as Provincial drawing to a close, along with our 150^th Jubilee Year celebrations, I came away from the Assembly with a grateful heart.