The SVD recently led a Youth Retreat in the northern part of Fiji aimed at helping tackle the growing problem of cannabis use among young people, while also calling them to action on the issue of climate change.

The retreat was facilitated by SVD AUS Provincial, Fr Asaeli Rass, who was in Fiji on home-leave.

SVD student Shehan Fernando has become the first person from Sri Lanka to become a Divine Word Missionary, after taking his first vows in Melbourne on Sunday.

Shehan took his vows at Dorish Maru College (DMC), in the presence of his formators and fellow students, while friends and family at home in Sri Lanka watched online.

Australia has gained its first Divine Word Missionary bishop with the episcopal ordination of Bishop Tim Norton SVD as Auxiliary Bishop of Brisbane.

Bishop Tim was ordained at St Stephen’s Cathedral on February 22 by Archbishop Mark Coleridge, who said the appointment of an SVD bishop was in some ways unexpected, but timely, because the Church needed to be more missionary.

It is exactly one year since I was ordained a priest, writes Fr Clement Baffoe SVD. What has the experience been in this first year of my priesthood? For me, it's been a time of great learning. I have tried to unlearn some things and learnt new things. I have experienced love from people ranging from parishioners to many others who are not even parishioners. I have laughed with families at baptisms and weddings, I have been privileged to share in their sacred stories around meals, and also I have cried with some at hospitals and funerals. I have equally been privileged to celebrate many school Masses and liturgies and they've been opportunities for 'encounter' as I get to share stories with our beautiful students.

My first year of the priesthood has been a ministry of presence. That is, being where I am most needed at any point in time. 

Pope Francis has announced that former Provincial of the SVD Australia Province, Fr Tim Norton SVD, will become an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Brisbane.

Fr Tim, who has been in ministry in Italy, will early next year join Auxiliary Bishop Ken Howell in supporting Archbishop Mark Coleridge in serving the Catholics of Brisbane Archdiocese.

I am delighted that Fr Tim Norton SVD, a member of the SVD Australia Province, has been appointed by Pope Francis to be Auxiliary Bishop of Brisbane.

Tim will be an exciting and extremely capable bishop. As a missionary and a former Provincial, he will bring to this ministry a wealth of experience in Church leadership both at the universal and local level.

Pope Francis has this evening announced that Society of the Divine Word priest Fr Tim Norton will become an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Brisbane.

Fr Norton, who is currently in ministry in Italy, will early next year join Auxiliary Bishop Ken Howell in supporting Archbishop Mark Coleridge in serving the Catholics of Brisbane Archdiocese.

Fr Ennio Mantovani SVD, a missionary for more than 64 years, has launched a new book, bringing to life in vibrant pictures his 15 years of living with and accompanying the people of Yobai in Papua New Guinea.

The book, entitled History of Yobai in Pictures, is a companion volume to Fr Ennio’s 2019 written account of his missionary life, entitled Sixty Years of Priestly and Missionary Life.

As Melbourne emerged from its recent COVID lockdown, Sydney, parts of Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory have headed into a new outbreak of the virus. School holidays and other plans have once again been ruined for many. It seems that just when we relax a little, the pandemic returns to bite again.

And yet, the situation in other places is so much worse than we are experiencing. We think of India, South America and even the UK and US. We are constantly reminded that the pandemic isn’t over anywhere until it’s over everywhere. Where can we find God in all of this?

Imagine if you felt God called you to explore the possibility of becoming a Divine Word Missionary, but then a global pandemic meant you had to wait more than a year to fulfill that calling?

That’s exactly what happened to Christopher (Boss) Hiranrattanajinda Bhumbodin from Thailand and Aaron Ong from Brunei, who were both poised to enter the SVD AUS Province postulancy program last year when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of international borders.