Fr Paulo Vatunitu SVD says God’s hand has guided him all the way in his life, from a career in banking to a vocation as a missionary priest, and he’s confident God will be with be with him now as he takes up a new assignment at Daly River in the remote Northern Territory.
Paulo was born and raised in Fiji, on the island of Vanua Levu and is the second eldest of eight children. After school, he made a career as a loans officer in the banking industry.
The 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.
For SVD student Antonius Kristanto ‘Krisna’ Papalesa, from Indonesia, the daily activities of life in Dorish Maru College, Melbourne, are immersing him in the local culture and preparing him for a life of mission.
Krisna was born in 1995 and spent most of his life in Jakarta with his parents, three brothers and four sisters.
Fr Hung Nguyen SVD has returned to the Australia Province where he undertook the Overseas Training Program some years ago, to complete English language studies before beginning his pastoral ministry.
Fr Hung’s arrival in Australia for his first missionary assignment since taking his final vows and being ordained a priest in Vietnam, was delayed by two years, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions.
The rural atmosphere and a warm welcome from the local community has ensured that Fr Francois Andrianihantana SVD is feeling right at home in his first missionary assignment in Emerald, Queensland.
Fr Francois, who was born and raised in Madagascar, was ordained to the priesthood in Melbourne on November 27 and arrived in Emerald Parish in January this year.
The Syro-Malabar community in Alice Springs is set to receive a new chaplain, in Divine Word Missionary priest, Fr Joe Jacob SVD.
Fr Joe, who is from Kerala in India, was ordained in 2020 and his first missionary assignment is to the Australia Province of the SVD.
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.
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.
Fr Larry Nemer SVD, who died in Sydney last month, has been remembered as an accomplished scholar and theologian, a dedicated teacher, much-loved family member and a happy priest for more than 60 years.
Fr Larry was born and raised in Chicago and grew up in “a very Polish Catholic neighbourhood”, attending the local Polish Catholic Grammar School.