Bishop Tony Burgess, recently retired as the Bishop of Wewak in Papua New Guinea, has died after a battle with cancer.

Bishop Burgess died on Wednesday, October 23, having returned home to Australia in September because of his illness, to be nearer to his family and medical needs.

World Mission Sunday, which we celebrated on October 20, is a day set aside for Catholics worldwide to recommit ourselves to the Church's missionary activity through prayer, sacrifice and personal involvement.

In collaboration with the Society for the Propagation of the Faith and with our lay partners in Mission, we as SVD members support and celebrate with the local and worldwide Church our unique calling to God’s Mission.

As I write this message, savage bushfires are burning across areas around Sydney, in particular the Blue Mountains. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all the families who are affected by the fires, especially those who have lost their homes and all their belongings.

Fr Truc Quoc Phan SVD is Brisbane-bound after spending more than six years in parish ministry in north-eastern Thailand – a time, which he says was “a blessing”, despite the many challenges it presented.

Fr Truc, who is Vietnamese, will take up the role of assistant priest at St Mark’s Parish, Inala and assistant priest to the Vietnamese community in Brisbane. It will be his second assignment as an SVD missionary after completing his formation in the AUS Province.

Despite poor internet connections and challenging physical terrain, social media is emerging as a new tool of communication, mission and evangelisation in Papua New Guinea, and young people are leading the way.

Fr Giorgio Licini PIME, is the Communications Secretary for the PNG and Solomon Islands Catholic Bishops Conference, and is also the chaplain at Divine Word University, Madang. 

He says while resources are few, social media is opening up new avenues for communication across PNG.

World Mission Sunday, which we will celebrate on October 20th 2013 is a day set aside for Catholics worldwide to recommit ourselves to the Church's missionary activity through prayer, sacrifice and personal involvement.

In collaboration with the Society for the Propagation of the Faith and with our lay partners in Mission, we as SVD members support and celebrate with the local and worldwide Church our unique calling to God’s Mission.

"This year, as we celebrate World Mission Day, the Year of Faith, which is an important opportunity to strengthen our friendship with the Lord and our journey as a Church that preaches the Gospel with courage, comes to an end.

"From this perspective, I would like to propose some reflections."

Is your parish community looking for a liturgy resource for the celebration of World Mission Sunday on October 20?

The Divine Word Missionaries AUS Province is delighted to share the following resource. May God bless your Mission Day celebrations.

Paulo Vatunitu SVD was ordained to the priesthood on Saturday, October 5 in a ceremony infused with all the colour, prayerfulness and beautiful song of his homeland, Fiji.

Fr Paulo was ordained by Bishop Peter Elliott, Auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne, at St Paschal’s Chapel, Box Hill.

Bishop Elliott told the congregation that when he asked Paulo what a priest is, Paulo’s quiet reply was: “A servant”.

Ten years ago, on October 5, 2003, we celebrated with great joy the canonization of our saints Arnold Janssen and Joseph Freinademetz .

Today, we want to recall anew the deep faith reflected in their lives and their commitment to mission among the poor and the unevangelized .