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.

He had initially thought he would be ministering in Myanmar, which is part of the Australia Province,  but instead, Provincial, Fr Asaeli Rass SVD, asked him to serve in Alice Springs.

In Alice Springs, Fr Joe will be chaplain to the community of Catholics who belong to the Syro-Malabar rite. He will also be assistant priest at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Parish and part of the Aboriginal Chaplaincy team.

“I am only a new priest, so my hope for this first missionary assignment is in God. God is leading me there to Alice Springs and will hold on to him, because everything is possible in God and I trust in him to be able to do his mission,” he says.

Fr Joe grew up in the Syro-Malabar rite of the Catholic Church, which is one of the 22 Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with Rome. It is the second largest of the Eastern Catholic Churches, after the Ukrainian Church with 5 million believers. It has its origins in Kerala, Fr Joe’s home state.

In 2006, upon completing Year 10 at school, he joined the St John’s Mission Minor Seminary after hearing a presentation from the SVD vocations coordinator in the district.

“I had thought of being a priest before, but never a missionary, until I heard from this SVD missionary,” he says.

“Later, I contacted him, and I went to a vocations camp, and by the grace of God, I was able to join the minor seminary.”

After completing his high school studies in the minor seminary, Fr Joe completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Social Science at university before entering the novitiate. He took his first vows as an SVD on June 17, 2014, before moving to another state and studying philosophy for two years.

This was followed by a pastoral experience placement and then three years studying theology in another Indian state, before completing his diaconate ministry. He took his final vows in January 2020 and was ordained a priest on December 31, 2020.

Fr Joe’s arrival for his first assignment has been delayed due to international travel restrictions during the COVID pandemic.

He says he is looking forward to beginning his ministry in Central Australia.

“It will be challenging for me, being a new priest in a new country and culture. I’ll need to learn everything, but I trust in God and I’m looking forward to meeting the people,” he said.

IMAGE: Fr Joe Jacob SVD, who is new to the AUS Province and will be ministering in Alice Springs.