Fr Alejandro Jose De la Sotta Dominguez SVD is a long way from his home in Chile, but says the “incredible diversity of cultures” that he’s found at St Mark’s Parish, Inala is enriching his life, his faith and his ministry.

Fr Alejandro, who is relatively new to the AUS Province, is Acting Parish Priest at St Mark’s while Fr Stephen Pilly SVD enjoys his home leave in India.

“My first choice for my missionary assignment was the AUS Province, because I was attracted to the cultural diversity that exists in Australia,” he says.

“It has been very rewarding for me in my few months at St Mark’s to see so many different cultures attending the various parish and school activities.

“I have witnessed people of different cultures working together on parish committees and worshipping together in the Mass. St Mark’s Parish is a beautiful representation of the diverse ‘body of Christ.’

“My biggest challenge is to let go of my own attachments to my own Latino culture and be open always to the incredible diversity of cultures that are in the parish – Vietnamese, Filipino, Samoan, Tongan, Rwandan and Sudanese to name just a few.

“I believe that being open to the cultural experience of others and sharing in their experience of God and the church is an enriching and a valuable experience for me.”

Fr Alejandro was born in Chile in 1983 and attended a secondary school run by the Divine Word Missionaries.

“The rector of the school was a Chilean SVD missionary who had been missioning in Ghana, Africa,” he says. “His experience with such a different culture caught my attention and I felt that the best way for me to follow Jesus is through dialogue with different people from diverse cultures. At the end of my school years I entered as a postulant of the SVD.”

Fr Alejandro completed his novitiate in Argentina after three years of philosophy studies in Chile and made his first vows in Chile on March 1, 2007. He was ordained a priest in Chile at the school where he had studied on April 26, 2014.

A fascination with different cultures has been a driving force in Fr Alejandro’s life and missionary experience.

“My first destination outside my country was Argentina where I started studying theology in 2007,” he says.

“After two years of studies there emerged the idea of a missionary experience outside my continent and after one year in the United States studying English I went to the province of Kenya-Tanzania in Africa. I was able to experience cultural diversity in both countries and this experience was very enriching for me.

“Then I returned to Chile to a new personal missionary mission - to accompany my family, and especially my dad, in his last months of life. My father passed away from cancer in January 2012 and in February of the same year I return to Argentina to finish my studies of theology. My diaconate in Chile was in a parish where we work with the indigenous peoples.”

Fr Alejandro says his time at St Mark’s, Inala is reinforcing what he loves about being a missionary.

“I love to be able to see that there are many experiences of God and that the important thing is to be a part of people’s lives.”