“You are part of our Tiwi people; you are part of our Tiwi family.” These were the words spoken by one of the Traditional Owners of the Tiwi Islands earlier this month during the official installation of Fr Niran Veigas SVD as parish priest on Bathurst Island.

Fr Niran was installed at Our Lady of Peace and St Therese - Wurrumiyanga, Tiwi Islands by Darwin Bishop Charles Gauci in an emotionally moving and culturally rich Mass almost two years after the Divine Word Missionaries arrived in the Tiwis.

The theme of our SVD's 19th General Chapter and its reflections clearly indicate how missionaries need to deepen their understanding of mission, identity, charism, and spirituality. One aspect is crystal clear: we are called to become a light in the wounded world for oneself and for others.

The Divine Word Missionaries are completing a year with our presence at Tiwi Islands. During this year, it has been a time of reflection, understanding, walking along, appreciating the culture, being with the people in sorrow, and, above all, making the Tiwi people know that we are with them.

When Fr Niran Veigas SVD answered his vocational call to become a missionary priest, he could not have foreseen himself ministering in Russia and now the Tiwi Islands, but the Indian-born priest is embracing the new challenge of getting to know the people and helping to make a difference in their lives.

Fr Niran was born and raised in a Catholic family in the city of Mangalore, in southwest India and says he began discerning the possibility of being a priest as a young boy.

He is Risen! Happy Easter to you!

As we make our way through the joy of the Easter season, I have been reflecting on the resurrection experience of my visit to the Tiwi Islands during Holy Week and Easter, writes Provincial, Fr Asaeli Rass SVD.

Divine Word Missionaries across the Australia Province celebrated the feast days of two SVD saints – St Arnold Janssen and St Joseph Freinademetz this month – and for the first time, the SVD founder’s feast was celebrated in the Tiwi Islands.

The SVD, founded by St Arnold in Steyl, Holland in 1875, took up ministry at Our Lady of Peace and St Theresa’s Parish on Bathurst Island last August, following decades of pastoral ministry there by the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart.

It is a world away from Fr Niran Veigas’ previous missionary assignment in Russia to his new assignment in the Tiwi Islands, but the Indian-born priest is embracing the new challenge and looking forward to getting to know the people and helping to make a difference in their lives.

Fr Niran was born and raised in a Catholic family in the city of Mangalore, in southwest India and says he began discerning the possibility of being a priest as a young boy.

The Divine Word Missionaries have accepted an invitation from Darwin Bishop Charles Gauci to take up the pastoral care of the people of the Tiwi Islands and Daly River.

The SVDS are already active in Darwin Diocese, having been present in Central Australia for the last 20 years, in Alice Springs, Santa Teresa, and in the Aboriginal Catholic Chaplaincy.