Bishop Tim Norton SVD has promised the people of the Kimberley that he wants to listen, heal, work, pray, and enjoy life together, as he was installed this month as the third Bishop of Broome in a liturgy rich with faith and culture.

Beginning with a traditional Aboriginal smoking ceremony by Yarawu elders outside the church and a Welcome to Country by Erica Bernard, the local people, languages and cultures of the Kimberley played a central role in the installation Mass, which concluded with women elders leading a sung blessing over their new bishop. Local languages enriched the hymns and prayers.

Pope Francis has appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Brisbane, the Most Reverend Timothy Norton SVD, to be the third Bishop of Broome.

Bishop Norton was born in Sydney in 1958 and initially trained as a physiotherapist, working in inner-city Darlinghurst with young people who were experiencing homelessness, addiction and mental health issues. He entered the Society of the Divine Word in 1984 and took his first vows in 1986.

The Palm Island community marked the 100^th anniversary of the first Mass on the island recently, in a joyful celebration of culture and faith.

Townsville Bishop Timothy Harris was chief celebrant at the anniversary Mass, celebrated on the Feast of Sts Joachim and Anne, and marking 100 years since the first Mass was said in a classroom by Dr Kelly, the Parish Priest of Ingham, North Queensland, in 1924.

This month, I returned from the SVD General Chapter in Rome just in time to attend the celebrations marking 100 years since the first Mass took place on Palm Island.

The two events could not have been more different in many ways, but they were also intertwined, because at the Chapter we prayed, discerned and talked about mission and tending to the wounds of humanity, and on Palm Island we are part of God's mission in action.

The recent formal approval of the Mass of the Land of the Holy Spirit by Australia’s bishops has been welcomed as a ‘big moment’ not only for the Indigenous Catholic communities of the Broome Diocese, where it originated, but also for other First Nations communities around the country.

Australia’s Catholic bishops have approved a liturgy which incorporates elements of Aboriginal language and culture.

The journey to reconciliation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples is not easy, but the Catholic Church remains hopeful of healing. That is the message from Chair of the Bishops Commission for Relations with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, Bishop Charles Gauci, as Australians mark National Reconciliation Week.

We Divine Word Missionaries share that hope for healing, and in fact, it is the bedrock of all that we do in our ministry with First Nations peoples in Australia.

Fr Manh Le SVD has been a missionary with the Indigenous peoples of the Amazon and now Australia’s Indigenous peoples, on Palm Island, and his ongoing search into Indigenous spirituality recently led him to participate in an ecumenical conference exploring the role of the churches in Indigenous history since European settlement.

He said the Tribal Voice for Justice: An Indigenous Theological Revolution conference in Melbourne was an opportunity to delve deeper into his understanding of indigenous spirituality, and the need for ongoing personal and communal conversion in indigenous matters.

The Divine Word Missionaries have accepted an invitation to take up the pastoral care of the indigenous community of Balgo in Western Australia’s remote Kimberley region.

Fr Paulo Vanuitu SVD arrived in December 2023, joined by Fr Ronaldo Rodriguez SVD in early 2024. 

SVD students at Dorish Maru College in Melbourne have been spending their summer academic break well, with some completing hospital pastoral placements and others enjoying time in SVD parish communities.

Formator of Scholastics, Fr Linh Nguyen SVD, said the summer placements aimed to give the students pastoral experience, as well as deepen their cultural understanding and English language skills.

The Voice to Parliament was defeated! The pain and hurt is still tangible, writes Fr Nick de Groot SVD. I feel that we, as a country, have failed to take that step towards healing and reconciliation that is still so necessary.

But true love is stronger than all the darkness and negativity. “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” Jn 1:4