One of the most important events in an Athletics competition is the relay race. And one of the most crucial moments of this race is the baton change.

A series of online academic presentations on the theme of ‘Mission and Dialogue Today’ which were hosted this year by the SVD Australia Province have been hailed a success with plans underway to do something similar in the future.

The Mission, Education and Research (MER) presentations ran from June to November and featured speakers from within the Province as well as overseas.

The Santa Teresa – Ltyentye Apurte community in Central Australia has celebrated its 70^th anniversary with prayer, thanksgiving and a pilgrimage back to the location of the Little Flower Mission, where it all began.

Parish Priest of Santa Teresa, Fr Olivier Noclam SVD, said the anniversary celebration was “a really great occasion”, as the community of Eastern Arrernte people remembered not only their rich cultural history over thousands of years, but also their history as a Catholic community.

The Australia Province of the Divine Word Missionaries is putting Pope Francis’ call for a more synodal Church into action by engaging in a strategic planning session using the synodal methods of deep listening and dialogue.

The fruits of that strategic planning session, which involved the Provincial Council, some confreres, lay partners, benefactors and friends, will now be sent to all confreres at District level who will be asked to apply their own discernment and feedback, using the synodal methods.

During my first year in the seminary, in my Religious Education class, our teacher challenged the class and asked if there was anybody who would be able to recite aloud all the Ten Commandments as written in the book of Exodus.

Missionaries are well known for their willingness to live and serve in a variety of countries, and none more so than Fr Jun Perez SVD, who has arrived in Australia after missionary assignments which have taken him from Russia to Africa, South Korea and Thailand.

“You know the old saying,” he laughs. “Join the SVD and see the world!”

The annual SVD Mission Day in Melbourne has been hailed a big success, attracting more than 300 people who gathered to explore the theme: “Your Light Must Shine Before Others: Faithful and Creative Discipleship in a Wounded World”.

The guest speaker was Bishop Vincent Long OFM Conv and the Response was given by Anglican priest and theologian, Rev. Dorothy Lee of Trinity College, the University of Divinity, with the discussion moderated by Sr Patricia Fox NDS.

Anyone who has the good fortune to visit the Vatican should take up the opportunity to visit the Sistine Chapel and gaze upon the frescoed ceiling painted by the great Rennaisance artist, Michelangelo Buonarotti, the most famous part of which is surely ‘The Creation of Adam.’

This week I departed for Rome to take part in the Synod of Bishops on Synodality.

I have been appointed by Pope Francis to be a small group facilitator during the Synod discussions, and while I am certainly aware of the enormity of the task ahead, I am also honoured and excited to be a part of it.

Roger Kyaw Thu SVD, from Myanmar, is nearing the end of his initial formation to become a missionary priest and has been assigned to the Australia Province, saying he was attracted to missionary life by the idea of going to places where he is most needed.

Roger is to be ordained a deacon on October 1 at Our Lady of Africa Church in Chicago, Illinois, an SVD parish in the United States not far from where he has been undergoing his formation.