I am delighted to extend my heartfelt congratulations to Fr. Boni Buahendri SVD, who was born in Indonesia, on his recent appointment as the 8th Provincial Superior for the AUS Province for the forthcoming triennium, which will be effective from January 1, 2026, to December 31, 2028.

This new position he has been entrusted with is a reflection of his dedication, his spirit of service, and the trust that his confreres and the Generalate have in his leadership. 

There was this story of an old but sick man who won a huge prize from lotto. The relatives were afraid that if they broke this news, he might have a heart attack and die.

As the Church in Australia celebrated National Vocations Awareness Week this month, the SVD Australia Province issued an invitation for people to join in celebrating the ordination to the priesthood of Shouzheng Peter Wang SVD in November.

Peter is currently serving as a deacon in Melbourne and his ordination to the priesthood will be the next step in a vocational journey which began back in his home country of China and brought him to Australia.

It was a triple celebration at St Maximilian Kolbe Parish, Marsden, recently when the community took part in the parish’s feast day, the annual Multicultural Day Mass and the installation of new parish priest, Fr John Quang SVD.

Archbishop Mark Coleridge presided at the Mass, which saw parishioners dressed in their cultural costumes, and was followed outside by a shared multicultural meal and entertainment.

The SVD Australia Province celebrated joyfully recently when Shouzheng Peter Wang SVD professed his perpetual vows as a Divine Word Missionary and was ordained to the diaconate.

Peter’s ordination as a deacon was the latest step in a vocational journey which began back in his home country of China and brought him to Australia.

I am a former Brother who dedicated 18 years to the Society of the Divine Word (SVD). I spent six months as a brother candidate and worked at Arnold Printing in Ende, followed by another six months as a postulant. I then entered the SVD Novitiate in Ende, Flores, for two years and underwent an additional year of formation as a junior Brother, writes Joseph Pegu.

Afterwards, I worked for five years at PT Ani Pty Ltd, Arnold Printing in Ende, and in the secretariat of the SVD Ende province. After completing a six-month program for my perpetual vows, I took those vows on September 8, 1992, and received my first mission placement in the SVD Province of Australia.

The Divine Word Missionaries have taken up pastoral responsibility for the parishes of Murgon and Gayndah in Queensland’s South Burnett region.

Fr Mikhael Loke SVD was installed as parish priest on June 1, and says he is looking forward to getting to know the people and the local area, which is spread across hundreds of kilometres within the Archdiocese of Brisbane.

A ministry of presence, accompaniment, dialogue, cultural exchange and mutual respect underpins parish life at St Francis Xavier Parish in the remote Daly River region of the Northern Territory.

Daly River, or Nauiyu, is situated 230km south of Darwin and 250km north-west of Katherine. The parish takes in a number of Aboriginal communities at Adelaide River, Emu Point, Nemarluk, Merrepen, and Woodyculpadiya, with visits to some of those communities being a four-hour round-trip on rough roads.

The SVD Australia Province is embarking on a period of communal discernment in the lead-up to the Provincial and Council elections for the next triennium.

The discernment process aims to infuse the Provincial Elections with Pope Francis’s vision for a synodal Church in which the Spirit-led participation of all is valued and necessary.

The SVD Australia Province celebrated joyfully recently when Shouzheng Peter Wang SVD professed his perpetual vows as a Divine Word Missionary and was ordained to the diaconate.

As Peter made his final profession, in the presence of his family who had travelled from China, along with confreres and friends, he was joined by SVD seminarians from Melbourne’s Dorish Maru College who renewed their temporary vows.