Deacon Peter Wang SVD centre with his brother and sister who have also entered religious life 250As 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.

John Quang installation at Marsden Archbishop Coleridge 250It 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.

Deacon Peter Wang SVD centre with his brother and sister who have also entered religious life 250The 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.

Joseph Pegu Jubilee Reflection 250I 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.

Fr Mikhael Loke installed as PP of Murgon parish June 2025 250The 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.

Fr Daniel Polla and Fr Rius Salu with Bp Charles Gauci installation at Daly River Dec 2023 250A 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.

Provincial Chapter 2023 group photo 250The 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.

Peter Wang SVD Diaconate Ordination March 2025 250The 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.

Roger Myanmar 250One heart, many faces we have been called to serve Christ and one another.  What a blessing to have the honour of celebrating the 150th Jubilee Year of our SVD existence!  We definitely have a lot to celebrate looking back at the past 150 years of grace, struggles and growth, writes Fr Roger Kyaw SVD. 

As I just embarked on my first mission a few months ago, I don’t feel like I have a lot of ministerial experiences yet to share. Rather I want to reflect on my encounter with the light in the SVD in the past 10 years.

Parish Corner Te Awakairangi Parish Wellington Farewell to Barbara Rowley lay leader 250The Te Awakairangi Parish in the Lower Hutt region of New Zealand’s Wellington Archdiocese is a large, culturally rich and diverse parish where the people are warm and welcoming and committed to a missionary outlook which is deeply grounded in the primacy of evangelisation.

Established in 2015, the parish is comprised of four churches and has been in the pastoral care of the Divine Word Missionaries since January 2024.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY

In the spirit of reconciliation, the Society of the Divine Word, Australia Province, acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea, sky, and community.

We acknowledge their skin-groups, story-lines, traditions, religiosity and living cultures.

We pay respect to their elders, past, present, and emerging, and extend that respect to all indigenous peoples of New Zealand, Thailand, and Myanmar.

We are committed to building with them, a brighter future together.