A pastoral visitation to Thailand and Myanmar highlighted once again the inspirational work being done by SVD missionaries in those places, said Provincial, Fr Asaeli Rass SVD.

Both Thailand and Myanmar are part of the SVD Australia Province and both districts are experiencing their own joys and challenges in mission.

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.

Vietnamese Catholics in Noumea, New Caledonia, were treated to Masses and pastoral care in their own language during Holy Week and Easter, thanks to a visit by Fr Viet Nguyen SVD.

Fr Viet is the Mission Secretary for the SVD Australia Province, and his visit to Noumea was part of a pastoral outreach begun in 2015 by former Mission Secretary, Fr Truc Phan SVD.

Students from the SVD formation house, Dorish Maru College, have closed their text-books for another academic year and are heading off to local parishes to gain first-hand pastoral and intercultural experience.

Seven newly arrived students who have been undertaking their English-language courses or their first year of Theology studies at Yarra Theological Union will participate in the SVD Students Summer Acculturation Program.

As many Australians enjoyed a holiday break, two Divine Word Missionary students from Dorish Maru College have spent their summer in Melbourne’s hospitals, completing their Clinical Pastoral Experience.

Neftali Velasco Fabian SVD from Mexico and Cuong Quoc Dang SVD from Vietnam, who are training to be missionary priests, have been learning how to support patients in hospital – all during one of the most challenging periods for our healthcare system, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A new book, co-edited by Fr Anthony Le Duc SVD, is set to shine a light on some of the creative pastoral responses implemented around the world in response to COVID-19 pandemic.

‘Pastoral Creativity Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: Global Experiences’ chronicles the pastoral responses that pastoral agents, ordained and lay, implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic from first-person narratives woven together to form a tapestry of rich and moving personal stories.

SVD missionary students spread out from Dorish Maru College in Melbourne over the summer months to take up pastoral placements in different Divine Word Missionary communities around Australia.

Some enjoyed the experience of suburban parish life, while others immersed themselves in Indigenous culture in Central Australia, or joined in ministry at the Janssen Spirituality Centre in Victoria.

While most of Australia prepares to hit the beach, 11 Divine Word Missionary seminarians are spreading out across Australia over Christmas and the summer period to spend time in parishes, gaining valuable pastoral experience and cultural exposure to help them in their missionary formation.

Three of the seminarians from Dorish Maru College are undertaking their summer pastoral ministry in Alice Springs and Santa Teresa, while others will go to Inala Parish in Brisbane, Macquarie Fields Parish in Sydney, and Preston and Noble Park Parishes in Melbourne.