The Divine Word Missionary seminarians took a break from Dorish Maru College in Melbourne over winter and embarked on an epic pilgrimage to the spiritual heart of Australia – an experience which had a big impact on their hearts and their formation as missionary priests.

The pilgrimage took the students from Melbourne to Adelaide, Coober Pedy, Uluru, Alice Springs, Santa Teresa and Port Augusta. They were accompanied by Formator of Scholastics, Fr Linh Nguyen SVD and Vice-Rector of Dorish Maru College and OTP Director, Fr Yon Wiryono 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.

After two years of pandemic lockdowns and restrictions in Melbourne, the SVD students finally got the opportunity to hit the road and travel out of Victoria as a formation community during the recent winter academic holidays.

The students from Dorish Maru College visited SVD parishes and confreres as well as the Holy Spirit Sisters, shared their vocational stories and spent time with families in Queensland and New South Wales, while also having the chance to explore some of what the different parts of Australia have to offer.

Ten SVD students from five countries resumed their academic studies in Theology this month at Yarra Theological Union, the University of Divinity in Melbourne.

Both the students and the academic staff said they were looking forward to returning to face-to-face or blended classes again following the shift to online lectures and tutorials during the COVID-19 pandemic last year.

While many Australians hit the beach over the Summer holiday period, some SVD students at Dorish Maru College headed out to work – taking on jobs in fruit-picking and factory employment.

The Summer work experience is part of their program of missionary formation and enculturation, helping them to better understand and empathise with the working people they will serve.

Divine Word Missionary students and newly arrived missionaries in the AUS Province have spent part of their summer taking part in an Acculturation Program to help them adjust to life and ministry in Australia.

Entitled ‘Living and Working in the Multicultural Society of Australia’, the program was held at St Leonards in Victoria and included young students from a diverse cultural background, including Vietnam, Ghana, Ecuador, Mexico, China and Thailand.

Among the new missionary students to arrive in Australia for the start of the academic year are two young men from Mexico.

Neftali Velasco Fabian and Ruben Aguirre have travelled across the world to continue their SVD formation and academic studies with the AUS Province at Dorish Maru College in Melbourne.

The SVD seminarians studying at Dorish Maru College in Melbourne spent an evening with the Provincial recently, getting to know one another better, asking questions and learning about the priorities of the AUS Province.

Student, Clement Baffoe, from Ghana, says the Provincial, Fr Henry Adler, shared insights on the specialised ministries of the Province and challenged the seminarians to deepen their commitment to the Divine Word which is at the heart of the Society.

Nine young men renewed their temporary vows in the Divine Word Missionaries recently – an important step on their journey towards deeper, lifelong commitment to God through the SVD missionary life.

The students, who are studying at the SVD Aus Province’s formation house, Dorish Maru College, in Box Hill, made their renewal of vows on the vigil of the Solemnity of the Annunciation.

SVD students from overseas who arrive in Australia for formation and theological studies are joining other priests, religious and students for specialised English language studies offered in a theological context.

The English Language School for Pastoral Ministry (ELSPM), located on the Yarra Theological Union campus in Melbourne, aims to develop skills in English in Christian and theological environment and to improve communication to a level which will enable them to participate effectively in a pastoral ministry of the contemporary Church.