With the SVD’s Sesquicentenary Year now underway, we are looking forward to a raft of events and celebrations around our Province in the leadup to the 150^th anniversary of the Foundation of the Society of the Divine Word on September 8, 2025.

Among these is the annual SVD Mission Day in Melbourne, to be hosted by Dorish Maru College and held on October 12. The Congregational Leader of the Sisters of St Joseph, Sr Monica Cavanagh RSJ will be the principal speaker, with systematic theologian and experienced pastoral associate, Dr Cecilia Francisco-Tan the respondent. All are welcome.

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.

Attending this consultative Synod as one of the 38 small group facilitators is a great honour and privilege – an experience of a lifetime, a Kairos experience! “Come to us, O Holy Spirit” is the consistent cry holding the synodal journey from many languages, cultures and Christian traditions under the leadership of Pope Francis, writes Fr Asaeli Rass SVD.

I am thrilled to be part of Pope Francis' dream towards a synodal Catholic Church that walks, prays, discerns together in the Holy Spirit. This is subjective, and yet I could openly express in appreciation how the Spirit is gently and surely leading the Catholic Church to a better space in the history of salvation.

The SVD Australia Provincial, Fr Asaeli Rass, has been appointed to take part in the Synod of Bishops in Rome in October, an opportunity he describes as both humbling and exciting.

Fr Rass was named as one of the expert facilitators from the Oceania region to attend the Synod, following his role as a facilitator of the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania (FCBCO) gathering in Fiji earlier this year.

Synodality is ultimately about mission says internationally renowned theologian Fr Stephen Bevans SVD , who was in Australia recently to attend a major mission conference and deliver a presentation to the SVD community.

Fr Stephen, who is the Louis J. Luzbetak SVD Professor of Mission and Culture, Emeritus at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, was one of five Divine Word Missionaries attending the 15^th Assembly of the International Association for Mission Studies at Morling College in Sydney this month, exploring the theme: ‘Powers, Inequalities, and Vulnerabilities: Mission in a Wounded World’.

The Divine Word Missionaries will have two members at the upcoming Plenary Council and both say they are looking forward to being a part of such a forward-looking and significant process for the Catholic Church in Australia.

Provincial, Fr Asaeli Rass SVD, will be a member of the Plenary Council and attend its official sessions in October, as will Alice Springs Parish Priest, Fr Prakash Menezes SVD, who will be part of the Darwin Diocese’s delegation, due to his role as Episcopal Vicar for the Diocese’s Central Region.