Through your Will you can help light the way for thousands of people to learn to love God and live happy, healthy and dignified Christian lives.

You may like to help the Divine Word Missionaries in their work throughout the world by leaving a legacy or bequest in your Will.

   pdf Click here to download our Bequests Brochure(889 KB)

A brief profile of our Society

The Society of the Divine Word or Divine Word Missionaries, as we are commonly known, was founded by Saint Arnold Janssen, a German priest working in the Diocese of Muenster in Germany. While the government was expelling religious orders and repressing the growth of the Church in Germany, St Arnold Janssen was creating a missionary training centre across the border in Steyl, Holland. The Society of the Divine Word opened its first mission house in Steyl in 1875.

We are an international, multicultural community of Priests and Brothers. At present there are over 6000 members of the Society working in 67 countries around the world, in the mission frontiers of the Pacific, Asia, Africa, India, North and South America and Europe. Our Society is predominantly missionary, however, we have established schools and universities around the world.

The first Divine Word Missionaries arrived in Australia in 1900. Initially the base in Australia was set up to logistically support and provide medical respite for our missionaries in New Guinea, which was under the control of the Germans. In 1977 Australia became an independent Province of the Divine Word Missionaries.

Some of our missionary activities include:

• Pastoral care of immigrants;
• Service to the poor;
• Biblical Apostolate;
• Inter-faith dialogue; and
• Formation.

Making a Will, an important decision

Making your Will is very important. It is the way that you can make sure the interests of your beneficiaries are protected and that your assets are distributed as you want them to be.

When planning a Will the financial implications for your family are very important. As well as deciding who is to benefit and how, you need to determine who is to be your executor, who should be guardian for any minor children and what charitable interests you want to support with a final gift.

After a lifetime creating a satisfying and fulfilling life for themselves and their family, many people reach their later years wishing they had been able to do more to help others. Fortunately, it’s not too late—a simple bequest to Divine Word Missionaries in your Will could mean a whole new life for someone or a whole community somewhere in the world who still lives a hungry, unhealthy, undignified life of despair.

A few will get the chance to rise above their poverty and make better lives for themselves and their families—thanks to your help and the work of Divine Word Missionaries around the world.

All they need is an encouraging hand and a real chance to make it on their own. By making a bequest to the Divine Word Missionaries in your Will, you can support us in the work we do to help the underprivileged:

• Educate them by building schools and universities;
• Feed them by showing them how to develop their own resources and how to grow, harvest and process food;
• Keep them healthy by building clinics and hospitals;
• Train young men who wish to become Divine Word Missionaries and spread the Word of God and His great love by their actions.

Form of Bequest

If you would like to help the Divine Word Missionaries in their work by leaving a legacy or bequest in your Will, retain this form of bequest and give it to your solicitor when having your Will prepared or updated.

“I bequeath to the Provincial Superior for the time being of the Society of the Divine Word, Marsfield, NSW, Australia, the sum of
$________________________
for the charitable and missionary work of the Society of the Divine Word, and I direct that the receipt of the Society shall be sufficient discharge to my executors for this bequest.”

Types of Bequests

• Specific - You nominate a specific sum of money or item of property to be left to a particular beneficiary.
• Proportionate - You nominate a specific portion of your estate to be left to a particular beneficiary eg. 10% or 1/3 of your estate.
• Residuary - You nominate the remainder, or part of the remainder of your estate after all other bequests have been settled.

Whichever way you choose, we hope that you will remember God’s work and the Society of the Divine Word in your Will.

If you would like to discuss a special legacy or bequest to the Society of the Divine Word, or would like more information on the Society’s work, please write or call:

Divine Word Missionaries
199 Epping Road, Marsfield NSW 2122, Australia | Locked Bag 3, Epping NSW 1710, Australia
Telephone: +61 2 9868 2666
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

This brochure is for your information only and you should consult with your solicitor or trustee organization in respect of making your Will and administration of your estate.

For all vocation enquiries, please contact the Vocation Director:

Phone: 02 9868 2666 (+61 2 9868 2666 from outside Australia)

Or email by filling out the form below.

Provincial Office: 199 Epping Road, Marsfield, NSW 2122, Australia

Postal: Locked Bag 3, Epping, NSW 2122, Australia

Phone: +61 2 9868 2666

Two day workshop on Leadership and Intercultural Living for SVDs under 50 years of age followed the National Mission Conference “One Heart Many Voices” in Sydney in the first week of May 2013.  

In his opening address the AUS provincial Fr. Tim Norton emphasised the importance of developing leadership skills in the light of the upcoming elections for a new AUS provincial and a new provincial council.

From a career in banking to a life as a Missionary – it’s been a long and winding road for Paulo Vatunitu SVD, and as he celebrates the Profession of Final Vows, Paulo is aware of both the blessings and the challenges that lie ahead.

“I’m a bit nervous about it,” he said, before taking his Vows on Saturday, March 9 at St Paschal’s Chapel, Box Hill.

The launch of the e-news is part of a new digital era for the Australian Province of the Divine Word Missionaries, which includes a new website as well as a Facebook and Twitter presence.

As Divine Word Missionaries, our vocation calls us to continually be in dialogue with the world around us and with the people we serve. This e-news is just one more way of doing that.

Published each month, the e-news will drop straight into the inbox of all who choose to subscribe.

We invite you to be a part of our Mission by subscribing to our monthly e-news 'in the Word'.

Each month you will receive an email news bulletin with inspiring stories about our ministries, profiles of our missionaries, and all the latest news and information from the Australia Province of the Divine Word Missionaries.

Subscription is entirely free and can be cancelled at any time. We hope you enjoy.

Complete the form below to subscribe to our e-Newsletter

Twenty-six year old Liezel Casio spent her childhood living near a dumpsite, with her family scavenging to make a living. Today, thanks to an SVD mission project, she lives in newly built housing, is studying at university and says she is blessed.

The poverty of her childhood is still very much present, but Liezel can finally see some hope for a better life because of her education.

The Mission Office of the SVD Australian Province is supporting a magnificent program in The Philippines which helps to move families off rubbish dumps and into housing and sustainable development. Thanks to the generosity of our donors, the AUS Mission Office has been able to provide the financial resources to build 40 houses for homeless Filipino families in Cebu. The AUS Province Mission Secretary, Fr Henry Adler SVD recently visited the project, and explains the hope he found there.

The Mission Office of the SVD Australian Province recently responded to a request from the SVD missionaries of Central India Province to send some much-needed financial assistance to support the Mahatma Gandhi High School in Khurda - a school which helps educate the poorest of the poor from India’s Tribal peoples. This school, run by SVD missionaries, not only educates those who would otherwise remain uneducated, but also promotes their human dignity as people made in God’s image.