Debra Vermeer

Debra Vermeer

Multicultural Sunday Marsfield 2025 Cultural dancing2 250The SVD Marsfield community celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Society of the Divine Word recently, in conjunction with the annual Multicultural Sunday event, highlighting one of the most foundational of SVD characteristics – interculturality.

Following weeks of rain in Sydney, the skies cleared for a day of shared prayer, cultural entertainment and a mouthwatering shared multicultural meal.

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Jubilee Communications Lecture promo 250Communication is the essence of mission itself and is the task of every baptised Christian, Bishop Tim Norton SVD told participants in the 4th SVD Australia Province Webinar to mark the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Society of the Divine Word.

The webinar explored the theme: ‘Witnessing to the Light: From Everywhere for Everyone - From a Social Communication Perspective.’

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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.

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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.

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Fr Asaeli Rass SVD profile pic 250As Spring arrives, so too does the official celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the founding by St Arnold Janssen of the Society of the Divine Word.

St Arnold founded his missionary society on September 8, 1875. Driven by prayer and a desire that all people should have the opportunity to know the Good News of Jesus Christ, he overcame much opposition to begin fulfilling his dream. From those humble beginnings, the SVD has flourished and grown to be the sixth biggest male religious order in the world, with nearly 6000 missionaries, from 76 nationalities, serving in 79 countries.

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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.

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NZ Parish of Sts Peter and Paul 175th anniversary booklet 250Saints Peter and Paul Church in Lower Hutt, New Zealand has celebrated its 175th anniversary, with a series of joyous jubilee events.

Parish Priest, Fr Raja Kommareddy SVD, said the celebrations, which took place over the whole weekend of June 28 and 29, marking the parish’s patronal feast, were a wonderful testimony to the community’s vibrant faith and multicultural richness.

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Governance Workshop 2025 Francis Moore Susan Pasco and Fr Stephen Hackett MSC 250A recent workshop for members of Religious Institutes highlighted the importance of good governance and administration within the Church, saying it must be aligned with mission and carried out with collaboration and transparency.

Several Divine Word Missionaries took part in the ‘Introduction to Ecclesial Governance and Administration’ workshop, which was an initiative of Catholic Religious Australia.

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Fr Joseph Lam OSA 250The Divine Word Missionaries’ annual retreats are now underway, with Augustinian priest, Fr Joseph Lam, leading the SVD Marsfield community in reflections on the theme, ‘Missionaries of Hope’.

Each district of the SVD AUS Province will have a week’s retreat, given by local presenters, providing spiritual nourishment and renewal for confreres.

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Emerald Parish Corner First Holy Communion 250The Emerald Parish in the Central Highlands of Queensland is a thriving faith community which also embraces a cluster of small country churches in a rural district renowned for its warm welcome and hospitality.

Parish Priest, Fr Truc Quoc Phan SVD and Assistant Priest, Fr Francois d’Assise Andrianihantana SVD, say they are very happy in the fast-growing community of Emerald and its more rural surrounds, where they’ve enjoyed getting to know the people, the land and the significant cattle farming enterprises that drive the region.

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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.