Debra Vermeer

Debra Vermeer

Central West Qld Floods Rius arrives with Bang 250It’s been several weeks of highs and lows for the Central West Queensland Catholic Church, with the parish community facing serious floods while at the same time celebrating 125 years of Catholic education and the arrival of a new assistant priest.

Fr Rius Salu SVD has arrived from his previous assignment in Daly River, NT, to assist parish priest Fr Peter Bang SVD as the district mops up from the record floods.

Published in News & Events
Tuesday, 29 April 2025 17:22

SVD takes up new parish in Myanmar

Myanmar new parish Rass 250The SVD Mission in Myanmar took another big step forward this month, taking up the pastoral care of a brand new parish, which was officially inaugurated by Cardinal Charles Bo SDB, the Archbishop of Yangon.

“Big day for us SVDs as we celebrated the inauguration of Annunciation of the Lord Parish aka Bawle Kyun parish in Htantabin Township,” the SVD confreres in Myanmar said.

Published in News & Events

Anthony Le Duc SVD with colleagues at University of Western Cape South Africa 250A deep interest in exploring the intersection between religion and some of the big questions facing modern society underpinned Fr Anthony Le Duc SVD’s recent participation in an international conference on mission in Rome, followed by speaking engagements at the Desmond Tutu Centre for Religion and Social Justice in South Africa.

Fr Anthony, who is a member of the SVD Australia Provincial Council, based in Bangkok, Thailand, said that both events helped contribute to his lived experience and understanding of mission in the world today.

Published in News & Events

Fr Asaeli Rass SVD profile pic 250Happy Easter to all! As we continue to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus in this Easter season, I pray that the joy of the empty tomb becomes a reality in your daily life, and through you, to the life of all you meet.

Our Easter Octave was tinged with deep sadness at the death of Pope Francis, but his death also gave us the opportunity to once again focus on the joy of the resurrection which follows a life lived in the joy of the Gospel.

Published in News & Events

Fr Daniel Polla and Fr Rius Salu with Bp Charles Gauci installation at Daly River Dec 2023 250A ministry of presence, accompaniment, dialogue, cultural exchange and mutual respect underpins parish life at St Francis Xavier Parish in the remote Daly River region of the Northern Territory.

Daly River, or Nauiyu, is situated 230km south of Darwin and 250km north-west of Katherine. The parish takes in a number of Aboriginal communities at Adelaide River, Emu Point, Nemarluk, Merrepen, and Woodyculpadiya, with visits to some of those communities being a four-hour round-trip on rough roads.

Published in News & Events

Provincial Chapter 2023 group photo 250The SVD Australia Province is embarking on a period of communal discernment in the lead-up to the Provincial and Council elections for the next triennium.

The discernment process aims to infuse the Provincial Elections with Pope Francis’s vision for a synodal Church in which the Spirit-led participation of all is valued and necessary.

Published in News & Events

NZ Mixed Commission Meeting Group2 250A recent meeting of the Aotearoa New Zealand Mixed Commission of Bishops and Religious Leaders focused on synodality, its tradition within Pacific cultures, and its possibilities as a means of listening to the voices of the marginalised and caring for our common home.

Australian Provincial Fr Asaeli Rass SVD, co-facilitated the meeting which was held from February 18-19 in Auckland, sharing some of the insights he gained from being a small group facilitator at the first assembly of the Synod on Synodality in Rome.

Published in News & Events

Peter Wang SVD Diaconate Ordination March 2025 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.

As Peter made his final profession, in the presence of his family who had travelled from China, along with confreres and friends, he was joined by SVD seminarians from Melbourne’s Dorish Maru College who renewed their temporary vows.

Published in News & Events

Fr Asaeli Rass SVD profile pic 250We are over halfway in our Lenten journey now, this precious season of reflection and preparation before we once again enter into the passion, death and resurrection of Our Lord during Holy Week and Easter.

In this Jubilee Year, Pope Francis entitled his Lenten Message, “Let Us Journey Together in Hope” and no doubt this prayer sustained him during his recent serious health crisis, as millions around the world joined their Lenten prayer journey to his sufferings.

Published in News & Events

Parish Corner Te Awakairangi Parish Wellington Farewell to Barbara Rowley lay leader 250The Te Awakairangi Parish in the Lower Hutt region of New Zealand’s Wellington Archdiocese is a large, culturally rich and diverse parish where the people are warm and welcoming and committed to a missionary outlook which is deeply grounded in the primacy of evangelisation.

Established in 2015, the parish is comprised of four churches and has been in the pastoral care of the Divine Word Missionaries since January 2024.

Published in News & Events
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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.