A joyful welcome to Fr Pham Dinh Tuan SVD who was installed as the new pastor of St Michael’s Church in Nong Bua Lamphu in northern Thailand recently, was soon overshadowed by the tragic news that 13 young Vietnamese people had been killed on their way to a camp to be held in the parish.

Fr Tuan was installed as parish priest at a Mass at St Michael's, followed by the traditional tying of strings around his wrists by parishioners as a goodwill gesture. 

After living with the Divine Word Missionaries in Sydney and Melbourne as a postulant, Steve Desveaux is packing his bags to undertake the next step of his vocational journey in the United States, a situation he describes as literally a dream come true.

Steve will undertake the novitiate program in Techny, Chicago, and says he is really looking forward to the challenge.

I have just finished reading Pope Francis’ Message for the 88th World Mission Day, to be celebrated on October 19 and once again, the spirit at the heart of the Holy Father’s message is Joy.

Leaders from each of the SVD communities within the Australian Province, together with the Provincial Council, gathered in Sydney this week for a Leadership Workshop designed to identify how to put into practice the congregation’s priorities for the next six years.

At its General Chapter meeting in 2012, the SVD AUS Province identified five key priorities or congregational directions for its mission activity.

A broad-based group of religious and lay people has joined forces to form ‘Partners in Mission’, aimed at working together to support mission in both prayerful and practical ways.

A working party of interested partners met recently at the Divine Word Missionaries offices in Sydney, to formulate a mission statement for the group and plan a way forward.

Actions speak louder than words in most of Papua New Guinea Culture. It is customary that when a person does something good, words do not express fully the appreciation. One has to reciprocate with actions.

A common practice is the idea of saying thank you with action, rather than words. The Catholic Archdiocese of Mt Hagen recently organised a special pilgrimage to say thank you for 80 years of the Gospel in the Highlands.

The SVD AUS Province’s first postulant from Laos, Chanthavong Anisong (Toub), is set to enter the Novitiate this month, in an important step forward for his vocation.

Toub, 33, has been living with the SVDs in Nong Bua Lamphu in Thailand, which is a part of the AUS Province, and will undertake his Novitiate in the Philippines.

As I write this message Australia is preparing to celebrate National Reconciliation Week in the last week of May.

The theme chosen for this year’s National Reconciliation Week is ‘Let’s Walk the Talk’. What a challenge that is for us all.

Walking with people on the margins is a central focus of the Divine Word Missionaries, and two young SVD students, from Argentina and Mexico, are spending two years of their formation in Australia to do just that, as part of the Overseas Training Program (OTP).

Arturo Manuel Barrios from Argentina and Simon Dominguez Prospero from Mexico, have arrived in the AUS Province to immerse themselves in pastoral life here, and both say their experiences so far have helped them to become better missionaries.

Fr Stephen Pilly SVD and Fr Joseph Vu SVD have both emphasised ‘family’ as they take up their new appointments at the multiculturally vibrant St Mark’s Parish, Inala, in Brisbane.

Fr Stephen has been appointed as Parish Priest of St Mark’s, while Fr Joseph has been named Assistant Priest of St Mark’s and Chaplain to the Vietnamese community in the Archdiocese of Brisbane.