The SVD Australia Province has a new Provincial Council to help provide collaborative leadership over the next three years.
The new Provincial Councillors were recently appointed by the SVD Generalate in Rome, following their nomination at the local level.
They are Fr Prakash Menezes SVD (Vice-Provincial), Fr Elmer Ibarra SVD and Fr Bill Burt SVD. Fr Anthony Le Duc SVD (Admonitor) will serve a second term on the Council.
Incoming Provincial, Fr Boni Buahendri SVD said he was delighted with the composition of the Provincial Council, and he was looking forward to collaborating with them in the leadership of the Province.
“The Provincial Council is really a help to the Provincial himself,” Fr Boni said.
“I’ve always believed in sharing wisdom and it is important for us to share our thoughts and to be listening to where the Spirit leads us.
“Looking at the outcome of the Provincial Council, I’m very happy, because it really speaks about us as Divine Word Missionaries. We have a Provincial Council with a multicultural background and people from different mission fields as well.”
Fr Prakash is from India, and, after completing his formation at Dorish Maru College in Melbourne, has been assigned to Central Australia since his ordination more than a decade ago and also holds leadership roles in the Darwin Diocese. Fr Elmer is from the Philippines and was assigned to the Australia Province following his ordination in 2007. He has since worked in parishes in New Zealand, Central Australia and is currently the Rector at Dorish Maru College and the Provincial Coordinator of the Bible Apostolate. Fr Bill Burt SVD was born and raised in Australia. He joined the SVD in 1966 and was ordained a priest in 1973. Over the years he has been assigned to Indonesia and held various roles in Australia, Tonga and New Zealand, including youth ministry, Indonesian chaplaincy, formation and parish work. Fr Bill also served as Provincial of the AUS Province. And Fr Anthony Le Duc SVD was born in Vietnam, grew up in the United States and joined the SVD in 1999. Since being ordained in 2006, he has been assigned to Thailand, working in parish ministry, chaplaincy to Vietnamese migrants, and in academia. He is currently Executive Director of the Asian Research Center for Religion and Social Communication.
Fr Prakash said he was looking forward to the new opportunity of being part of the provincial leadership team.
“I see this as a ministry and not a work or a job,” he said.
“It’s a ministry where together we care for our brothers and their well-being and make sure they are heard. That will be a big focus for us.
“We are a good team, made up of confreres from different cultures with different experiences and from different age groups.
“For me personally, this will be a learning experience, learning how things are around the Province, keeping up-to-date on everything that is going on and hopefully being able to offer support to our brothers before things become a problem.
“But overall, the Mission of God will be our focus and how we can further that mission as a Province.”
Fr Bill said he hopes his experiences as a missionary in the Australia Province and beyond would be of assistance for the ministry of the Provincial Council.
“Since joining the SVD way back in 1966, I have been blessed with many amazing experiences, mainly connected with the people who have come into my life, people of so many different cultural backgrounds,” he said.
“Also, for a number of years I was the Zonal Coordinator for the SVD Asia-Pacific Zone. This meant that I was constantly meeting confreres from all over Asia and beyond.
“Taking up the role of a Provincial Councillor, a position that I have held several times before, I hope that my years of mixing, mingling, serving and learning, will enable me to contribute to this particular aspect of mission.”
The new Provincial Council members had their first meeting recently and will begin their work in earnest in the New Year when Fr Boni officially takes up the role of Provincial.