Society Matters | Volume 31 No. 1 | Autumn 2021

Volume 31 No. 1 | Autumn 2021 6 “I wanted to be an instrument in God’s mission” Fr Akuila Taliauli SVD was born and raised in Tonga, made his perpetual vows as a Divine Word Missionary in Melbourne, and has spent more than a decade as a missionary in Argentina – a journey he says which has allowed him the great privilege of meeting God present in the people he serves. Educated by the Marist Fathers and Missionary Sisters in Tonga, Akuila says his calling to religious life with the SVD came after a long period of deep searching. “Both my father and mother were born Catholic so I was brought up within the Catholic tradition and faith,” he says. During his adolescence, Akuila became more active in taking part in formation seminars and vocational retreats. “It was during these seminars and retreats that I started to deeply search for an answer or respond to my calling to religious life,” he says. “It was a long struggle for me in trying to make sense or come to terms with the idea that there was a possibility that God was calling me to religious life.” After school, Akuila took up a job teaching at a Catholic high school, while actively working in the local parish. “The fear of the unknown and the question of whether I was worthy of the task that God was calling me to formed part of the dilemma I was going through at that time,” he says. “After much encouragement and discernment, I said to myself, ‘I have to do something’.” Akuila says he was attracted to the idea of working in a foreign country with an international congregation. “I had met a few SVDs in Fiji and Tonga and it did appeal to me, their way of life and work,” he says. “So, in 1998, I officially began my journey in the SVD postulancy program and began my novitiate in 2001, making my first vows in the St Arnold Janssen Chapel in Epping in February 2002.” After his first vows, Akuila continued his theological studies in Sydney while living in Lakemba, a suburb of Sydney with a large Muslim population. “There were three of us students studying theology while participating in dialogue with our Muslim brothers,” he says. When the community in Lakemba was closed down in 2003, Akuila was transferred to Dorish Maru College in Melbourne to continue with his studies and formation. “I did most of my pastoral work in a house owned by the Franciscans, which accommodated men who were living the last stage of their life,” he says.