SVD - Celebrating 100 Years

16 Top l-r: Students at DMC, Box Hill, Graduating English Studies Frt Tin Minh Trinh. Bottom l-r: Ordination to priesthood - Fr Bedi Asmon, Fr Trien Nguyen & Fr Prakash Menezes. Fr Paulo Vatunitu, Ordination to Diaconate, Melbourne A significant change for the academic formation of SVD students of the AUS Province came when Yarra Theological Union (YTU) was set up in Box Hill, Victoria and all the studies could be done in Australia. In 1978 the SVD moved to Melbourne as a constituent congregation of YTU, a centre of theological and ministerial education. In order to provide a residence for the students the SVDs bought an old convent in Essendon, Victoria but it was too far from YTU. The problem was finally solved when the Franciscans gave the SVDs permission to build a seminary building on the property of YTU at Box Hill. This was the beginning of the new Formation House conveniently located nearby called Dorish Maru College, which opened in 1985, and which now served as a residence for both formators and students. As the number of local vocations slowly declined, students from overseas countries, including Vietnam, Fiji, Tonga, Mexico, Laos, Ghana, India and other countries heard the call and started to arrive and so the formation community began to grow. All students study English to a level of academic proficiency before they commence Theological studies. Newly ordained priests from the AUS Province have been assigned to countries around the world, including— Belarus, Brazil, Chile, The Netherlands, Indonesia, the Philippines and more. Formation House, Box Hill, Victoria—1978