SVD - Celebrating 100 Years

' 35 Fr Prakash Menezes, former Communications Coordinator along with Mrs Debra Vermeer, Communications/ Media Officer, launching the website at the Admin office in Marsfield. T he Word' was a magazine the Divine Word Missionaries used as a means of promoting vocations and awareness of mission in Ireland and England. In 1958, permission was given for the distribution to benefactors of this popular magazine to promote vocations and mission awareness in Australia, which continued for many years until it ceased distribution in the late 1980s. It was replaced by the locally produced Society Matters, an informal newsletter which highlights SVD mission projects and the people they serve, as well as news from the Province and a focus on our formation of young missionaries. Recently, Society Matters hit a new milestone when it was translated and printed in the Vietnamese language for the first time. 'Keeping in Touch’ was the title message of the Provincial at the time, Fr Frank Gerry, in his introduction to the very first issue of Society Matters in Spring 1990. Since then the Province’s channels of communication with benefactors, lay partners and beyond have expanded to embrace the latest technology and social media platforms. The Province’s new and improved website divineword.org.au was launched in May 2017 along with social media sites— Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and a digital app. Communications