SVD - Celebrating 100 Years

On 28th October 1920, Fr Klein, Br Leodegard and Br Odericus moved into the house that Fr.Klein nicknamed “Arnoldy”. 7 T he Divine Word Missionaries came to German New Guinea in 1896. They were led by Fr Eberhard Limbrock, formerly a missionary in China for 13 years. He quickly realised that New Guinea needed a base in Australia for a number of reasons and hence on 29th January 1900 Frs Limbrock and Jacob Fey arrived in Sydney followed by Br Theodulf. A few months later Fr Limbrock returned to PNG to continue his mission work. In the next few months two more brothers arrived one from PNG, the other from Vienna, Austria. In November 1900 Fr Joseph Fischer arrived in Sydney and on 6th January 1901 he was installed as first parish priest of St Mark’s Parish, Drummoyne. His term in the parish was short-lived and he was recalled to Germany by Fr Janssen. On 14th November 1902 Fr Peter Klein and Br Leodegard arrived in Sydney. Fr Klein was installed as second parish priest of St Mark’s Parish. Fr Janssen’s words to Fr Klein - “Look out for good vocations, priests and brothers; that would be a real help for the Society and the missions.” Fr Klein was also the Mission Procurator for PNG. In 1905 Fr Fey returned to Holland. During the following years missionaries continued to pass through Drummoyne on their way to or from PNG or come for rest and recuperation. l-r: Br Leodegard, Fr Peter Klein, Fr Fey & Br Robert In 1912 the first visitation to Australia was conducted by Fr John Weig. The First World War began in 1914. In February 1919 Archbishop Kelly of Sydney took back St Mark’s Parish and handed it over to secular clergy. Fr Klein and Br Leo had to move out of the presbytery and moved their modest belongings to The Strand, Gladesville, a house without gas, water or sewage but they moved anyway. Other SVDs moved to the house in Gladesville and assisted surrounding parishes of Ryde, Rose Bay and Rockdale. Fr Klein discovered the parish priest in Epping, Fr Patrick Moore, was interested in having the SVDs live in his parish. He was getting old and needed the help. Since Fr Klein could not purchase property in his own name as he was classed as a German alien during WWI, he arranged for Fr Moore to purchase a property in his own name for the Divine Word Missionaries. On 8th September 1920, the feast of the Nativity and Foundation Day, the property ‘Hillcrest’ at 126 Midson Road, Epping was bought. It was a place to call ‘home’ from where the SVD foundation was laid. A Brief Background