An invitation by the SVD Generalate in Rome to be an official Visitator to the SVD mission in Indonesia’s biggest Province paved the way for a positive experience, says Fr Henry Adler SVD.

Fr Henry was one of three Visitators to spend a month in the Indonesia-Java Province recently, meeting SVD confreres there and spending time observing the various ministries in action.

The Society of the Divine Word carries out General Visitations of each Province once every six years. They are usually performed by one of the Leadership Team from Rome or somebody appointed by them.

Fr Henry, who is currently the Parish Priest at Ingleburn in the Diocese of Wollongong, has previous leadership experience as Provincial of the Australia Province.

“I suppose I have some knowledge of the context of the Indonesia Province, having lived with SVD Indonesians for 30 years, right from the beginning of my formation in Melbourne and then through all of my different roles since, where I’ve had contact with Indonesia and Indonesians,” he says.

“The three of us Visitators to the Province were asked to visit different Districts, and our visit was shaped by a focus which was set by the Generalate: ‘Our name is our Mission: Renewal and Transformation in ASPAC’.”

The specific focus came from the theme of the last SVD General Chapter, ‘The Love of Christ Impels Us – Rooted in the Word, Committed to Mission’.

“The theme is an invitation to spiritual renewal and over the last four years we’ve all, as SVDs, been invited to live our Religious life with that focus,” Fr Henry says.

“So, as I went around the Province, I would often reflect with my confreres in the Java Province on the experience of mission today through the focus the last General Chapter gave us.”

Fr Henry visited the SVD Districts of West Kalimantan, Jakarta, Yogyakarta, and Surabaya, interviewing more than 60 confreres there, after which he met with each District in an Assembly, giving them feedback, and observations he’d made.

“I also met with the people involved with various ministries, and the lay partners,” he says.

“The lay partners are a growing group – there are more than 500 of them, actually. It’s a very exciting time for them. In almost every SVD parish that I visited, there was a lay partners’ group. They collaborate with the SVD community and participate in the mission.

“They’re taking up their own role and praying together and continuing to define their identity as SVD lay partners.”

Fr Henry says one of the tasks of a Visitation is to animate the confreres, parishes, and lay partners and invite them to be even more actively involved in mission.

“So, as part of that I addressed youth groups and also took part in an internet radio interview on the role of young people in the Church today, with all the challenges of secularisation,” he says.

Fr Henry says that despite Indonesia being a majority Islamic country, there is much to be impressed by in the SVD mission there.

“Indonesia, in general, is a very religious country. The people are religious and actively so,” he says.

“So, I observed parishes which were fully alive and growing, huge congregations, lots of young people, lively liturgies, and a variety of vibrant ministries. It was really a very good experience.”