A renewed commitment to sharing resources for SVD Mission and Communications around the world was one of the chief outcomes of a special meeting held in Rome recently.

The Mission Secretary for the SVD AUS Province, Fr Truc Quoc Phan, was among a group of Directors of Mission Offices and Communications Offices from various nations who attended the special gathering.

“The biggest learning for me was that there are some Provinces which have bigger Mission and Communication operations than others,” he says. “They are able to employ more people who really contribute a lot to the life and the fundraising of the Society for its mission work.

“I learned a lot about how different Mission offices are raising funds. Different initiatives are successful in different countries and regions, but there is a lot of work being done in this area to support mission.”

The meeting was held in the context of the upcoming 18th SVD General Chapter and it concluded with the formulation of a recommendation to be considered for the Chapter.

“Our main recommendation was that these Mission and Communication resources be shared with others, through access to the information stored online in ‘the cloud’,” Fr Truc says.

“In this way, everyone is not spending time re-creating the wheel. Instead, we can all contribute and all freely use the material in any way for the Mission, especially in Mission animation.”

While in Europe, Fr Truc also had the opportunity to visit the SVD Mother House in Steyl, The Netherlands, where St Arnold Janssen first established the Society, as well as the house where St Arnold was born and raised.

“It had a very deep effect on me,” he says. “Seeing the place where it all began and watching the video material about St Arnold’s work there. It really touched me deep down.

“I also saw the hospitality of our confreres in Steyl. There is a great sense of community and hospitality there. I felt at home straight away and it reinforced with me that this how we should be as SVDs.”

PHOTOS

Top Right: Fr Truc, second from the right in the front row, with fellow attendees of the Rome meeting on Mission and Communication

Bottom Left: Fr Truc enjoying the hospitality of confreres (including former SVD AUS confrere, Br Bernd Ruffing), at the SVD founding house in Steyl, The Netherlands.