When the Superior-General of the Divine Word Missionaries, Fr Heinz Kuluke, visited the SVD AUS Province recently, he had one key message for both confreres and partners in mission: “Thank you”. 

“I am here to thank you,” he said. “I am always touched by the dedication of our missionaries and the many mission partners who support us in so many different ways.”

Fr Heinz, who is German, spent most of his missionary life working with the poor of the Philippines, before being elected as Superior-General six years ago.

Since taking up the leadership post, he has visited all of the 81 countries in which the SVD’s 6000 missionaries are present.

“New Zealand was my last country,” he said. “I’m through now. It’s been a challenge, but also wonderful to meet the people and see the work being done.

“I’m not an office man. I like to be among the people. I want to get out and meet the people we’re working with.”

Fr Heinz said he was delighted to spend time in the AUS Province, with his itinerary taking in Melbourne, Alice Springs, Santa Teresa, Brisbane, Sydney and New Zealand. He has previously visited Thailand, which is also part of the AUS Province.

“Australia is a very important Province for the Society,” he said. “Australia helps us to train missionaries from different multicultural contexts and send them out to our 81 mission countries. It’s a tremendous contribution you’re making.

“It is good for the Society and, I believe, it is good for the world. I believe the world would be much poorer without religious congregations such as the SVD and Australia would be a poorer place without the Church, where people are putting their faith tradition into practice every day.”

Fr Heinz said he was impressed with the work of the confreres in the AUS Province, especially their commitment to being with the poor, with multicultural parishes, and with indigenous communities.

He was also thankful for the contribution of lay people to the SVD mission.

“In the SVD, we recognise that what we need in many areas is lay expertise,” he said. “We are pastors, theologians and we do that well, but for the rest, we need lay expertise. And the generous cooperation of lay people, our partners in mission is why the AUS Province is moving forward so well.

“We, in the rest of the SVD world, are learning a lot from Australia in this area and looking to it for guidance.”

He was also deeply touched by his time spent in Alice Springs and Santa Teresa, with Aboriginal Australians.

“I was really struck by the wonderful level of interreligious collaboration in Alice Springs,” he said. “To see so many congregations of different charisms come together, pray together and putting Mission into action together was tremendous.

“Our Mission with the Aborigines is about stepping into their life and their spirituality, not telling people what is good for them, but stepping into their shoes to find out what they think.

“These people have been deeply wounded over the years and such wounds take a long time to heal. We have to regain trust and walk with them on their journey.

“It’s an apostolate of presence. In the past, missionaries have always been the ‘doers’. Today, we are ‘being’. In this way, the person I am with becomes a gift to me and hopefully, I will become a gift to them.”

Fr Heinz said he enjoyed his time visiting SVD parishes and meeting the people and was impressed by the multicultural nature of parish communities.

“Our communities are becoming more multicultural. It’s life-giving, and it’s a witness of what things will look like in the future,” he said.

He said the SVD presence in New Zealand was important.

“It’s a window to the Pacific that we have to keep open,” he said. “I met a lot of people there who have discovered the word of God and the beauty of it. We have to continue listening in New Zealand, to find out what the people want us to do.”

Fr Heinz also enjoyed his visits with both the seminarians, who are the future of the SVD, and with the seniors who hold the history of the Society.

“It’s an important ministry to treasure our senior confreres,” he said. “They are filled with stories which they can share with us and have so much wisdom to help guide us.”

Finally, Fr Heinz thanked all those people throughout the AUS Province who support the SVD in any way.

“I want to express our deep gratitude for what they’ve done for our Congregation, the sacrifices they’ve made in sharing their finances, their time, their resources over so many years. We can’t express it in words.

“But we know that what we are doing today, what our predecessors have done, and what we plan to do in the future, is not possible without benefactors and partners in mission.

“We thank them for their prayers and their solidarity with the people who suffer in the world today and who have a better life because of what they’ve shared.”

PHOTOS

TOP RIGHT: Fr Heinz Kuluke SVD, during his visit to the Marsfield community

MIDDLE LEFT: Fr Heinz with the Provincial Council members

MIDDLE RIGHT: Celebrating the opening of the new SVD house in Alice Springs with a community dinner

BOTTOM LEFT: Fr Heinz with Fr Sunil Nagothu SVD and parishioners of Kingston-Marsden parish after their Multicultural Mass (Photo courtesy of Catholic Leader)

BOTTOM RIGHT: With the confreres in New Zealand.