As Divine Word Missionaries, our focus is always on bringing the love of Jesus Christ to the people we serve. And because we are missionaries, we have a particular call to bring the love of Christ to the poor, the marginalized and the forgotten.

This work can take many different forms; it can be in the form of pastoral care, providing people with the sacraments, with community worship, with Bible study or other spiritual formation, love and support. It can be in the form of practical assistance, working with the local people on the development of medical or educational facilities, housing and farming projects.

The Divine Word Missionaries are involved in all these activities and more, both in Australia and overseas.

We are deeply thankful for the many people who join with us in Mission by donating to support our works.

If you would like to support the Divine Word Missionaries and the people we serve in this way, please click here and you will be taken to a secure site where your safe transaction is guaranteed.

Thank you and may God bless you for your generosity.

A missionary spirit is not confined to those people who join a missionary religious order. In fact, with our baptism, we are all called to be missionary, to help bring about the Kingdom of God on earth through the circumstances of our own lives.

Some lay people find that they are in a life situation where they can become lay missionaries either in Australia or overseas, through volunteer organisations like PALMS Australia or through associations with other organisations.

Others may spread the Gospel through Parish ministries, including teaching children the faith as a catechist, being a Lector at Mass, getting involved in social justice initiatives, or helping people to understand the faith through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults.

Simply living in the spirit of Jesus Christ is a powerful witness to those around us and marks us out as a missionary in the modern world.

You can support us as Missionary priests and brothers by staying in touch with us and our activities and spreading the news about our works.

If you would like to receive our monthly e-newsletter where we share our stories and you can get to know our people and their ministries, you can subscribe for free on the homepage of our website.

If you can support our overseas missionary work financially, please click here to make a secure donation. Thank you!

Through your Will you can help light the way for thousands of people to learn to love God and live happy, healthy and dignified Christian lives.

You may like to help the Divine Word Missionaries in their work throughout the world by leaving a legacy or bequest in your Will.

   pdf Click here to download our Bequests Brochure (889 KB)

A brief profile of our Society

The Society of the Divine Word or Divine Word Missionaries, as we are commonly known, was founded by Saint Arnold Janssen, a German priest working in the Diocese of Muenster in Germany. While the government was expelling religious orders and repressing the growth of the Church in Germany, St Arnold Janssen was creating a missionary training centre across the border in Steyl, Holland. The Society of the Divine Word opened its first mission house in Steyl in 1875.

We are an international, multicultural community of Priests and Brothers. At present there are over 6000 members of the Society working in 67 countries around the world, in the mission frontiers of the Pacific, Asia, Africa, India, North and South America and Europe. Our Society is predominantly missionary, however, we have established schools and universities around the world.

The first Divine Word Missionaries arrived in Australia in 1900. Initially the base in Australia was set up to logistically support and provide medical respite for our missionaries in New Guinea, which was under the control of the Germans. In 1977 Australia became an independent Province of the Divine Word Missionaries.

Some of our missionary activities include:

• Pastoral care of immigrants;
• Service to the poor;
• Biblical Apostolate;
• Inter-faith dialogue; and
• Formation.

Making a Will, an important decision

Making your Will is very important. It is the way that you can make sure the interests of your beneficiaries are protected and that your assets are distributed as you want them to be.

When planning a Will the financial implications for your family are very important. As well as deciding who is to benefit and how, you need to determine who is to be your executor, who should be guardian for any minor children and what charitable interests you want to support with a final gift.

After a lifetime creating a satisfying and fulfilling life for themselves and their family, many people reach their later years wishing they had been able to do more to help others. Fortunately, it’s not too late—a simple bequest to Divine Word Missionaries in your Will could mean a whole new life for someone or a whole community somewhere in the world who still lives a hungry, unhealthy, undignified life of despair.

A few will get the chance to rise above their poverty and make better lives for themselves and their families—thanks to your help and the work of Divine Word Missionaries around the world.

All they need is an encouraging hand and a real chance to make it on their own. By making a bequest to the Divine Word Missionaries in your Will, you can support us in the work we do to help the underprivileged:

• Educate them by building schools and universities;
• Feed them by showing them how to develop their own resources and how to grow, harvest and process food;
• Keep them healthy by building clinics and hospitals;
• Train young men who wish to become Divine Word Missionaries and spread the Word of God and His great love by their actions.

Form of Bequest

If you would like to help the Divine Word Missionaries in their work by leaving a legacy or bequest in your Will, retain this form of bequest and give it to your solicitor when having your Will prepared or updated.

“I bequeath to the Provincial Superior for the time being of the Society of the Divine Word, Marsfield, NSW, Australia, the sum of
$________________________
for the charitable and missionary work of the Society of the Divine Word, and I direct that the receipt of the Society shall be sufficient discharge to my executors for this bequest.”

Types of Bequests

• Specific - You nominate a specific sum of money or item of property to be left to a particular beneficiary.
• Proportionate - You nominate a specific portion of your estate to be left to a particular beneficiary eg. 10% or 1/3 of your estate.
• Residuary - You nominate the remainder, or part of the remainder of your estate after all other bequests have been settled.

Whichever way you choose, we hope that you will remember God’s work and the Society of the Divine Word in your Will.

If you would like to discuss a special legacy or bequest to the Society of the Divine Word, or would like more information on the Society’s work, please write or call:

Divine Word Missionaries
199 Epping Road, Marsfield NSW 2122, Australia | Locked Bag 3, Epping NSW 1710, Australia
Telephone: +61 2 9868 2666
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

This brochure is for your information only and you should consult with your solicitor or trustee organization in respect of making your Will and administration of your estate.

Divine Word Missionaries played an active role in the ‘Mission: one heart, many voices’ conference, held in Sydney this month, offering presentations and reflections as part of three days of exploring the themes of truth-telling, reconciliation and synodality.

Bishop Tim Norton SVD, who was a keynote speaker at the conference which was presented by Catholic Mission and Catholic Religious Australia, invited those present to not only seek truth-telling at a national level, or in the Church, but also to look for truth-tellers in their own lives.