One of the great gifts and important fields of study during my priestly formation was the study of “Cultural Anthropology”. It was seen as one of the foundation stones for our future missionary life as an SVD. The awareness of what it means to live in a particular culture, that it is ‘like an iceberg with only the tip showing but most of it being not visible’, made us aware of the complexities involved in knowing one’s own culture, let alone learning another culture.

And yet, as a missionary that is what we are meant to do. We not only learn another language when one goes overseas, but we make every effort to learn everything we can about the new people we are asked to serve. Their values, their social structure, their customs, their beliefs, their rituals, and yes, their light and darkness.

Synodality is ultimately about mission says internationally renowned theologian Fr Stephen Bevans SVD , who was in Australia recently to attend a major mission conference and deliver a presentation to the SVD community.

Fr Stephen, who is the Louis J. Luzbetak SVD Professor of Mission and Culture, Emeritus at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, was one of five Divine Word Missionaries attending the 15^th Assembly of the International Association for Mission Studies at Morling College in Sydney this month, exploring the theme: ‘Powers, Inequalities, and Vulnerabilities: Mission in a Wounded World’.

The SVD formation house, Dorish Maru College (DMC) in Melbourne, is a ‘full house’ as students begin to return for the start of the academic year and new staff arrive to take up their assignments.

Rector of DMC, Fr Michael Knight SVD, says that when everyone returns from their summer home leave and retreats there will be 21 people in the house, from all over the world, including four new missionary students.

After three years in Italy and the United Kingdom undertaking higher studies in missiology, Fr Albano Da Costa SVD is headed back to the AUS Province, to place his new knowledge and experience at the service of Christ’s mission in this part of the world.

Originally from Goa in India, Fr Albano,  took his final vows and was ordained in 2011. He was assigned to the AUS Province, and took up his first mission appointment in the Archdiocese of Wellington, New Zealand, where he was part of a new form of collaborative ministry for three-and-a-half-years.