After 10 years as a  missionary in Kenya, Fr Mariusz Kubista SVD has arrived in Myanmar, saying he is keen to get to know the people and help establish the AUS Province’s  new mission in the south-east Asian nation.

“My hope personally is to fulfil the will of God,” he says. “But for the mission started here, I would say my hope is to reach out to people in their local language, both in the written and spoken form.”

Divine Word Missionary communities around the AUS Province celebrated SVD Foundation Day on the Feast of the Nativity of Mary this month, marking 143 years since St Arnold Janssen opened the first SVD Mission House in Steyl, Holland. 

He could no doubt never have envisaged on that day that by 2018 the SVD would have more than 6000 members worldwide, serving in 80 countries, including a Province stretching from Australia to New Zealand, Thailand and Myanmar.

The senior confreres of the SVD AUS Province might have stepped away from missionary duties in Papua New Guinea and other places, or full-time ministry in Australia, but you’ll still find most of them up and out of bed by 6am and continuing to pursue mission in different ways.

The seniors, who among them all have hundreds of years of missionary experience, live in the Province’s Marsfield community, pursuing their personal interests, various small ministry activities, and shared prayer and meals.

Born in a small town in Madagascar, Marius Razafimandimby could not have imagined in his childhood that he would one day be living in Australia and completing his final studies towards becoming a Divine Word Missionaries (SVD) priest.

But, he says that coming across the world to complete his formation at the SVD formation house, Dorish Maru College in Melbourne has broadened his horizons.

Two Novices for the SVD AUS Province, Cuong Quoc Peter Dang and Chalerm Naruemankanthon, have professed their first vows as Divine Word Missionaries in a ceremony in the Philippines.

The two young men, from the Thai District of the AUS Province, have been undertaking their Novitiate in the Philippines for the past year and will now continue their formation and studies in Australia.

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.

The Society of the Divine Word has elected a new Superior-General, Fr Budi Kleden SVD, during a General Chapter which affirmed a commitment to the Word of God, renewal, and lay partnerships.

Speaking after his election, Fr Budi, from Indonesia, identified two key priorities as the Bible and the poor.

The Santa Teresa Parish in Central Australia has been celebrating this month, with hard-working, but humble, parishioner Miriam Dieudonne being awarded a Service to Community Award from the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council (NATSICC).

Miriam was the winner of the Non-Indigenous category in the awards which recognise and celebrate the efforts of those involved in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ministry. Fellow long-time parishioner Bill Ryan was also awarded a certificate of recognition in the same category.

“Our time is short, so we must spend it with the people, not structures."

This was one of the key insights from the outgoing Superior General of the SVD, Fr Heinz Kuluke, at the recent General Chapter in Rome, and I think he’s hit the nail on the head.

"As shared variously in the past years, right after the first visits, a thought came to mind that stayed until the end of my term and was confirmed along the way again and again: The world without religious congregations such as the Society of the Divine Word would be a much poorer place," reflected Fr Heinz Kuluke, the Superior General of the SVD at the opening Mass of the General Chapter, now underway in Rome.

"Today we come together to open our 18th General Chapter representing some 6,000 members of the Society of the Divine Word and many lay mission partners from around the world. We want to thank the Triune God for all that we can contribute to enrich this world in His name. At the same time, we continue to ask ourselves anew where we can be better rooted in his Word and committed to his mission, allowing the Love of Christ to impel us."