The SVD’s Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation coordinators from across the Asia Pacific region met in Bangkok recently to share their work and resolved to further step up their commitment to collaborative efforts and sharing resources across the ASPAC Zone.
Vice-Provincial for the SVD Australia Province, Fr Albano Da Costa SVD attended the meeting which was being hosted by the AUS Province in the Thailand District.
Fr Albano said the gathering gave him hope for the future of JPIC ministry within the Society of the Divine Word.
“I heard real and beautiful stories of people, confreres across the Asia Pacific Zone, engaging in God’s mission,” he said.
“And I heard experiences about Christ’s Paschal Mystery enfleshed in the lives of my fellow SVDs and those with whom we journey and serve.
“I take home with me the feeling of being at home with my fellow JPIC brothers who spoke the same language and who are engaged in the same mission and struggle.”
The report from the AUS Province to the ASPAC JPIC Assembly was prepared by Fr Michael Hardie SVD, who has served two terms as JPIC Coordinator, stepping down at the end of last year. The new JPIC Coordinator for the Province, Fr Felixberto Perez SVD is in the Philippines, awaiting a visa for Australia.
In his report, Fr Michael said the 2020-22 triennium was a challenging one for the AUS Province.
“The COVID pandemic has delayed the arrival of new confreres to the Province, with delays to our scheduled uptake of new parishes and missions,” he said.
Those personnel issues had impacted on JPIC activities, he said.
“But with a new JPIC coordinator to begin in the triennium 2023-2025, we expect to be able to expand and diversify our activities.”
Fr Michael outlined the JPIC strategic priorities for the AUS Province as being: Integrity of Creation and Action for the Environment, including the Laudato Si Action Platform; Social issues of poverty, homelessness and mental health in wider society; In the Thailand District, HIV/AIDS related social issues, including children’s health, housing and education, as well as rights for migrant workers; for Myanmar, issues of poverty and inequality; and across the Province, Professional Standards in ministry and the safeguarding and protection of children, young people and adults at risk.
He also outlined the formation of a new JPIC Team for the Province, consisting of Fr Francois Adrianihantana SVD and Fr Niran Veigas SVD, together with the new coordinator Fr Felixberto Perez SVD.
In welcoming the delegates to the Assembly in Bangkok, Brother Carlos Ferrada SVD, Generalate JPIC Coordinator from Rome, said the work of confreres in the JPIC area would be important in informing the discussions at the 19th General Chapter, which has as its theme: ‘Your Light Must Shine Before Others’ – Faithful and Creative Disciples in a Wounded World.
“From Rome, we see this Assembly as a preparatory reflection on our wounded world and how the SVD could bring healing to the suffering of the poor and creation,” he said.
“The cry of the earth and the cry of the poor urges us, SVDs and lay partners, to speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of all destitute, judge righteously and defend the right of the poor and the whole creation.”
The meeting resolved to publish and share JPIC resources on province websites and at the Generalate level; place more emphasis on networking and sharing resources across the ASPAC Zone and at subzonal level; place more emphasis on collaborative efforts within the province, region and mission (PRM) levels in Asia Pacific and Oceania; make a more consolidated effort to use Vivat International as an international platform in raising awareness at international level with the United Nations and in Geneva; and the inclusion of the four characteristic dimensions of the SVD in the SVD formation program.
Fr Albano said he would take home with him a hopeful feeling of not being alone in the struggle of the SVD JPIC mission.
“I am honoured and humbled to be part of this family and mission,” he said.
“This meeting brought home to me again that there is beauty and grace in working for those on the margins of society.
“I return back to Melbourne with the firm conviction that Yes, as SVDs we do make a significant difference in building a better world.”
PHOTOS
TOP RIGHT: Delegates at the ASPAC JPIC Assembly in Bangkok.
MIDDLE LEFT: Vice-Provincial of the SVD AUS Province, Fr Albano Da Costa SVD, delivers a presentation to the Assembly.
BOTTOM RIGHT: Delegates gathered for Mass together during the Assembly.