The SVD confreres of the Queensland District gathered together for a week of fellowship, sharing, prayer and reflection recently, with a program focusing not only on their present mission experiences, but also paying tribute to SVD pioneer missionaries.
The members of the District gathered in Brisbane from their parishes in the Archdiocese of Brisbane, the Diocese of Townsville and the Diocese of Rockhampton.
The confreres are not only separated by many hundreds of kilometres, but also come from a range of pastoral situations, including large multicultural city parishes and suburban parishes in Brisbane and Townsville, as well as a group of rural communities in Rockhampton Diocese, and Palm Island, an indigenous community situated just off the coast from Townsville.
“I’m really grateful for the opportunity to meet with all the SVD confreres working in Brisbane, Emerald and Townsville,” said Fr Joseph Reddy SVD, who is Parish Priest of the Good Shepherd pastoral region in Townsville.
“It was such a nice time to meet all of them again in person, after COVID had confined our meetings and sharings to Zoom and Whatsapp calls.
“We celebrated our giftedness in each other’s company and were keen to learn from our seniors. This gathering has brought us closer and helped us to know more about each other and our mission places.”
Fr Joseph said one of the highlights for him was visiting the graves of SVD members who had gone before them and visiting former significant SVD properties and listening to the history of their role in the Australia Province.
“Their challenges were enormous, yet they prevailed in those tough times,” he said.
Fr Nick de Groot SVD, who is currently assigned as priest in residence at St Maximilian Kolbe Parish in Marsden, Brisbane, led the historical tour and said it was a significant time for the confreres, who hail from many different cultural backgrounds to learn more of the history of the Province.
“After their sharing and talking about the highlights and challenges of their ministry, they went out to Marburg and visited Nudgee Cemetery where we had a service of remembrance for our confreres who are buried there,” Fr Nick said.
‘Woodlands’ at Marburg, near Brisbane, was purchased in the 1940s by the then Superior, Fr William Van Baar SVD as a rest home for evacuees from Papua New Guinea during the Second World War. It was later to become the first mission seminary in Queensland.
The first class of novices entered the seminary in 1946. While the seminarians completed their studies for the priesthood in a variety of locations and countries over the years, Marburg remained the home of the novitiate program until the property was finally sold in December 1986 after the Provincial Council decided in 1985 that the Marburg property was not financially viable.
“Marburg was our Mother House and holds a lot of our history and memories and when it was sold, it was a painful time,” said Fr Nick. “It’s good for them to go there and to hear and feel that history. And going to the cemetery at Nudgee was somehow also very important to them. So, it was a really good experience.”
Fr Nick said it was wonderful for him to hear the sharings of the Qld District confreres about their ministries.
“A highlight for me was that each of the guys in their own areas, felt satisfied and fulfilled in their own ways,” he said.
“There was a wonderful cohesion to the group – all working together as one. It was very good to be a part of, actually.”
Fr Joseph said that during the week, the confreres celebrated two important milestones – the 20th anniversary of the canonisation of the SVD saints, St Arnold Janssen and St Joseph Freinademetz and the 25th anniversary of Fr Boni’s priestly ordination.
During a visit to Inala, the Vietnamese Chaplain for the Archdiocese of Brisbane, Fr Joseph Vu SVD showed the confreres through the new Vietnamese Community Centre which is under construction, and Province Treasurer, Fr Stephan Gerdes SVD briefed the group about the finances of the District and the Province.
There was also time for much fellowship and fun over meals and on a visit to some wineries at Mount Tamborine, in the Gold Coast hinterland.
PHOTOS
TOP RIGHT: The members of the SVD Queensland District, gathered together for a week of fellowship and reflection.
MIDDLE LEFT: The Qld confreres made a pilgrimage to Marburg, a property rich in SVD history.
BOTTOM RIGHT: They also paid their respects to the SVD pioneers of the district, during a visit to Nudgee Cemetery.