Society Matters A Newsletter of the Divine Word Missionaries Inc - Australia Province

Transcription

1 Volume 26 No. 3 Spring 2016 Society Matters A Newsletter of the Divine Word Missionaries Inc - Australia Province See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? (Isaiah 43:19) 1 Volume 26 No. 3 Spring 2016

2 Message from the Provincial Superior Welcome to the Spring Edition of Society Matters for As you receive this edition of Society Matters, I will be coming to the end of my two months of home leave, which I have spent with my family and friends in Poland and Germany. Feeling refreshed and reinvigorated, I am looking forward to getting back to work in the SVD AUS Province. While it was good to see my natural family, I have become aware yet again, of the other families I am blessed to be a part of. Obviously, the Society of the Divine Word is one of those families, but more and more I am thankful for the wider SVD family our friends, supporters, benefactors and partners in mission. Mission is not something you can do in isolation. It always involves others, because mission is about forming relationships. After all, at its essence, when we are being missionary, we are sharing the love of Jesus Christ, which we ourselves have first experienced. We are blessed in the AUS Province to have the friendship and support of so many people who have become our partners in mission. In this edition of Society Matters you can see where your generous donations have been spent in the last year. Many of the projects that you have helped fund have been covered in recent editions of Society Matters and we have seen, through words and photos, how these various initiatives are changing lives. Thank you for your generosity and your ongoing support for people in need, through the work of the Divine Word Missionaries. In this edition you will also read the inspiring story of Archbishop William Kurtz and his life of mission in Papua New Guinea, as well as a feature on the official opening of the St Vincent College in Yendi, Ghana, which is now training young teachers to provide quality teaching and learning for the local village children. And, in our story on Fr Bob Kisala SVD s General Visitation from Rome to the AUS Province, you will see a personal thank you to you, our valued friends and partners. Yours in the Word, Fr Henry Adler SVD Provincial Superior Cover Story: These are the first intake of student teachers to the St Vincent College in Yendi, Ghana, pictured at the College s inauguration ceremony in April. They will be trained to a high academic standard to teach the children from local villages in the district. Appeal Office: 199 Epping Road, Marsfield NSW Locked Bag 3, Epping NSW 1710 Australia Telephone: Fax: Victoria: 100 Albion Road, Box Hill, Vic 3128 Tel: Queensland: 96 Lilac Street Inala QLD 4077 Tel: New Zealand: 6 Stanley Street, Wainuiomata 5014 Tel: Published by Divine Word Missionaries Incorporated, ABN Volume 26 No. 3 Spring

3 SVD Vice Superior General visits AUS Province and thanks benefactors The SVD Vice Superior General, Fr Bob Kisala SVD spent a month in the AUS Province recently, visiting all the places in Australia, Thailand and New Zealand where the Divine Word Missionaries are in ministry and he had one special message for our valued benefactors and partners in mission Thankyou! I would like to thank the benefactors for their generous support of the Australia Province, as well as our mission throughout the world, he said. Their support has been essential to many projects, especially education and disaster relief, in many parts of the world. Fr Bob, who is based in Rome, was in the AUS Province to perform the General Visitation and said he found the SVD AUS Province to be young and vibrant, with hope for the future, and focused on its role serving multi-ethnic parishes, indigenous communities, intercultural living, formation, and inter-faith dialogue. We do this every six years, Fr Bob said. The General Chapter elects the international leadership team, which is located in Rome, and then we visit every place that SVDs work in the world. It s an opportunity to meet each one of the confreres and hear their story and their hopes, and learn about their ministry and the situation of the places we work in around the world. It is also, importantly, an opportunity to meet the people with whom we work and hear about their story and their needs. Fr Bob said the information gathered on such Visitations helps the Generalate when it discusses things in Rome. And it also helps to unify the congregation, he said. It helps us to stay together and work together with common goals. Fr Bob s first stop on his Visitation to the Province was the Thailand District, followed by Queensland, Central Australia, Sydney, Melbourne and New Zealand. An American, who spent many years as a missionary to Japan, Fr Bob said he was impressed by the diversity of work being undertaken in the various different parts of the SVD AUS Province, as well as the commitment of the confreres. For example, the mission in Central Australia has, I think, been a really good development for the Province. It has helped to focus our ministry here on indigenous concerns and it is obvious there is a real need there too, he said. I was struck by the energy and commitment of the confreres there. All of them clearly really wanted to be there. Fr Bob said the work being done in Formation in the AUS Province enriches the whole SVD and the people to whom the young missionaries are sent to serve. The SVD community there in Melbourne is a real international community, with students coming from several different countries, so one of the advantages of the formation program here is that these young men, when they are sent out as missionaries, will already have an experience of living in an intercultural community. Another advantage is that this formation is done in English, which is a language that can be used in many places around the world. Fr Bob said he was left with three key impressions from his visit to the AUS Province. The first is that this is a young Province, with a rather large number of young confreres, so there is a lot of life here and hope for the future, he said. The second thing is that it seems the Province is well focused in terms of its understanding of its role and the work we want to do here, in multicultural parishes, in indigenous areas, with people of other religions, and interculturally. And lastly, I would say that the leadership here is quite good and that sets a good tone and direction. 3 Volume 26 No. 3 Spring 2016

4 Celebrations as St Vincent College of Education, Yendi, opens its doors to teacher trainees More than 3000 people turned out recently to attend the long-awaited official opening of St Vincent College of Education, Yendi, in Ghana a celebration that marks the beginning of a new era in teacher education for schools in the local area. Readers of Society Matters will be familiar with the project, which was featured in a previous issue. The official opening was a joyful time not only for the local people but for the Divine Word Missionaries, together with Catholic Mission in the Archdiocese of Perth, and other benefactors who worked with the Catholic Diocese of Yendi to help build the rural teacher training college. Principal of the College, Fr Erasmus Norviewu-Mortty SVD, says the College has already taken in its first students, who will hopefully graduate in three years and be guaranteed a job teaching in the local schools. We express our gratitude to God that our dream is being realised this soon, in such a successful way, with the support of the entire Yendi community, the Ghana Government, other Churches, and above all, with the continuous, unflinching support of our Aussie friends from inside and outside the Catholic Church, Fr Erasmus says. This dream, which is on the way to being fully realised, will come to fruition when our first graduates begin to teach in some village schools come October 2019 to January, Fr Erasmus says the official opening of the College was a joyful celebration, held on Saturday, April 2. It was attended by all 200 of the new teacher trainees who were recruited from Year 12 graduates who had passed tertiary entrance examinations with good scores and had also passed the College s internal entrance exams in English, Science and Maths. The 14 lecturers for the new College also attended as well as 37 non-teaching staff and other distinguished guests. Among the guests was the Overlord of Dagbon, His Majesty Kampakuya Na, royal regent of all the inhabitants of Yendi Municipality and of the whole Dagbon people (the traditional tribe of people of Yendi, which extends across the entire Northern Region of Ghana). The Overlord and his people donated the plot of land on which the College sits. The people of Yendi and its neighbouring villages and towns also attended, in their thousands, along with government officials and Bishop Vincent Sowah Boi-Nai SVD, with a strong delegation of priests, religious brothers and sisters from the Yendi Dicoese. Following official speeches, Bishop Boi-Nai blessed the buildings with Holy Water and prayed for God s blessing on the College its teachers and future students. Fr Erasmus says the College wasted no time in getting underway with teacher training, with the students attending lectures even before the official opening. Most students come from the rural villages of Yendi and its surrounding districts and towns, he says. Others come from across the country, from the South Eastern and South Western regions, as well as from the major cities of Ghana, including Accra, Kumasi and Tamale. Volume 26 No. 3 Spring

5 Fr Erasmus says 70 of the students are female and the remainder male and, while most of the students are Catholic or other Christians, there are also 70 Muslim students enrolled. All the students are aiming high to work hard to meet the academic standards set by the College, so that they can return in October 2016 and pursue effectively the three year Diploma in Education program that will qualify them to become effective teachers in rural Primary and Junior High Schools, he says. Many rejoice in the fact that upon graduation, they will gain automatic employment into the Ghana Education Service, as classroom teachers in the numerous rural schools that have no trained teachers, or an inadequate number of trained teachers. Some also see their presence in the College as an opportunity to help one day transform the current academically low standards in many of the rural village schools of Yendi and the rest of Ghana. Fr Erasmus says the teachers to be trained at St Vincent College will make a huge difference to the lives of the young people in the district, especially in the areas of Mathematics, Science and English. Students from Yendi municipality and locality in general, perform poorly in these three disciplines both at the Year 9 and Year 12 levels, as most of their teachers have until now been either ill-prepared to teach those subjects or simply did not how to effectively teach those subjects to promote the academic progression of their students. So the College is a huge relief for the municipality, which is lagging behind in the number of Year 12 graduates gaining admission into tertiary institutions, as remarked by the Mayor during the opening ceremony of the College. 5 Volume 26 No. 3 Spring 2016 At last, there is the possibility of an improvement in overall academic achievement in the Yendi municipality in the few years ahead, thus giving more students from Yendi and beyond, possible academic progression to higher studies and better jobs and socioeconomic lift for their families. The Overlord of Yendi and Dagbon, His Majesty Kanpakuya Na sees the opening of the College as the fulfilment of the personal dream of his late father, Yaa Na Andani Yakubu Abdulai I, who took a series of initiatives to start a teachers training facility, without success, during his long reign. The current overlord, who is a trained teacher himself, sees the College as a success story of quality education in his Kingdom, says Fr Erasmus. The Divine Word Missionaries AUS Province, thanks to the generosity of its benefactors, provided two significant financial contributions to the project, for the raising of the building walls and towards the roofing, plastering, tiling, window glazing etc.

6 Archbishop William Kurtz SVD reflects on joys and challenges of his missionary life in PNG Archbishop William Kurtz SVD always wanted to be a missionary, and, after half a century living and ministering in Papua New Guinea, often in remote highland areas and rough terrain, he says he is grateful to God for the happy life he s led. There was a lot of hardship over the years, but I was happy, he says. I couldn t have survived without being a man of prayer, trusting God and trusting Our Lady, and also without the support of the people, who I love, and also good friends and colleagues. Archbishop Kurtz is currently in Sydney, undergoing treatment for Leukaemia, but says he wants to go back to PNG, where he now lives in retirement, teaching at a catechist school, if he s able. I like the place, I like the people and I know the culture, he says. As a young boy, Archbishop Kurtz knew from a young age that he wanted to be a missionary priest, but the path to fulfilling his desire was not an easy one. Born in Silesia, in what is now Poland, in 1935, young William, who had decided as a young boy to become a missionary priest, went off to the Divine Word Missionary minor seminary in Nysa at the end of primary school, to finish his schooling. However, with the Russians occupying Poland, the communist government decided to take over the seminary in 1952 and the young William, still to complete high school, ended up being allowed to transfer to the major seminary, which remained open. So I was one of the lucky ones, he says. I made my first profession after the Novitiate. And that was a joyful time, and I did well there. Archbishop Kurtz made his first vows in 1952 and was ordained a priest in His superiors wanted him to stay in Poland for further studies, as it was very difficult for people to be given permission to leave Poland during those years. Hardly anyone could get out of Poland, unless you escaped, he says. But I knew I wanted to go to the Missions after ordination, and I kept writing letters to my superiors, even while I was being posted from parish to parish, and was busy doing pastoral work. I was enjoying the work, but I was still hoping and praying that I would get out. I told the Provincial I would go to any place on earth that they wanted to send me. I just wanted to be a missionary. The breakthrough came four years later when seven SVD missionaries were allowed to travel outside of Poland and Fr William was among them. He was assigned to Papua New Guinea, after a period in Australia learning English. When he arrived in PNG, Fr William was given six weeks to learn Pidgin, before being assigned to Simbu Province in the highlands. It was a most primitive area, he says. It was stone-age like. It was tough, with tribal fights and the like, but they were nice people. I barely spoke Pidgin, but I was then given the task of learning the local language as well. And they were long walks, six-hour walks to the outstations, up into the mountains, crossing rivers with no bridges, to be with the people. A visit from the Bishop to celebrate confirmations ended with Fr William being appointed Parish Priest, with a hut as his local church. I remember the people at Christmas, all coming down out of the mountains to go to Church. And one Christmas it was raining so hard that all the hosts were in danger of getting soaked, but we managed to save them. The people really wanted to come to Church at Christmas, he says. Volume 26 No. 3 Spring

7 I was there for 13 years and I really loved the people, the place, the bringing peace there, the healing of tribal fights. During that time, Fr William built three churches in his parish area and started a school, firstly in a grass hut. There were seven or eight outstations to get to, as well. You went through the water to celebrate Mass and hear confessions and all that. It was a wonderful life, he says. And the people were so grateful, because we built up the church, built a health centre and school. It was risky and you often had to close your eyes as you tried to cross a river on a log, but the people were so grateful that you were there. Fr William was made Vicar-General, and then Rome decreed that the local Provinces should be established as Dioceses and Fr William was appointed as the first Bishop of Kundiawa Diocese. I had to build up the place from scratch, he says. There were just ordinary mission stations, that s all. So we had to beg for money and do what we could. I had very good help during those days, and eventually I was also able to ordain some locals as priests, and we built a cathedral for the diocese too. It was a difficult time in many ways, building up the diocese, but it was also rewarding, because I could set my own program. I was busy, but happy. In July 2001, Pope John Paul II appointed Bishop Kurtz as Archbishop of Madang, a role he remained in until his retirement in November I couldn t have done any of it without good help from the people themselves, from other missionaries, from wonderful lay missionaries that I worked with over the years, he says. They look after me well there and I do want to go back, but I m also grateful for the excellent care I m receiving here in Sydney in the SVD community and the health system. I m happy. RIP Sr Veronika Rackova SSpS killed while on mission in South Sudan In May this year, the Arnoldus Family (SVD and SSpS, both founded by St Arnold Janssen) lost one of its most dedicated and passionate missionaries, when Sister Veronika Theresia Racková SSpS, a missionary to South Sudan, was shot, and later died of her injuries. According to the worldssps.org website, around midnight of 15 May 2016, Sr Veronika was returning home after taking a patient on an emergency call to Harvest Hospital, Yei. On the way, she was attacked by a suspected group of soldiers. The ambulance she was driving was shot at several times and Sr Veronika was gravely wounded on the hip and in the abdomen. After two surgeries in Yei, she was airlifted to Nairobi Hospital in Kenya on Monday 16th May for further surgery, but sadly passed away on Friday, 20th May Sr Veronika was born in Slovakia on 8 January She made her first vows in the Mission Congregation of the Servants of the Holy Spirit in 1987 and final vows in She was a medical doctor, specialising in tropical diseases and had been a missionary in Ghana. She served as Provincial Leader of the Province of Slovakia from , after which, she was assigned to Yei, South Sudan in 2010, pioneering the SSpS mission there. From 2010 until her death, she served in various capacities as SSpS community leader, medical doctor and Director of St Bakhita Health Center, Yei. Sr Veronika was a committed, generous and joyful missionary. Fr Bernard Ilunga wa Ilunga SVD, one of the pioneer SVD missionaries in South Sudan, says the support of the SSpS Sisters to the newly arrived missionaries was crucial, and Sr Veronika played an important role. Sister Veronika was very passionate for Christ and for the mission. She had a special love for her ministry, for the poor and the sick people (lepers, traumatised, abandoned), he said. 7 Volume 26 No. 3 Spring 2016

8 Financial Distribution for Overseas Mission projects It s time to say thank you! The generosity of our benefactors continues to provide much-needed funds for distribution to our missionary ministries in overseas countries. As you can see from the chart, in the past financial year, the Mission Office of the SVD AUS Province has directed funds to countries right across the world. The largest slice in the past year has gone to people in need in India. Over previous editions of Society Matters we have brought you some of the stories of the projects we have helped to fund in India, such as the Sewing Project in Khurda and the youth hostel housing poor local school students in the Khandwa district in Madhya Pradesh. We will bring you more stories of new projects in coming editions. Mission Secretary, Fr Truc Quoc Phan SVD, says the funds raised through the generosity of our benefactors and partners in mission are helping to change lives. Thank you to each and every person who supports our overseas mission endeavours, he says. By helping to fund education, employment and health initiatives, you are helping to build a better future for individuals and communities and you are making a real difference to people around the world who need our love and support in so many ways. May God bless you Distributions in US$ Angola: $4,650 Ghana: $12,093 India Central: $12,600 India East: $158,146 India Hyderabad: $63,007 India Mumbai: $15,338 Madagascar: $18,671 Ural: $6,750 Zambia: $5,970 Zimbabwe: $3,700 Society Matters Donations to the SVD AUS Province Overseas Aid Fund can be made online at or by mailing to A Newsletter of the Divine Word Missionaries Inc - Australia Province Divine Word Missionary Appeal Office, 3, Epping NSW, 1710, Australia.8 Volume 26Locked No. 3Bag Spring 2016