On the 8th of August 2019 two Vietnamese seminarians landed in Australia to complete their pastoral placement as part of their ongoing studies to enter the priesthood. These seminarians are members of the religious congregation the Society of the Divine Saviour, or Salvatorians as they are more commonly known, which is an international congregation ministering in many countries across the world. One of these seminarians, Deacon Paul Tran Van Duong SDS, has been serving in Gosford Parish on the New South Wales Central Coast since late 2019.
The Australian Catholic Youth Festival (ACYF) is the largest gathering of Catholic youth in our country. It has been held in Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney, and in 2019 it was hosted by Western Australia in Perth. For many attendees, this is an opportunity to experience the universal Church in ways they may have never seen within their smaller parish communities, and to encounter Christ anew.
“We have so many Holy Orders of the Church – Each of these religious families in the Church help’s us to remember that diversity is not the opposite of unity, in fact diversity and unity go together.
On Thursday 21st November 2019 the new Salvatorian Spirituality Centre was officially opened. The Opening Mass and Blessing was presided over by Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB. Concelebrants included Bunbury Bishop Gerard Holohan, Geraldton Bishop Michael Morrissey, Geraldton Emeritus Bishop Most Rev Justin Bianchini, Perth Archdiocese Vicar General Fr Peter Whitely, Salvatorian Provincial Superior Very Rev Józef Figiel SDS, Superior East Asia Mission Vicariate Rev Adam Janus SDS and Australian Regional Superior Rev George Kolodziej SDS, together with more than 50 other clergy including Salvatorian Priests from the Polish Province, East Asia Mission Vicariate, and the Australian Region. Altogether, around 200 people were present to witness this occasion.
* * * * *