Volume 24 No. 1 | Autumn 2014
6
Fr Hiagi, on mission in
Moldova, thanks God for his
vocation as SVD priest
Fr Hiagi Motofaga Tavo SVD was born and raised in Fiji
before moving to Australia to undertake his formation as
a Divine Word Missionary. His first missionary assignment
after ordination has been to Romania and Moldova.
Moldova is a former part of the USSR, bordered by
Ukraine and Romania. It is known as the poorest country
in Europe and the Catholic Church makes up only 0.5 per
cent of the population. Despite the many challenges he
faces in his ministry, Fr Hiagi says he is “blessed” to be
working in Moldova with the young and marginalised, in
whom he sees and experiences the living Jesus.
“I live in Stauceni, a rather large but quickly developing
village about 8km from Chisinau the capital of Moldova.
Officially it has 8,000 people but unofficially there are
about 13000 inhabitants.
I live and work in parish ministry with one other SVD priest,
Fr Klaus Kniffki who is German. We are a small community
of Catholics. Of the 13000 inhabitants in this village
there are only about 50 families, or a little more than 160
Catholics, most of whom are converts from Orthodox.
My ministry is with young people, in two main groups.
The first group is made up of Catholic youth, though
some are Orthodox. Once a week, we meet for an hour of
formation. This includes discussions and meditations on
topics relevant to their life in general but most specifically
about their faith journey in the context of Moldova.
The second group of my ministry consists of children and
adolescents. The parish operates a canteen for the poor,
not only for Catholics but for all those in the village who
wish to eat there. At the end of each school day, children,
mainly from poor and vulnerable families, have their lunch
at the parish canteen.
Our parish also runs a pastoral/recreational centre where
children come together after school for recreational
activities. A few of the children do not have heating
systems at home during winter. Some do not have
electricity at home. They therefore come not only to be
with their peers but also to keep warm and to catch up on
the latest TV show. Every day there is an hour set aside
for them to do their homework and three times a week
they are shown films on the lives of different saints, or
stories from the Bible that are thought provoking.
Challenges
In general one of the greatest challenges we face, not
just in our parish but also in many other parishes, is
encouraging the Catholic faithful to actively participate in
the life of the church. There is a sense that many became
Catholics for motives other than genuine faith. One of
these motives is to receive material support.
Many of the children come from broken families where
domestic violence and alcohol abuse is common. Many of
these children have psychological issues and indeed many
do receive psychological help at their school.
Another challenge is connecting the activities I do with
these children with the Catholic faith. Many parents are
happy to have their children attend the ‘Catholic canteen’,
the ‘Catholic recreational centre’ but not activities relating
to the Catholic faith. The Catholic Church in Moldova is
generally viewed by the Orthodox as a sect.
Needless to say, since Moldova is considered the poorest
country in Europe, shortage of finances for certain projects
and other pastoral activities both for the spiritual but also
the general well-being of these children is a real issue.
