Two young SVD seminarians have arrived in Australia to begin their Overseas Training Program, spending time in several ministries of the Divine Word Missionaries in the Province to deepen their lived experience of missionary life.

Yulles Vitoria is from Brazil and Felix Infant is from India and both have arrived at the SVD’s formation house, Dorish Maru College in Melbourne, looking forward to being immersed in new cultures, languages and missions.

Born in Linhares, Espirito Santo, Brazil, Yulles is an Indigenous person from the Tupiniquim people. When he was 12 years old his family moved to Andrelandia, in the south of Minas Gerais, where he grew up.

He said his vocation to become a missionary priest was linked to a desire to live his life in the most meaningful way.

“My vocation was born from a desire to give my life a purpose that was truly worth living for,” he said. “I felt that being a missionary priest was the best way to live out that meaning.”

Yulles joined the Society of the Divine Word in 2019 and did his Novitiate in Juquia, Sao Paulo in 2023, professing his first vows on January 6, 2024.

His formation and studies so far have included the completion of a Philosophy degree and two years of Theology.

Yulles said he chose Australia for his OTP experience to improve his English and to learn more about the SVD’s mission in that context.

“As a Tupiniquim Indigenous person, I am very interested in learning firsthand about the work the SVD does with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people,” he said.

“Also, the SVD’s Interreligious Centre in this country (The Janssen Centre, in Boronia, Victoria) caught my attention as a vital space for dialogue and mission.”

Meanwhile, Felix was born and raised in Telangana, India and said his vocational call followed a period of soul-searching about his life.

“I first felt called to respond to the Lord’s invitation in 2017, following a period of deep personal reflection and a serious search for purpose in life,” he said. “This experience led me to discern a vocation to the priesthood.

“I was inspired to become a missionary in the Society due to the influential and dedicated work of the SVD missionaries in my hometown.”

Felix joined the Society of the Divine Word in India at St Charles’ Apostolic School in Trichy, on June 10, 2017 and later professed his first vows as part of his initial commitment to religious life, on October 14, 2023.

Like Yulles, he has completed his Philosophical studies in India as part of his seminary formation and will continue with Theological studies after completing his OTP.

Felix said that in addition to the example of the SVDs he had known growing up, one of the factors that prompted him to apply for the Overseas Training Program was the experience of living multiculturally.

“Australia, being a richly diverse and multicultural country, offers a unique pastoral context with people from various cultural and social backgrounds,” he said.

“Through the Overseas Training Program, I hope to deepen my commitment to my religious vocation and broaden my understanding of the Church’s mission, particularly within the Australian context.”

SVD Australia Province Formation Director and Director of the OTP, Fr Yon Wiryono SVD said Yulles and Felix were joining a program with a successful background.

“Australia Province has generously committed to offer the OTP program for SVD students worldwide,” he said. “In the last five years, we have had students from Vietnam, Indonesia, India, Slovakia, and Latin America. 

“It has been a successful program. The students learnt a lot from the aspects of interculturality in our SVD Community, multiculturality in our local parishes, passing over to another culture, such as Aboriginal culture and Australian culture, and living in a challenging mission field.

“The program is designed to help our students to learn and grow in the context of real mission places in Australia Province so that they can develop the skills and ability required for SVD missionary life. And it aims to strengthen the religious missionary commitment of the student as a member of the Society of the Divine Word and to discern the possibility of a future assignment or collaboration with the AUS Province.” 

Fr Yon said that the countries comprising the Australia Province - Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and Myanmar - are countries rich in cultural diversity, languages and cultures.

“Our Province hopes that with such richness of cultural diversity, the OTP in Australia Province will offer our students in formation a unique opportunity to experience the internationality and mission charism of our religious missionary society,” he said. 

 Fr Yon said that part of the OTP experience is to learn required language(s) and to experience first-hand Australian, New Zealand, Thai and/or Myanmar cultures under supervision in a specific pastoral environment. Learning English is part of the program. 

 He said the OTP in Australia has two parts – language learning and apostolic ministry.

“Normally, the first year is focusing on learning a new language (English), and the second year in pastoral ministry experience in multicultural parish and Aboriginal Ministries,” he said. 

 Yulles is now undertaking an English course, at Deakin University, Box Hill and joins the SVD Formation House at Dorish Maru College for his first year of the OTP.

As Felix already speaks English, he is going to be assigned to the SVD’s Good Shepherd Parish in Kirwan, Townsville for six months. After that, he will spend four months in the Tiwi Islands where he will gain pastoral ministry experience with the Tiwi Island people, alongside experienced SVD missionaries.

 “As OTP director, I am happy to accompany Yulles and Felix in their formation during OTP, and since pastoral ministry is a vital part of the program, it is supervised,” Fr Yon said.

“As director, I supervise the overall program, and I am grateful that we have our parish priests, who are very supportive and collaborative, to be their on-site supervisors during the program.” 

PHOTOS

TOP RIGHT: Yulles Vitoria is from Brazil and has arrived in Australia for the SVD's Overseas Training Program.

TOP LEFT: Felix Infant is from India and recently arrived to commence his OTP.

BOTTOM RIGHT: Formation and OTP Director, Fr Yon Wiryono SVD (left) will accompany and mentor Yulles and Felix during their OTP in the AUS Province.

BOTTOM LEFT: Fr Yon and Felix enjoying an Indian meal together.