The diversity of the SVD Australia Province was on full display over the past month as Provincial, Fr Boni Buahendri SVD was welcomed by confreres and faith communities in the South Island of New Zealand, Central West Queensland and the Tiwi Islands.

The visits were part of Fr Boni’s initial tour of the Province, in which he said his primary goal was to simply “be with” the missionaries and listen to their experience.

“I feel that they really need their provincial leader to come and visit and be with them,” he said. “So, I go and be with them, listen to their stories and go with them in their ministries and from this they understand that the leader is interested in their daily life.”

Fr Boni first flew to Auckland for a meeting of Religious Superiors and the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference.

While in Auckland he stayed with Fr Alejandro (Alex) de la Sotta SVD, who is parish priest of St Bernadette’s Parish and chaplain to the Spanish-speaking community of the city.

“We didn’t have a rigid or formal program, and that was exactly what made it so special,” Fr Alex said. “It allowed Boni to see the reality of my daily life. He accompanied me to the supermarket, and we spent time cooking and sharing meals together. This simplicity allowed us to truly get to know each other.

“On Sunday, we celebrated Mass together; I presided, and he shared the homily with the community. It was a beautiful gesture that allowed the parishioners to connect with him personally. There was a palpable sense of joy in the community. The parishioners felt honoured by his presence, and his visit left a lasting impression of closeness and genuine happiness,” Fr Alex said.

Fr Alex said Fr Boni particularly enjoyed his visit to the community’s Laudato Si Garden.

“He was very interested in seeing how the community works together in our vegetable patch, which is such a vital part of our parish life,” Fr Alex said.

“Within the Latino community, we were able to share more closely during our traditional ‘cafecito’ (little coffee, in Spanish) after the Spanish Masses.

“I was deeply moved by how attentive and genuinely interested Boni was in my experiences here in Auckland. I felt a real sincerity in his desire to understand the joys and challenges of our mission in New Zealand; his presence was not just a protocol visit, but a sincere accompaniment as a brother.”

Moving on to Wellington Archdiocese, Fr Boni visited the SVD’s two parishes in the Lower Hutt region, the Parish of the Holy Spirit and Te Awakairangi Parish.

Over two days, Fr Boni spent time with Fr Akuila Taliauli SVD and Fr John Le SVD in Holy Spirit Parish and with Fathers Raja Kommareddy SVD, Bill Burt SVD and Satheesh Voora SVD in Te Awakairangi Parish.

“We took Boni to different places of our ministry here in the Lower Hutt area,” said Fr Akuila.

There were also informal greetings with some parishioners when Fr Boni attended Masses with Fr Bill and Fr John. The visit included a meeting with Wellington Archbishop Paul Martin SM, followed by a short tour with Fr Bill around Wellington’s waterfront.

Fr Akuila said there was time for the confreres to talk with Fr Boni about their experience as missionaries in New Zealand.

“On Thursday afternoon we had an informal meeting with Boni listening to the views, challenges and joys of each one of us,” he said.

“It was a beginning and we are looking forward to hearing from Boni and his Council on what the future holds for our NZ District, what is the role of the NZ District in the bigger plan of the Australian Province as a whole. We hope that this is a question for us to reflect on as a district and also as a province.

“Hopefully the next visit will be longer and there will be time and opportunity for us as a community to officially welcome Boni with the great ‘mana moana’ of the Land of the Long White Cloud, Aotearoa, New Zealand.”

In the Te Awakairangi Parish, Fr Raja said Fr Boni’s visit was primarily aimed at greeting and spending time with the confreres.

“During his time here, Boni met each of us individually and also gathered with us as a group,” Fr Raja said.

“We shared a meal together with Fr Bill, Fr Satheesh and myself, which was a meaningful opportunity for fraternity and conversation.

“I have warmly invited him to return in the future, especially over a weekend, so that he can spend more time engaging with the wider parish community and activities. Our parish community is very multicultural, hospitable and welcoming, and I am confident they would greatly appreciate and enjoy such a visit in the future.”

Back in Australia, Fr Boni headed west, where he received a warm welcome from the Central West Queensland cluster of faith communities, along with parish priest Fr Peter Bang Nguyen SVD and Fr Rius Salu SVD.

“The purpose of Fr Boni's visit was to get to know the life of Fr Rius and myself here in the Central West and, of course, get to know our mission as well,” Fr Bang said.

“Fr Boni stayed with us two days and spent his time listening to our sharing of the ministries and mission life here where we are looking after the vast geography of land totalling almost 200,000 square kilometres.”

Although only in the region for a short time, Fr Bang and Fr Rius took Fr Boni to visit all three Catholic Primary Schools, in Longreach, Barcaldine and Blackall.

“He had a chance to celebrate the daily Mass in Longreach and Blackall and had an opportunity to chat with some parishioners after the Masses, getting to know how beautiful the people are in the outback. The parishioners were so happy to welcome Fr Boni and chat with him,” Fr Bang said.

“We were blessed to have Fr Boni on his very first his pastoral visitation to the SVD confreres who are working in this remote mission area. His visit and presence were a wonderful gift, showing his support for us as a leader of the Society and it was a good opportunity for us to show him our joys and challenges of the mission in the Central West.”

From the outback, Fr Boni finally arrived in the Tiwi Islands, situated to the north of Darwin, where his visit coincided with a visit by Darwin Bishop Charles Gauci.

“On this special occasion, we warmly welcomed Fr Boni to our community with the beautiful Wunitaka (Holy Spirit) entrance dance — a meaningful expression of Tiwi culture and faith,” said Fr Niran Veigas SVD.

“It was a grace-filled time as he spent a few days among us, experiencing firsthand the deep love, care, and hospitality of the Tiwi people, especially toward their brother priests serving in the Tiwi Islands.

“We thank God for his visit and pray for his leadership and mission.”

Fr Boni said his time with confreres and parish communities in these far-flung parts of the vast Australia Province helped him to understand more closely some of the realities being faced by confreres.

“I could see how hard the mission is and how isolated places are,” he said. “Life in the parishes outside cities is totally different to parish life in city areas.

“And I found that our brothers are so committed and dedicated to their mission, with hearts full of compassion and love, walking with the people there. It was really beautiful. And I can see that our role in leadership is to try to plan some more support systems to help them.”

PHOTOS

TOP RIGHT: Fr Boni, third from left, spent time with confreres in New Zealand. He is pictured here with confreres from the Wellington Archdiocese.

MIDDLE LEFT: Fr Peter Bang Nguyen SVD and Fr Rius Salu SVD introduced Fr Boni to some locals in Central West Queensland.

BOTTOM RIGHT: The Tiwi Island community welcomed Fr Boni and Bishop Charles Gauci with their traditional dance and singing.