Displaying items by tag: Wadeye Catholic Church

Celebrating 20 Years of Dedicated Service in Wadeye – Fr Leo Wearden MSC

Tribute from Bishop Charles Gauci, Bishop of Darwin.

Today, we give thanks and celebrate a remarkable milestone: Fr Leo Wearden MSC marks 20 years of tireless service in the remote community of Wadeye. For two decades, Fr Leo has embodied the heart of Christ through his compassion, steadfast commitment, and deep love for the people he serves.

Fr Leo has been a priest for 45 years, and his missionary journey has taken him to many places where his service has left a lasting impact. His ministry has included time in the Tiwi Islands, Papua New Guinea, and East Timor - places in which he retains a strong interest and close connection. These diverse experiences have enriched his ministry and strengthened his ability to walk alongside communities with respect and empathy.

Wadeye is a place of deep history, resilience, and cultural richness, and Fr Leo has played a key role in fostering mutual respect and understanding between faith and culture. His commitment to walking alongside the local Aboriginal community is an example of what it means to live out Pope Francis’ call to be a Church of encounter, dialogue, and care.

I extend my heartfelt gratitude to Fr Leo for his courage, humility, and perseverance. The bonds of trust and friendship he has built in Wadeye over these 20 years reflect the profound impact of living out the Gospel with sincerity and love.

On behalf of the Diocese, I thank you, Fr Leo, for your service, sacrifice, and example of missionary spirit. May the Lord continue to bless you with strength and joy as you continue this mission. You are a living witness to what it means to serve with compassion and fidelity.

With the warmest blessings and gratitude,

+Charles

New Sisters arrive at Wadeye, report from Leo Wearden MSC

Sisters Archana, Francisca and Armanda arrived at Wadeye on Sunday afternoon 14th April. 

The Sisters belong to a Congregation known as Franciscan Hospitaller Sisters of the Immaculate Conception (CONFHIC) and were founded in Portugal in 1871 by Blessed Mother Maria Claria of the Child Jesus who dedicated her life to love and serve others, especially the sick and needy. The Congregation has been in Timor Leste since 2007.

The three Sisters came from Dili to Darwin on Easter Sunday and after two weeks in Darwin have begun work in Wadeye. 

They have been warmly welcomed by the Aboriginal people of Wadeye. 

Last week was spent learning about some of the important matters for the people here regarding family, country and spirituality as well as having a first meeting with the Catholic Aboriginal leaders where the Sisters heard a little of the close to 90 year old history of the Catholic presence at Wadeye.

The Sisters have no other community in Australia and it is significant that they wanted to have their first community in Australia at Wadeye which is a remote community in the Diocese of Darwin. 

When a conversation was had last year with Bishop Charles in Darwin, their Superior General was insistent that they commence work in a remote Aboriginal community to work with the poor and that they not be appointed to an urban centre such as Darwin.

Sr Archana the community leader who is originally from Bangalore in India has lived in Timor Leste for two years. She will now take up work with Catholic Care Wadeye as a social worker and work with families. In Timor Leste Sister Archana was responsible for formation in their Congregation which now has increasing numbers of Timorese women attracted by the Franciscan spirituality. 

Sisters Francisca and Armanda are Timorese members of the Congregation and will teach and work at OLSH Thamarrurr Catholic College at Wadeye.

The Sisters approached Br John Alting SVD an Australian nurse working in Timor Leste - and who happens to now work at Wadeye - about establishing a community in Australia. John took up the matter with Malcolm Fyfe who then meet with their Superior General in India and after much work by Mrs Clalia Mar the Chancellor of the Diocese of Darwin, here they are.

The Sisters are enthusiastic about their presence at Wadeye and look forward to making long connections with the community and something they have already commenced in this short space of time.

It has been an opportunity for me to renew a connection that I have had now for almost 50 years with the people of East Timor and here at Wadeye!                 

Leo Wearden

Vincent and Hoa at Wadeye

Part of MSC formation is mission experience in the NT. Vincent and Hoa are in Wadeye.

Hoa writes: The first week in Wadeye has been very rewarding. 

Although, I must admit, the plane ride to Wadeye was a bit turbulent due to a sudden storm, and  everyone surely breathed a sigh of relief as the plane safely touched down with Vincent kissing the ground thanking for the safe flight. Memories of Pope John Paul II arriving...

We started our time with a school tour, a smoking ceremony at deacon Boniface’s place,

and attended Mass in Wadeye and Palumpa. Getting to the local supermarket most days and getting to know the community as well.

Vincent and I have also started our work with Orange Sky.  Each of us drives a van equipped with washing machines and dryers to different houses. Our main focus is guiding people through the laundry process. most importantly, having conversations with them while they are waiting for the laundry. It's incredible how this organisation enables us to connect with people. Thanks to Leo for introducing us to this initiative.

Over the weekend, we had some good time with the people, who taught us to catch mud crabs and snails. The kids help Vincent and me to be  inducted to the community as well.

A Voice Letter from Wadeye

We are holding over the Chevalier Family Justice theme till later for a pressing Australian First Friday issue.

Leo Wearden has written this letter from Wadeye.  He can be contacted:

0402 850 084     and   This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Dear MSC Confreres

Yes to the Voice

The MSCs have always said Yes to our Indigenous people. I plan to continue that tradition by voting Yes at the 14 October referendum. In voting Yes, I want to acknowledge our First Peoples in Australia’s Constitution and to agree to their request to be heard on matters that directly affect them by our nation’s principal decision makers. 

I hope all my MSC confreres will vote Yes too.

My reasons are based on my understanding of our MSC mission and on my experience here in Wadeye, where I am parish priest.

The MSC Yes tradition started here nearly 90 years ago when in 1935 Fr Richard Docherty MSC set up what was then called the Port Keats mission. His initiative in this remote part of Australia, undertaken at great personal cost, exemplified the seminal spirit of the MSC Constitution. ‘We will be attentive’, it reads, ‘as our Founder was to those who suffer and are in need’. The Constitution goes on to say: ‘We will seek to identify the causes of their suffering and to discern what our response will be by following the light of the Gospel and by listening to the world and to the Church’. (#21) 

Wadeye, the biggest Aboriginal community in Australia, is precisely the sort of community that the Voice is intended for. Males in Wadeye die on average 20 years younger than the national average. Funerals are constant and many from tragic circumstances. The effects of long term substance abuse amongst the young are rarely out of sight. A few nights ago my sleep was broken by the psychotic howls of a man outside my house. One of the most faithful Church leaders regularly has 30 people living in his two bed room house, all unemployed. Young men turn up repeatedly at Wadeye’s monthly court sessions and are over-represented in NT prisons. Roads and other important infrastructure for the well being of the town go for years without attention. An outbreak of violence in 2022 attracted national publicity. The rioting traumatised the town and resulted in the smashing of buildings, burning of dozens of homes and cars and the flight of hundreds many of them holding children. The people hang on to the practices of their culture and their language but life is a constant struggle that saps self-confidence, dignity and pride.

As our MSC Constitution urges, I have tried to discern my response to this reality by listening. To me the situation in Wadeye amounts to a confused and complex cry from the depths. Sadly it is also representative of other major Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory.

Its source is complex and manifold. It includes the lasting effects of colonial dislocation.  But as Pope John Paul II reminded Aboriginal people in Alice Springs in 1986, ‘What has been done cannot be undone’. He went on to say, however, ‘What can now be done to remedy the deeds of yesterday must not be put off till tomorrow.’ 

I think Yes is part of the remedy called for by the Pope. Many in Wadeye have indicated they favour Yes. It will not be ‘a magic wand; it’s going to take work’, as an Aboriginal leader from my part of Victoria says. But it makes sense to listen to respected First Peoples leaders who themselves have listened, in many cases for their whole lives, and are asking to take more responsibility for the situation of their communities.

Yes will not materially disadvantage other Australians. On the contrary it will demand more accountability of First Peoples and ensure better value for money spent.

What will change in Wadeye with a No result? It will ensure more of the same which, as the situation in Wadeye demonstrates, is not working.

Our bishop, Bishop Charles Gauci, and some other religious leaders have publicly stated they will vote Yes. I pray that all MSCs will join them. It will be our collective gift to the people of Wadeye and other First Peoples of Australia, and ‘must not be put off till tomorrow’.

Leo Wearden MSC

Wadeye, 4 October 2023