SALLY DUIGAN OLSH: #FootSoldiers: The biggest and happiest family In Limpopo.

Thanks to John Walker MSC for sending this article – he has more than a soft spot for Limpopo after his visit last year.

Sally Duigan is never alone, with every move she makes there is a posse of happy, smiling children clinging to her arms, grabbing whatever bit of her clothing is within their reach. Not because they are overly “needy” but because they know she will always give them a little time. Sally leans forward and pauses thoughtfully for each child that joins the train, greeting them by name and asking those who are ill if they feel better, and simply just asking others what they’re up too.

If anyone in this world can remember the names of 70 odd children without missing a beat, it is Australian nun Sister Sally Duigan. Sally left Australia in January 1989, 20 years ago, with the sole purpose to come to South Africa and play an active role in the response to HIV/AIDS. Upon arrival her first stop was at a Catholic-run school outside Tzaneen, Limpopo. Where she spent many years as a teacher and later as principal. Later Sally played an important role during the years of government HIV denialism when she offered care and support to those living with HIV in the northern areas of Limpopo.

In 2001, she found herself at the doors of HFC, in Sekororo, Limpopo. Before becoming a fully-fledged home to orphaned children, HFC was a facility where HIV positive mothers and their children were discharged to when the health care system could do nothing else for them. At the time HFC was never supposed to be a long-term solution, but a space where the mother could grow stronger before going home. However, mothers started dying, leaving their orphaned children at HFC. At that moment, it evolved into a long-term solution for orphaned children.

Today HFC is a fully-fledged children’s home. The facility is on a large plot of land near the famous Kruger National Park border, with acres of green grass, tall fruit trees, bright colored jungle gyms, trampolines, a sandpit and even a race track. At the moment this is home to 70 children (Sally sheepishly admits that they never turn a child away, sometimes the facility cares for up to 80 children) eight of whom are babies. There is a large staff contingent who care for the children 24/7, bathing them, feeding them, clothing them, teaching them, helping them with homework, playing with them and showering them with heaps and heaps of love. It is absolutely clear that this is one big family.

During our visit a social worker arrives at the home with the family of one of the toddlers, staying at the home. Two of the care staff are standing anxiously in the nursery, quietly watching the proceedings through a doorway. They are torn understanding that today, may be the day the baby leaves.

“Don’t worry, she isn’t going anywhere, it’s just a visit,” Sally assures them and in an instant a wave of relief washes over the staff as they both let out a nervous giggle.

“It’s so easy to get attached to the children here, we’re not supposed to have favorites, but everybody has their somebody and it’s hard to watch them leave,” Sally admits.

Sally Duigan and members of the happy family. Photo by Sally Duigan.

Each child that comes through the gates of HFC is guaranteed two things, regardless of how they arrive or where they come from, they will be loved and well taken care of.

Over a third (38%) of the children at the center are HIV positive, and many others are battling other illnesses.  One of these children is *Adam Nala. Adam has a heavy seriousness about him. When we meet him, he is sitting alone in the dining room. He had not eaten earlier, but was now feeling hungry. One of the home mothers was preparing a meal for him.

Photographer Thom Pierce walks ahead of me, while I pause to speak to Adam. His tiny forearms are covered in mosquito bites and he is sitting up straight at the table, quietly waiting for a meal. I ask him if he is okay, he nods silently. I try another question to draw him out, eventually I ask him about the R1 coin he is playing with in his hand.

Photo Thom Pierce

“Is that yours?”, I enquire. He opens his hand to show me “Yes,” he says. I pat Adam on the back and leave the dining hall.

“Sometimes we will give the kids some pocket money, but the trick is that we have to give them each a R5, so everyone has the same thing. Yesterday Adam did not get a coin and he screamed all the way to school, he was quite upset. So, when I saw him this morning I slipped him the R1 coin,” smiles Sally.

Some of the children that find themselves at the care center have been victims of abuse. “It breaks my heart to read some of these files, some of these kids have suffered from a young age and they’ve experienced so much trauma,” says Sally.

It is due to this knowledge that the staff takes extra care when it comes to attending to the children. “Each of these kids have their thing, so when they cry about something, we are very wary to not just look past that, but rather respond in a way that considers the past  experiences of the child,” Sally explains.

Not always keen to speak about herself, Sally speaks passionately and easily when she explains why she chose to be at HFC.  “Since I was a child I’ve always had a desire to help kids who didn’t have the same background as me.” It is this desire that pushes Sally to ensure that every child that comes through the centre has a fair chance, at starting afresh, at being part of a whole, and being loved. “The one thing they really need is love and care, and you can’t buy that,” says Sally.

Despite the challenges that the centre faces when it comes to placing undocumented children, or having to welcome extra children, Sally has high hopes for all these children. “I can’t even begin to talk about them, they are creative, resilient, tough, survivors in spite of everything they’ve been through,” she says.

However, the world may change, the children at the center all have a chance at a normal life. There is routine, there is school, there is homework time, there is TV time and above all, there is companionship for every single child.  Behind the gates of the center these children are loved, they are fussed over and they are made to feel part of a family. There are no days off in this kind of work.

“I hope the children will always remember this place as a kind place,” says Sally.

And just like that, she is off on the rounds again – she stops at a homework class to marvel at the kids in their new winter pajamas. The excited kids are all trying to sit up a little taller to show off their new pajamas to Sally. She takes a good look around the whole classroom, and gives a satisfied nod at the group, before she waves goodbye.

“No tears, everybody got a pair and they all fit, that went quite well,” she says grinning.

*Name changed to protect the identity of the child.

• Foot soldiers of the health system: It’s election time which means men and women in party regalia take to the streets, podiums, loudhailers and stadiums. Invariably they tell people about all the good and wonderful things they have done or plan to do in the health system. SECTION27’s Nomatter Ndebele and photojournalist Thom Pierce travelled the roads of South Africa in search of the foot soldiers of the health system, the men and women who quietly get on with doing the job and saving lives, often without any acknowledgement.

SIGNIFICANT OLSH MINISTRY AND CONTRIBUTION TO PNG CATHOLIC  HISTORY, RIP, SISTERS JOSEPH AND RITA FDNSC

The eulogies not only pay tribute to the Sisters who have died but are solid reminders of the FDNSC in PNG Ministry and PNG Catholic history, women's ministry rather than clerical ministry.

Eulogy: Sr Joseph Murray fdnsc (13.05.1923 - 8.05.2019)

• May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be everywhere loved!

The Lord brought out his people with joy,
his chosen ones with shouts of rejoicing, alleluia. Ps 104:43

Mary Ellen Murray, known as Nell, was born in Emmaville NSW on 13th May, 1923. She had
an older brother George and a younger brother John, both of whom have pre-deceased her. Her childhood was happy within a loving family and members of the extended family.

Due to the Depression the family had to leave Emmaville and move to Sydney, settling in Mortlake where she attended St Patrick’s Primary school and then onto St Mary’s Concord until the Intermediate class. Her final two years of schooling were at Bethlehem College, Ashfield, where she gained the Leaving Certificate.

Nell’s father, William, died in 1939, aged 56, in her final year of schooling. A week before he died, he was baptised a Catholic. Nell’s father always supported the desire of her mother, Margaret, that the children be baptised and educated in Catholic schools. The family moved to Randwick and Nell, using the secretarial skills she had learnt in school, did office work at MLC Insurance from 1940 to 1947 – this however, she found very boring!

Sometime after her mother’s death, Nell began to think of religious life. An MSC priest suggested she contact the Daughters so she talked to Mother Concepta at Kensington Convent. As she said “This interview went well and I was accepted “to try it out” and the rest is history”

Nell, aged 24, commenced her formation at Hartzer Park, Burradoo, in November 1947, taking the name Sr Mary St Joseph. She made her first vows on 2nd July 1947 and two years later made her perpetual profession. In later years she changed her religious name to Sr Mary Joseph and was affectionately called Jo.

Before going to Papua New Guinea in January, 1953, Jo completed her teacher training and taught in primary schools at Bentleigh, Victoria and Moonah in Tasmania. She arrived in Papua New Guinea in pre-independence time when the Australian Government played a prominent role in the country. Jo taught at St Joseph’s International Primary School for nine years, mainly in the infants’ section, in downtown Port Moresby. She was renowned for her artistic ability and when the mothers came to pick up their children after school they would call into Sister’s classroom to see the beautiful blackboards with the illustrations of the stories and subjects taught that day. To supplement community funds, the Sisters used to teach after school and Jo’s speciality was shorthand while others taught music and business principles.

Jo spent 1962 in Daio, Milne Bay which was a small mission station tucked into the southern arm of Milne Bay. One day Jo asked her Grade 5 class if they had seen a big ship and with no hesitation they said that they had seen the largest mission boat the “Morning Star” which was a four bunk, one cabin cargo mission boat! So Jo contacted the Australian Navy headquarters in Port Moresby and asked for a visit of a navy ship to Daio – especially considering the part Milne Bay had played in World War 2. Sr Helen Warman was there and she vividly remembers the day with all the children on the beach at 4 am and their amazement when HMAS Voyager, a huge naval ship lit up like a city, turned the Cape of the north eastern point into the Bay. What followed is still talked about at Daio as the children had “the works” including a trip up the Bay when the usual four hour trip was covered in half an hour.

In 1963 Jo moved to New Britain where she taught in Rabaul and Vunapope. She spent twenty-six years in this area. She is still fondly remembered by her Chinese students living in Australia whom she taught at Sacred Heart School, Rabaul. One of our sisters who was a lay missionary teaching at Vunapope High School with Jo, remembers when she used to bring her ice cream from the convent when Elizabeth was supervising the students at the weekend. This was much appreciated.

In 1988 Jo was appointed to Boroko Convent in Port Moresby assisting with the general needs of the community, including driving. She stayed there until 1993 when she moved to Milne Bay and lived at Sideia and Alotau. When in Alotau she designed the glass windows for the new Cathedral as well as decorating the walls and this was much appreciated by Bishop Moore and the parishioners.

During her forty-six years in PNG, Sr Mary Joseph was well-known for her kindness to the poor and needy. It has been said that needy people melted her heart. They were a priority for her as she lived the spirituality of the heart of our charism. She went out of her way to assist those far less fortunate and these would include people in the squatter settlements both in Rabaul and Port Moresby and the street-kids in Moresby. When she was driving sisters to various places around the city she would always have some water and biscuits for the paper-boys selling the daily Post Courier at the traffic lights. She also visited hospitals and brought great joy to the patients.

Jo was a member of the Rabaul community in 1994 when the volcano erupted and she was one of the drivers tasked with moving the sisters from Rabaul to Vunapope. The journey took them hours because the ash was so thick and heavy and the wind screen wipers could not cope with the density and quantity of the ash.

She is remembered as a most generous member of community as well as being joyful wherever she was.

Jo returned to the Australian Province in 1999. This was quite a painful transition for her as she found the way of life here so different because of the comforts that are so easily available to us. She lived at Mascot for two years and spent one year at Queenstown in Tasmania. During these years she visited the sick and aged and taught catechetics when needed. In 2011 Jo moved to Kensington and then onto St Joseph’s Aged Care Facility in June 2013 where her loving God called her last Wednesday evening, 8th May.

We rejoice with Nell, our Sr Mary Joseph, as she now knows the fullness of God’s unconditional love which she strove to emulate in a life which was given to others in community and to those in need and less fortunate. Jo, do hope it was a great 96th birthday celebration in heaven yesterday.

Thank you, dear Jo. You are remembered fondly and were a great model for us all, especially the sisters in the Papua New Guinea Province and the people you touched. May you rest in the loving Heart of Jesus.      Therese McNamara fdnsc

Eulogy: Sr Rita Torpey fdnsc (4.10.1930 - 26.05.2019)

 Praise the Beloved! Sing a joy-filled song praising the Lord among the people.
Praise the Holy One with dancing, with melodies and voice!
The humble are adorned with honour; the faithful exult in glory,
singing for joy with thankful hearts! (Psalm 149 adapted from Psalms for Praying : Nan C. Merrill)

Sr Rita Agnes Hinemei Torpey was a Daughter of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart for 67 years. A woman of integrity, decisiveness and clear sighted in what her aim in life was and today we would sum that up as striving to be on earth the heart of God. Rita led a very full life before and after she gave herself completely to Jesus at her first religious profession on 6th January, 1952.

Rita was born on 4th October, 1930 at Muswellbrook, NSW, to Margaret May Doherty and Stanislaus Joseph Torpey. She was the eighth of twelve children whose home, called “Liseux”, was a place of happiness in a very Catholic atmosphere. Rita has left memories of very happy activities in a country area where her father was a busy baker who ensured his family was well cared for and all the children were given opportunities for secondary education. Rita won a bursary and went as a boarder to St Catherine’s College, Singleton run by the Sisters of Mercy and completed her Leaving Certificate in 1947.

Rita wrote that the biggest changes at “Liseux” commenced gradually in 1944 when her mother suffered a stroke and died aged 51 in 1946 when the youngest in the family, Frances, was 7 and Rita was 15. Her father died in Sydney in March 1949, just 59 years old from bowel cancer. Rita said “So, we had another big sorrow losing another parent, leaving sorrow for us all and especially losses for the youngest members”.

Rita had long wanted to be a missionary nun – especially after reading a book “Echo from Africa” when she was 13. However she realised that she was not mature enough to enter the convent straight from school and so spent a year at home helping in the family bakery. When she turned 18, she commenced nurse training at St Joseph’s Hospital in Auburn, Sydney, setting out to do a four year course from 1949 to 1952.

However the good Lord had other ideas and about 16 months into her course, she found herself at Kensington being interviewed by Mother Concepta about entering this missionary order. This resulted in Rita entering the Postulate at Hartzer Park on 31st Mary, 1950, taking the name Sr Michaela.

After making her first profession of vows, Rita thought she would continue her nursing training but she ended up doing primary teacher training in the training school at Kensington. Amazingly this training took only one year and so Rita commenced her long teaching ministry at St Thomas Aquinas Primary School in Bowral and in 1954 she continued in Bowral at OLSH Boarding School for boys. A busy and interesting experience!

After making her final vows on 6th January, 1955, Rita moved to the Northern Territory and taught in High Schools at Alice Springs and Darwin. In 1959 Rita’s missionary dream came true as she went to Manus Island in Papua New Guinea. In this area Rita spent 35 years of her 52 years in PNG. Thus began a long association with the people of Manus Island firstly at isolated Patu, then Bundralis and finally in 1967 at Papitalai where the school was built as it was closer to the town for supplies etc for the boarders.

Rita’s other ministries in PNG were at OLSH Girls’ High School, Vunapope; in Rabaul where she was Area Superior and visited the communities of sisters on the islands of New Britain and Manus and also at Boroko in Port Moresby where she was the Community Leader. At various times during these years was on the Provincial Council and also lived at the Provincial House at Gordon in 1992 to assist in the preparation for the Provincial Chapter.

Rita’s leadership qualities were well known and she was very involved in the ongoing formation of the PNG Sisters. Rita was a wonderful pray-er and close to her God. She realised that there was a need to present students with a method to help them to pray so she wrote a book “Lord, Teach Me to Pray”. This was much appreciated and in circulation in schools for many years.

Rita’s heart was full of music and song which she expressed in the concerts and choirs she conducted as well as the songs and hymns she wrote in both Pidgin and English. Rita was alive and energetic, concerned and generous with her talents. She was creative in many ways and encouraged our PNG Sisters to be so as well. Often her creativity came through in many new projects she thought up for the good of the ministry she was in and often the other staff members would feel the need to curb the next “bright” idea she had.

Rita did much for Papitalai High School, Manus. It was through her generous fundraising activities that there were many improvements made in the school. On her holidays in Australia she would collect so much to take back with her that she would request the Defence Force to assist her and get the goods taken to the naval base at Manus.

After she retired from formal teaching she became manageress at Papitalai where funds were limited and her big dream was to set up a piggery project to generate income for maintaining and improving facilities. This came to be and helped the people of Manus in providing pigs for big feasts, educate students in animal husbandry and improve the standard of pigs produced.

In recognition of her services to Education in Papua New Guinea, Rita was awarded the Medal of Logohu from the PNG government as well as the Order of Australia. She was also the winner of the Patu/Papitalai Alumni Service Medal for extended and extraordinary service to these schools. But probably what touched her most was being given the name Hinemei when initiated into the Manus tribe. This was a great honour and the celebration was full of many speeches, dances and singing and, of course, a Manus feast.

When Rita left Papua New Guinea for good and transferred to the Australian Province for health reasons in 2013, Sr Relida Gumur, the PNG Provincial Leader, spoke to Rita on behalf of the sisters of the Province:

We are here to thank you but also to thank God for gracing us with your person. Rita thank you for allowing God to use you to touch so many people in so many ways through your work. Thank you for sharing your life, your faith with us. We are the fruits of your hard work, the fruit of the seed you planted when you first arrived in Papua New Guinea on 10th January, 1959. You have been very much part of the building up of the PNG Province and so we have come to where we are today. Sr Rita, as we thank you and as we say goodbye before you leave us, we want you to know that you are held in love and with gratitude in our hearts.

So with new vigour – and some sadness of heart – Rita settled into community at Kensington. One of her main focuses was making jewellery to assist projects in Papitalai. Sadly in December, 2014 Rita suffered a massive stroke which left her severely incapacitated and she became a patient at St Joseph’s Aged Care Facility on 27 January, 2015. This was a sad time for her loving family and the Sisters and surely she heard Jesus singing within her while she was unable to communicate with us.

Dear Rita Agnes Hinemei Torpey - all those who have known and loved you over these years, entrust you to the loving Heart of Jesus, knowing how our mother, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, has been your companion and so you have brought Jesus and Mary’s love to others in your own particular way.

Therese McNamara fdnsc

CHEVALIER NOVITIATE, FILIPINO AND VIETNAMESE NOVICES

From the MSC Filipino Facebook pages

June 1, 2019
Malolos City, Philippines

Today, the MSC Philippine and Australian Provinces celebrated the investing of our six MSC novices (4 Filipinos and 2 Vietnamese) with the religious habit of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart.

In his homily, Fr. Chris Chaplin, MSC, enjoined the novices to realize that it is not so much about the religious habit they would be invested with but about themselves investing on their religious formation.

We thank God for the gift of religious vocation to our brother novices and we join them in prayer for their continued growth in the love of God.

Ametur!

MISSION ONE HEART MANY VOICES – BIENNIAL CATHOLIC MISSION CONFERENCE

Every two years there is a Catholic Mission Conference. This year the title was Mission One Heart Many Voices.

Roger Purcell MSC, Director of the MSC Mission Office reports.

The MSC attending were Vince Caroll and a staff member of Downlands, Chris, Leo Wearden, Pat Mara and myself. Each one decided on the sessions and topics he wanted, and we did not meet up much during the day, and often at night we were in different places, and tired. So unfortunately, we did not interact with it too much.

My own reflections arise out of my situation as a “returning resident” to Australia with all the difficulty of re-entry and reassimilation into Australian culture and society. For this the Conference was very good as it looked at the Mission of the Australian church, within the Australian situation. One comment here is that it is very Australian centred and lacks the “ad gentes” perspective.

For me, this is very different from my experience of the last 40 years and the work I have been doing for church renewal in the Melanesian context. In terms of church renewal in the light of Vatican II theology and spirituality, I think we (Melanesian) are further ahead. It might be more accurate to so ‘different’ in many aspects.

For the Conference the many social issues were front and centre, and in this I was on a high learning curve being a stranger to the Australian scene. Part of this was the consciousness and awareness of the church about these issues and the many things being done, and the commitment of people and resources in this area. In this the Australian church would be ahead.

The other thing that struck me was the vision look forward to building a church different from the past and growing out of the present. I think the vision was short sighted (2020) and what was envisaged is simply not achievable, given the reality of the political, social and economic realities. However the look forward and dream of something better and different was good to see and experience.

On the MSC side there was some discussion about our own Mission Conference. Our last meeting was either 2013 or 2015 and in conjunction with the Catholic Mission Conference.  Part of our discussion suggested that be 2021 there would not be enough of us in “the missions”, i.e. ad gentes, or too old to have a dream …”and old men will dream dreams …” On the other hand it was suggested that our younger men are on mission and “see visions”, and are concerned for mission, whether in our own land, or in other lands, or with “foreigners” in our cities and towns. So it could be worth looking ahead to another MSC Mission Conference in September 2021. We will need further discussion on this as time goes on in the not too distant future.

Any further discussion or suggestions in this direction would be helpful. I could drive this from my position here, and see we would need to start the process sooner rather than later.

You may like to read further about the conference.

Diversity, inclusivity and joy were the standout themes, with a few surprises coming on the opening day of the Mission: one heart many voices conference in Sydney.

Dr Carol Zinn ssj and Bishop Paul Tighe delivered strong keynotes on the first morning of the fourth biennial conference, both of which urged the 400 participants gathered at the SMC Conference and Function Centre to take an open, welcoming and joyful approach to living the Gospel.

Dr Zinn spoke of leading mission, engaging the audience with an immersive presentation which included singing and audience participation. She spoke of the importance of trust.

‘Leadership for mission is about trust,’ she said. ‘Without having that relationship of trust with God, it is almost impossible to lead mission.’

The first part of Dr Zinn’s address focused on living the joy of the Gospel, the focus of Pope Francis’ first apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium and a key theme of the conference. Critical to doing so, she said, is choosing love over fear, inclusivity over exclusivity, and mercy over judgement.

‘We have a choice of how we’re going to be and how we’re not going to be, and we have to know the difference,’ she said.

Acknowledging that it is sometimes difficult to do mission in our home context and step out as Jesus did, Dr Zinn encouraged the audience to witness. ‘We must witness to the Gospel if we are to be prophetic in our response,’ she said. ‘Practicing the Gospel requires a mutuality response; humility and curiosity are necessary to break down polarisation.’

Bishop Paul Tighe and Dr Carol Zinn ssj engage with the audience during a conversation on day 1

Bishop Tighe, the Vatican’s Secretary for the Pontifical Council on Culture, spoke of the challenges facing the Church in today’s digital world. ‘One of the things I’ve found is that there are great things happening at local levels, and that is the richness of our Church,’ he said.

‘Among the main challenges we face is the question, what does it mean to be Church in the geography and demography of the digital world?’

The answer comes in authenticity, witness and what we communicate, he said. ‘When we communicate, we are communicating the person of Jesus. It is a person, not just a message.’

Ironically, the complexity of the digital age can still be effectively met with simplicity, as proven in an example that caught Monday’s audience off-guard. ‘The single greatest communication tool the Church has is still a smoke signal,’ Bishop Tighe said.

‘Thousands of TV cameras watch a chimney for days, sometimes weeks, during the election of a new pope.’

 PHOTO CELEBRATION OF THE GOLDEN JUBILEES

We acknowledged the Golden Jubilees of Priesthood yesterday, May 31^st, of Frs Paul Cashen and Joe Ensing MSC. In fact they had a celebration together at Kensington Monastery on May 19^th at the close of the Provincial Conference.  Both Joe and Paul were members of the Conference as Community Leaders at present, Joe in PNG and Paul in South Australia.

Here are some photo remembrances of the Liturgy and of the speeches at the meal afterwards.

We would like to acknowledge our photographer, Fr Kristian Fatiolon MSC, from the Indonesian Province, working in the Marshall Islands, at present doing some study in Sydney. 

Joe Ensing

Paul Cashen

The jubilarians

SOME SIGNIFICANT JUNE DAYS FOR THE CHEVALIER FAMILY, 2019..

Feast of the Sacred Heart, 28^th June

Drawing on many religious traditions

1 June, 1940

Mother M Electa, MSC, promises to build a chapel in honour of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, in Hiltrup, Germany, to seek protection for the Congregation and its works during World War II.

3 June, 1874

Pius IX  See also June 12th

Fathers Chevalier, Vandel and Jouët renew their profession before Pope Pius IX.

4 June, 1980

Father Jose Maria Gran Cirera, MSC, of the Spanish Province, is assassinated in Chajul, Guatemala.

5 June, 1944

During World War II, New Guinea Missionary Sisters were imprisoned in Ramale Camp, New Britain, in PNG.

6 June, 1846

Jean-Marie Vandel is ordained a priest at Fribourg, Switzerland, at the age of 37 years.

7 June, 1861

The Vicar General of Bourges blesses the first part of the Church of the Sacred Heart in Issoudun. In the window near the altar of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, is a stained-glass representation of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, her first image. This same stained-glass window is today located above Our Lady's Chapel entrance door, situated inside the Basilica.

9 June, 1983

The three Generalates, Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart meet together for the first time. The first meeting took place at the MSC Generalate, Via Asmara in Rome.

10 June, 1854

Father Charles Piperon, a significant early member of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart is ordained priest for the Diocese of Bourges.

10 June, 1855

Authorized to take the title of Missionary of the Sacred Heart, the young Chevalier ceases his functions as curate in Issoudun. He takes up the role of parish priest of Issoudun more than 20 years later in 1872.

12 June, 1874

On the Feast of the Sacred Heart, Pope Pius IX signs the decree of Approbation of the MSC Society. Father Chevalier also offers Pius IX a petition, asking him to consecrate the whole Church to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

14 June, 1851

Father Chevalier and eleven other seminarians are ordained priests in the cathedral of Bourges by Cardinal Dupont.

14 June, 1937

Louis Vangeke, MSC, is ordained the very first priest for the Papua New Guinean Catholic Church. In 1970, he became Auxiliary Bishop of Port Moresby, PNG, and then Bishop of Bereina, PNG, until his retirement in 1979. He died in 1982.

15 June, 1851

Father Chevalier celebrated his first Mass in a small chapel (no longer in existence) in the garden of the major seminary in Bourges.

16 June, 1868

First General Assembly of the Third Order of the Sacred Heart in Montluçon. Father Guyot is its General Director, in the name of father Chevalier. It is a Third Order for women without vows and is associated with the MSC congregation from 1865 to 1874.

17 June, 1851

Father Chevalier receives his first appointment: curate in the parish of Ivoy-le-Pré. He remains in this parish for 7 months before taking his second appointment in Châtillon-sur-Indre.

19 June, 1940

At 8:30am, Issoudun is bombed: 100 people died and many are wounded. The historic presbytery from which Father Founder was evicted in 1907, is destroyed.

24 June, 1915

During the First World War, Missionary Sisters in New Britain (PNG) are imprisoned.

26 June, 1859

Laying of the first stone of the new sanctuary of the Sacred Heart in Issoudun by Monsignor Caillaud, Vicar General of Bourges.

26 June, 1984

Sister Klara Sietman, MSC, is elected as 6th Superior General of the MSC Sisters.

28 June, 1928

Father Arthur Lanctin, MSC, 2nd Superior General of the MSC, 1901-1905, dies in Issoudun.

30 June, 1850

Jules Chevalier is ordained to the Sub-Diaconate, in the Chapel of the major seminary in Bourges.

GOLDEN JUBILEE OF PRIESTHOOD, PAUL CASHEN MSC AND JOE ENSING.

Congratulations to Paul and Joe for May 31^st, the anniversary of their ordination, 1969.

They both made their novitiate together, their first profession, February 26^th 1963. They did their studies in Canberra and Croydon.

Joe has spent most of his ministry in Papua New Guinea, in Eastern Papua. He has been involved in religious education and catechetics.  In recent years he has been the community leader for Australian MSC working in PNG. He is also the Vicar General for the Diocese of Alotau.

Paul has spent many years in parishes, especially in Adelaide and Brisbane, at the Cathedral in Darwin, where he served as Vicar General. He was the Rector of St Pauls National Seminary for late vocations. In more recent years he has been at the Cathedral in Adelaide and involved in research on the Permanent Diaconate. He also studied in Leuven and earned his doctorate with a thesis on Australian Spirituality. At present he is at Henley Beach and community leader of the MSC in Adelaide.

ACKNOWLEDGING PATRICK SHARPE MSC

We have been establishing a feature of this site in acknowledging the life and ministry of our confreres at the time they turn 80, 85, 90, 95, significant milestones.

It is the turn of Patrick Sharpe MSC who turns 85 tomorrow.  Patrick came from the Orange area of western New South Wales.  He made his profession on February 26^th 1955. After studies at Croydon, he was ordained on June 26^th 1961.

After studying teacher training iin 1962, he spent many years in Education, especially at Daramalan College in Canberra – where one of the wings bears his name. He also taught at St John’s College in Darwin.

Daramalan - and that is the Sharpe Quad in front of the Sharpe wing.

Patrick has had a iifelong interest in art, in the arts, and has worked in painting, sculpture, and in writing poetry.

In later years, he worked in parishes, especially Randwick and North Randwick. He is chaplain to the Brigidine Community in Randwick.

With the international MSC visitors for the APIA conference, dinner at Randwick, 2018.

ALBERT YELDS MSC, FAREWELL TO KIRIBATI

With thanks to Martin Everi MSC and his Facebook page for the selection of photos at the airport.

After more than 30 years working in Kiribati, Albert Yelds is leaving the Pacific nation and returning to Australia. He is a veteran MSC, to turn 94 in July.

He was honoured by the government with the medal, Ana Kamoamoa Kiribati, for his outstanding commitment and work as a priest and missionary. 

In July he will celebrate 66 years of priesthood. He has served in MSC Colleges, in the MSC Foundation in India as well as in the Pacific Union.  He has also been a lifelong and active promoter of Devotion to the Sacred Heart.

And some words of farewell: A big thanks to Fr Yelds for all his missionary work to the Kiribati Diocese. We will really miss you. Have a safe trip and stay blessed. Please remember us in prayers as well as ours. Tekeraoi te mananga ao raom te Uea n tainako

And, further:  Mamaten Nanou Ngkoe Safe trip Fr Yelds. A million times "THANK YOU" for being part of us in one way or the other. We love you always. Peace

PROVINCIAL CONFERENCE AT WORK

Because of a technical glitch with our uploading photos on to our site during the weekend, the range of photos taken during the Provincial Conference could not be included in the previous post.

For visitors who would like to see the participants at work, here are the photos as well as of the facilitator, David Leary OFM.

The members of the Conference are the members of the Provincial Council, the Community leaders – including Priyo Susanto from Japan, Joe Ensing, PNG and Hoang Hui Nguyen.

And a couple more!

Obviously a lot of work in small groups

           Glitch overcome.  Mission accomplished!