Salesians like the Kangaroo and Emu moving with the young!
By Fr. William Mathews, Provincial AUL
Good evening Brothers!
Greetings from the Great Southern Land, the Australia-Pacific Province of Mary Help of Christians. My name is William Matthews, currently serving as the Provincial of this geographically vast province that includes Australia, Samoa, Fiji and New Zealand. Our Province must be the furthest away from Turin as it takes about 23 hours by plane to Melbourne, about 26 hours to New Zealand and about 30 hours to reach Samoa and Fiji. If you are unsure of where we are, please look at the latest Salesian World Map and you will find us right in the centre.
I am here at this General Chapter with my Vice Provincial, Fr Bernie Graham, and Delegate of the Pacific, Fr Petelo Vito Pau. Greetings to you on their behalf and on behalf of every confrere from our Province. Peace and happiness to you all!
Including 12 Salesian Brothers, there are 102 confreres in our Province with an average of 59. There are 10 Canonical communities in Australia, 2 in Samoa, 1 in Fiji and 1 in New Zealand. As Australia and New Zealand are multicultural countries, so is our Province and each of our communities. Many Salesian missionaries from Italy, Ireland, England, Malta and the Netherlands came to Australia from 1923 to establish Salesian works in Australia. Their hard work has paid off to be the great province we are today. In 3 years time, 2023, Salesians will be celebrating 100 years of Don Bosco’s presence in Australia.
Now our Province is graced with confreres from many countries around the world, including those born in Australia. Every community is multicultural. In the past, most Salesian Provincials have come from European backgrounds. And now, here I am, a person born in Burma, a country in SouthEast Asia, serving as the leader of the province since January 2018. In 1994, I migrated to Australia with my family after leaving Salesian novitiate in Anisakan, Burma. I re-joined the Salesians in Australia in 1995. Made my First Profession in January 1997, ordained a priest in 2005, and appointed as Provincial in June 2017.
We all understand that being a Salesian does not matter where you have come from, but how you live an authentic consecrated life in imitation of St John Bosco. That is our common identity, to be like Don Bosco wherever we are for the good of the young.
Australia is a beautiful country that is big enough to occupy the whole of Europe. The distance from north to south is about 2000 miles [3000k] and east to west is 5200 miles [8300k]. This big country/continent/island has many interesting as well as dangerous animals like koalas, wallabies, wombats, emus, brown snakes, sharks, crocodiles, spider, and many others. This evening, I would like to draw your attention to two animals that are seen on the Australian national emblem. The one on the left is a kangaroo and the one on the right is an emu. They are not dangerous as long as you don’t go close to them. The distinct feature of these two animals are that they always move forward. The spirit of most Australians are like kangaroo and emu. They move forward. The Salesians from Australia-Pacific have the same spirit. We move forward with the charism of St John Bosco in our service to the young.
In our province, Salesians are moving forward with young people through 11 high schools, 13 parishes, 2 oratories, 1 retreat centre and 1 recreation & training camp. Many youth groups are active in every part of the province. Annual celebrations of youth are also conducted in Australia, Samoa and Fiji.
We have two formation houses in the province. The regional formation house in Clifton Hill, in Melbourne, has 12 clerics studying theology. Most of these clerics come from different provinces of East Asia & Oceania Region. The other initial formation house for philosophy with novitiate in Fiji has 6 clerics from Samoa. Sadly, we do not have any novices this year.
The Missions Office in our province provides financial and material support to many mission countries around the world for the education of the young. The Cagliero Project coordinates young missionaries to work with poor young children in many countries.
We are blessed with many lay collaborators working with Salesians across the province. Please help us with your prayers so that we may continue to serve the young in a genuine spirit of St John Bosco our Founder.
Finally, dear Brothers, General Chapter 28 calls us to examine ‘What kind of Salesians for the youth of today?”
I propose that we be the Salesians, like the kangaroo and emu, who move forward with the youth of today to meet Jesus Christ.
Good night!
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