Prayers of SVD
May the darkness of sin
and the night of unbelief vanish before the light of the Word
and the Spirit of grace
and may the Heart of Jesus live
in the hearts of all people.
(Saint Arnold Janssen)
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Seminary in Papua
Best regards from distant Papua New Guinea; from a country of beautiful landscapes, and at the same time many dangers and crimes. When I came to the capital of the country - Port Moresby, I immediately noticed many poor people looking for work and the meaning of life. Compared to Indonesia, where I worked before, there is a sense of tension here, lack of order, and poverty.
I teach Church History and Patristic Theology at the Catholic Theological Institute in Bomana near Port Moresby. The president of this institution is a Polish SVD missionary, Father Zenon Szabłowiński, who strives for good management of the institute. This institute is the largest and currently the only one in Papua New Guinea that implements a full program preparing diocesan and religious seminarians for priestly ordination. In addition to seminarians, who make up 90% of all students, there are also religious sisters, candidates for religious brothers and lay people who want to deepen their knowledge of the Catholic faith and gain a more solid theological education.
We currently have 120 students; 112 seminarians and 8 lay people. There are 9 SVD seminarians in this number. There are 4 Poles among the lecturers - fathers Marcin Wróbel, Zenon Szabłowiński, Józef Trzebuniak, and Wojciech Radomski. Studies must be carried out from scratch, because students have a poor level of English, which is the official language here. So we try to explain everything slowly and carefully so that everyone can follow the program. Students come from different parts and islands of Papua New Guinea. Some of them are more capable and some are weaker. Regardless of this, we all pray and work as religious people called to the consecrated and priestly life. We assure you of our constant prayer and ask for intercessory prayer for our intentions.