09 Sep 2021
Bro Gerald Warbrooke MSC is stationed in Wailoku, located in Suva, the capital of Fiji. In February 2020, he celebrated his Silver Jubilee, marking 25 years as a Missionary of the Sacred Heart. Here, via the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart Australia, he reflects on the establishment of the new MSC Province of the Pacific Islands.
“On the 17th October 1998, the new formation house up in Wailoku, Suva, was blessed and opened for the students and formators. Today, candidates come not only from the traditional source of Kiribati, but also from Samoa, Fiji, Chuuk, and Wallis and Futuna.
Since the General Conference of 2014 in Guatemala, the General Administration had journeyed with the Pacific Union offering support and guidance, and on the 10th of May, 2021 the Province of the Pacific Islands was canonically erected.
At present there are 49 local members of the province – one bishop, twenty-four priests, seven brothers, and seventeen students. Members from other provinces also help in the direction of the province and its ministries: from Indonesia, Korea, Australia, Philippines, and the U.S. The membership of the province is still generally young, and the ministries and works of the PPI are geographically scattered over the Pacific.
The province consists of two districts: the Northern District, consisting of the island nations of Chuuk, the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, and Nauru, and the Southern District, which consists of the Fiji Islands, Wallis and Futuna, Samoa, and the Kingdom of Tonga.”
“As a province, we want to be a sign of hope and love to everyone.”
“We take this opportunity to thank the past and present General Administrations for their support and guidance through the years that we were a Union. We also thank the Australian Province and the Papua New Guinea Province, who both played a major role in our growth towards becoming a Province. We also extend our sincere gratitude to all the entities of the Congregation who have generously provided us with finance and personnel over the years since the beginning.
As we begin this new chapter as a province, we are reminded that the Society of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart was born in the midst of the uncertainties and calamity of the French Revolution. In a similar way, our province is erected in a time of great suffering and misery because of the pandemic affecting countries all over the world. As a province, we want to be a sign of hope and love to everyone as we stand in prayer and solidarity with all those suffering from this deadly disease.
As members of a new province, we will fix our eyes on Jesus and together contemplate his compassionate heart. It is in the compassionate heart of Christ, we can find true healing, peace, and comfort at this challenging time.
May God bless and protect us all from this pandemic. May our Mother Mary, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart continue to intercede for us and protect our humble province.”
Bro Gerald Warbrooke MSC
For the latest news and updates from the MSC Province of the Pacific Islands, please visit their Facebook page.