Fr Albert’s Story: Papua New Guinea’s oldest missionary

A recent article on the Aleteia website shone the spotlight on Fr Albert Boudaud MSC, Papua New Guinea’s oldest missionary. Aleteia’s Camille Dalmas writes a touching piece on Fr Albert, now aged 84, and his missionary journey, following an encounter during Pope Francis’ visit to Port Moresby in September of this year.

The article explains how Fr Albert began his ministry in Papua New Guinea in 1968, at the age of 28. Originally from the Vendée, he joined the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in Issoudun and was ordained in 1967.

Following his initial pastoral year in Paris, Fr Albert embarked on what was an epic voyage to Papua New Guinea, “a place where his congregation were pioneers”. The journey took 45 days, taking him “across the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, and finally to the Pacific via the Panama Canal… Then came the Marquesas, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Sydney. And from there, he traveled to Port Moresby.”

“He remembers sailing the Pacific Ocean for nine days without seeing anything but water,” writes Dalmas.

Making Papua New Guinea his home, Fr Albert moved throughout local villages, learning as many of the country’s 800 different languages as he could. “I came voluntarily, I integrated myself, I made it my country by living close to the people,” he says in the Aleteia piece.

To fit in, he also had to chew areca nut, the natural drug — also known as betel nut — that turns the teeth of so many Papua New Guineans red (and causes mouth cancer). “When the situation was a bit difficult, we’d chew together and that made it possible to get things done.”

Shoes and sandals wore out during these years of mission, when he wasn’t simply going barefoot over muddy terrain. He took the Gospel and the Eucharist on “patrols” to remote villages. He remembers being bitten by snakes before chasing them away with a stick.

He also has baptized people everywhere. “It’s our most important job,” he insists. He spent several days in each village, celebrating Mass and conferring the sacraments.

– Camille Dalmas, Aleteia

Fr Albert is now retired after many years of faithful service. To read his full story, please click here to visit the Aleteia website.

Celebrating the missionary journey with Pope Francis in Papua New Guinea

In September, Pope Francis undertook an Apostolic Journey throughout Southeast Asia, visiting Papua New Guinea, where the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart have been ministering since the 1800s.

Cardinal John Ribat MSC, Archbishop of Port Moresby and Papua New Guinea’s first cardinal, greeted the Pope, telling him, “I offer you a warm welcome to this beloved country.”

On Sunday, September 8^th, the Holy Father presided over Mass for approximately 35,000 Catholics at Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby. Cardinal John Ribat MSC joined the Papal Mass, where beautiful images of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and Blessed Peter To Rot were displayed on the altar.

The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart arrived in Papua New Guinea in September 1882, and have been a strong and constant presence for good since, “making them an intrinsic part of the history and mission of the Catholic Church in the country and a point of reference to this day, including in the education and healthcare sectors.” (Claudia Torres, Vatican News)

Speaking to Vatican News earlier this summer, Superior General of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart Fr Mario Abzalón Alvarado Tovar MSC reflected, “In fact, since 1881, we have been in Papua New Guinea, marking the beginning of the modern era of the Church there.”

“There had been minimal presences many centuries before, in very ancient times, but since 1881, we have been present continuously. We are, in a sense, the pioneers of the ecclesial growth in Papua New Guinea.” (Renato Martinez, Vatican News)

Archbishop Rochus Joseph Tatamai MSC, the Archbishop of Rabaul, also spoke at length with Vatican News ahead of Pope Francis’ visit. Touching on the origins of the mission in Papua New Guinea and the upcoming canonisation of the Blessed Peter To Rot (a lay Missionary of the Sacred Heart who was martyred for the faith in the 1940s), the Archbishop was optimistic about the Holy Father’s visit, noting that it would encourage “a greater revival and reawakening of the faith amongst the elderly, the seniors, the oldest, but also amongst our younger generation”, in a “vibrant Church” with a “vibrant faith”. (Claudia Torres, Vatican News)

Indeed, during his visit to the northwestern coastal city of Vanimo, Pope Francis encouraged all present to embody the missionary spirit, as we can all be “missionaries where we live: at home, at school, in the workplace”. He reflected on the fact that love is stronger than fear and “destructive behaviours”, and reminded us that “its beauty can heal the world, because it has its roots in God”. (Devin Watkins, Vatican News)

This is one of the most simple, yet powerful, messages to come from the Holy Father’s trip to Papua New Guinea: “The beauty of love can heal the world.” (Linda Bordoni, Vatican News)

Images via Vatican News and the Ametur MSC Facebook page.
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The MSC Message: Summer 2024

Welcome to the Summer 2024 edition of the MSC Message!

• Read a special greeting from Fr John Fitzgerald MSC, Director of the MSC Missions Office.

• Read all about the ordination of Fr Gabriel Shikongo MSC, which took place in Swakopmund, Namibia, as he celebrates his first year as an MSC priest.

• Catch up on the latest news from the mission fields, including updates from the Holy Family Care Centre in Africa, from our OLSH Sisters in Papua New Guinea and Burkina Faso, West Africa, and from our MSC brothers as they celebrated Holy Week & Easter around the world, .

• Join us as we celebrate the new Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in India.

• Find out the latest updates from the team at the MSC Centre for the Poor in the Philippines.

• Discover more from Centro Faustino Villanueva in Guatemala, where staff and students are celebrating 40 years of ministry at the MSC-run vocational centre this year.

• Fr Alan Neville MSC writes from South Sudan, where he is currently ministering with the Loreto team in Rumbek.

Read the Summer 2024 edition of the MSC Message
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From Papua New Guinea to West Africa: Thank you from our OLSH Sisters

It is with glad hearts that we received recent news from our friend Sr Jenny Christie FDNSC, International Development Officer for the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, with an update from the OLSH Global Outreach Projects that are blessed with such generous support from our mission friends here in the Irish Province.

Educating children in Burkina Faso

In our 2023 World Projects Appeal, the Sisters asked for help in funding the development of classrooms at their school in Ouagadougou, the capital city of Burkina Faso, West Africa. Burkina Faso is one of the poorest countries in the world, and the Sisters in Ouagadougou have been working in the region since 2007 to help young children who would otherwise have no prospects of education and advancement. The demand for places at the school is overwhelming, and the Sisters strive to accommodate as many children as possible, which has led to severe issues with overcrowding in recent years.

Thanks to the wonderful response to our 2023 appeal, which raised funds to create separate classrooms in the existing school space, the work has already been completed to great effect. Teachers and students now have the use of four new classrooms, giving the children a safe, comfortable space to learn and grow together.

Caring for the elderly in Papua New Guinea

Sr Jenny also shared photos from her recent visit to Port Moresby, in Papua New Guinea, where funds raised by our 2021 World Projects Appeal funded a laundry area in the Hartzer Centre, an aged-care facility for elderly OLSH Sisters and MSC missionary priests. Prior to the installation of the laundry room, the nurses at the centre had to carry the residents’ dirty laundry through the dining room at the adjacent convent in order to reach the communal washing area, a significant hygiene issue throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and in subsequent years.

Now, the centre has its own dedicated laundry area, with a drying spot outside to hang clothes, and indoor lines to dry washing in rainy weather. “The Sisters are deeply appreciative of the difference this has made to their lives,” writes Sr Jenny. “Sincere thanks once again to the very generous donors.”

With thanks to Sr Jenny for sharing these very welcome updates with us, and to you, our mission friends, for making this work possible through your ongoing support and friendship. Every day, your compassion is touching lives all over the world, in ways that you can’t imagine. On behalf of our OLSH Sisters and MSC missionaries everywhere, we thank you, sincerely, for your kindness. We keep the OLSH communities of Ouagadougou and Port Moresby in our prayers as they continue in their dedicated work, with gratitude for the encouragement of our extended Sacred Heart family.

IF YOU CAN,
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR OLSH SISTERS IN THEIR GLOBAL OUTREACH

The MSC Message : Winter 2023

Welcome to this year’s Winter edition of the MSC Message!

• Read a special greeting from Fr John Fitzgerald MSC, Director of the MSC Missions Office.

• We welcome  Fr Joe McGee MSC as the new Provincial Superior along with our new Provincial team, Fr Dave Nixon MSC and Fr Manus Ferry MSC, Fr John Bennett MSC, Fr Alan Whelan MSC.

•  More updates from Fr Alan Neville MSC in South Sudan, where a Peace walk was in progress and new members were welcomed to the diocese.

• Fr Remigius reaches out to us to help rebuild his parish Church which had been damaged by high winds in Keelakarai, in South India.

• An update from some of the work we have done in the Phillipines after Typhoon Odette Appeal in 2021.

Read the Winter 2023 edition of the MSC Message
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MSC Summer Message 2023

 

Welcome to the Summer 2023 edition of the MSC Message!

 

• Read an update from Fr John Fitzgerald MSC, Director of the MSC Missions Office.
• MSCs supporting Cancer Connect.
• Caring for our world at the School of Love, Philippines
• Bishop Fintan Gavin ordains Fr Giacomo Gelardi MSC

 

 

 

Read the Summer 2023 edition of the MSC Message
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The MSC Message: Winter 2022

Welcome to the Winter 2022 edition of the MSC Message!

• Read a special greeting from Fr John Fitzgerald MSC, Director of the MSC Missions Office.

• Find out more about the latest updates from the MSC Centre for the Poor in the Philippines, where the MSC Centre for the Poor Agricultural Cooperative are working to bring brighter prospects to local communities, while nurturing and restoring harmony with the natural world.

• Catch up on the latest news from the mission fields, including updates from our MSC brothers in the Guatemala and Fiji, and our OLSH Sisters in Papua New Guinea and Burkina Faso, West Africa.

• Discover more about the work being done by MSCs in southern Haiti, where homes and communities must be rebuilt following a devastating earthquake in August 2021.

• Fr Alan Neville MSC writes from South Sudan, where he is currently ministering with the Loreto team in Rumbek.

• “Ordinary men answering an extraordinary call from God”: Read a message from Fr Con and Fr Tony, our Vocations Team.

• Find out more about recent celebrations in the Irish Province, where three of our MSC community recently celebrated 50 years of ordination at their Golden Jubilee.

Read the Winter 2022 edition of the MSC Message
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Aged-care ministry in Papua New Guinea

Early in 2021, the Irish Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart joined forces with the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in Papua New Guinea to raise funds for a laundry in their aged-care centre in Port Moresby, as part of our annual MSC World Projects Appeal.

The Hartzer Centre is an aged-care facility attached to the main convent in Port Moresby, the country’s capital, where the Sisters care for elderly OLSH Sisters and MSC missionary priests who have devoted their lives to serving the people of Papua New Guinea. Eight rooms are dedicated to the care of elderly residents at the centre, and it was an ongoing worry that the facility did not have a dedicated laundry area of its own, with nurses carrying all dirty laundry through the convent dining room to reach the communal washing area. This has been a pressing hygiene concern, especially in the face of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

In December of last year, Sr Rosaleen O’Brien contacted us with an update on progress on the new laundry facilities being installed in the Hartzer Centre – progress that had been slowed considerably due to the effects of the COVID pandemic. We have been delighted to receive further updates in recent weeks, with thanks to our benefactors for their help in getting the project completed.

“Please convey our gratitude to all of the donors for their great contribution to the laundry project for our aged-care facility,” writes Sr Rosaleen. “We have at long last completed the work which has taken time because of COVID, and also a lack of materials when needed.”

“I do not know what to say, as it is such a help to us here – especially with our infirm patients, who, in this climate, need a lot of care each day,” Sr Rosaleen continues. “Sr Gabriella and her helpers are truly happy with this project.”

“We continue to pray for each person who has donated money for this important project, especially during the COVID pandemic, which is still affecting so many people around the world.”

         

We add our thanks to those of our OLSH Sisters; the ongoing support of our mission friends and benefactors here in the Irish Province provides immeasurable encouragement to our Sacred Heart family around the world, especially in these particularly challenging times. Sincere thanks to all who helped to provide these essential facilities for the elderly residents of the Hartzer Centre, and to all who continue to offer their friendship and their prayers as we continue on our shared missionary journey to make God’s love known everywhere.

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The MSC Message: Summer 2022

Welcome to the Summer 2022 edition of the MSC Message!

• Read a special greeting from Fr John Fitzgerald MSC, Director of the MSC Missions Office.

• Find out more about the visit of our MSC Superior General, Fr Absalón Alvarado MSC, to the Irish Province.

• Catch up on the latest news from the mission fields, including updates from our MSC brothers in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mozambique, and our OLSH Sisters in Brazil and Papua New Guinea.

• Read more about the latest updates from our global COVID-19 relief ministry, with a report from the Pacific Islands.

• Discover the ways in which our MSC community in the Philippines is helping survivors of Typhoon Odette.

• Fr Alan Neville MSC writes from South Sudan, where he is currently ministering with the Loreto team in Rumbek.

• Read all about recent celebrations in the Venezuelan Region, where two members of the Irish Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart have marked milestone steps on their missionary journeys.

 

Read the Summer 2022 edition of the MSC Message
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Building a laundry for the elderly in Papua New Guinea

At the beginning of this year, the community of Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, appealed for our help in funding a laundry for their aged-care ministry as part of our annual MSC World Projects Appeal.

The Hartzer Centre is an aged-care centre attached to the main convent in Port Moresby, the country’s capital, where the Sisters care for elderly OLSH Sisters and MSC missionary priests who have devoted their lives to serving the people of Papua New Guinea. With eight rooms for elderly residents, it was an ongoing concern that the centre did not have a dedicated laundry area of its own, creating difficulties surrounding hygiene as the centre’s nurses would have to bring all dirty laundry through the convent dining room to reach the communal washing area.

Our mission friends in Ireland and the UK have already helped the OLSH Sisters in Papua New Guinea to provide extra safety measures in the Hartzer Centre, including extra sinks for improved safety in the continuing battle against COVID-19. Now, thanks to the funding sent through our 2021 MSC World Projects Appeal, the new laundry is well underway, despite limitations brought about by the pandemic.

This week, we were delighted to hear from Sr Rosaleen, who sent us an update on their current progress:

“Due to COVID restrictions, the laundry is not yet finished, but progress is being made! The maintenance man has been working hard and has built a store room at the level of the corridor into the care centre, so we can store wheelchairs and equipment without having them blocking the corridors.”

“When it is finished, the laundry will be downstairs, with another small store room for things like garden tools, which the centre residents use when they are able to potter in the garden.”

“We are most grateful for the funding and support we have received from friends and benefactors in the Irish Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, and we thank you very much for your kindness and generosity towards us.”

MSC World Projects Appeal 2021: OLSH Global Outreach

The Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (OLSH) are a vital part of our Sacred Heart Family, working all over the world, often in partnership with MSCs, under our shared motto:

“May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be everywhere loved.”

CARING FOR THE ELDERLY IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA

In Papua New Guinea, a community of 86 OLSH Sisters provide dedicated hands-on care for vulnerable individuals and families, from young children to the elderly. In the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, financial assistance from the Irish Province allowed the OLSH Sisters in Papua New Guinea to provide extra safety measures in the Hartzer Centre, an aged-care centre attached to the main convent in Port Moresby, the country’s capital, where the Sisters care for elderly OLSH Sisters and MSC missionary priests who have devoted their lives to serving the people of Papua New Guinea.

As we all know, hygiene is one of the most vital defences against the coronavirus, and our mission friends in Ireland and the UK have already helped to provide extra sinks for improved safety measures. The Hartzer Centre has eight rooms for their elderly residents, but the centre does not have a dedicated laundry area of its own, and this creates significant difficulties surrounding hygiene as the centre’s nurses must bring all dirty laundry through the convent dining room to reach the communal washing area.

Sr Relida, Provincial of the OLSH Sisters in Papua New Guinea, has sent her “deep gratitude” for the changes we have already helped to make, and now asks if our mission friends in the Irish Province could please help the Sisters to build a small laundry area for the Hartzer Centre, to ensure the continued safety and care of vulnerable elderly residents.

SOWING SEEDS FOR THE FUTURE IN SOUTH SUDAN

The Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart recently marked 25 years of service in South Sudan, where they have been involved in everything from education and nursing to general pastoral work.Most recently, the Sisters have been working to build gardens which will help to provide a stable and sustainable source of food and water to families in the region who have very little.

The gardens contain bores which are drilled and fitted with a pump, a tank, and a watering system.
These gardens are used to grow a variety of vegetables, and, when cultivated to their full potential, will be hugely beneficial in the long-term provision of nutritious food supplies to local families, who are up against a daily struggle to afford to feed their children.

CAN YOU HELP THE OLSH SISTERS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

MSC World Projects Appeal 2020: OLSH GLobal Outreach

The Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (OLSH) are a vital part of our Sacred Heart Family, working all over the world, often in partnership with MSCs, under our shared motto:
“May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be everywhere loved.”

OLSH in Brazil

Helping a children’s choir

The municipality of Mirinzal is a small, remote region in Maranhão, Brazil. Sr Maria José dos Santos Lira runs a children’s choir in the area, which gives local children great motivation and inspiration to be part of something bigger. The OLSH Sisters teach the children about music and liturgy, and choir regularly performs during special liturgical events in the parish.

Families in the region have very little, and the OLSH Sisters are doing their best to keep the choir going with the extremely limited resources available to them. The choir are currently raising funds for new equipment, including two microphones, a cajon (a local musical instrument), and a keyboard stand.

The cost of these items is low: €21.50 will buy a microphone, €43 will pay for their new cajon, and a new keyboard stand costs just €21.50. A small donation will make a truly great difference to these children as they create bright and beautiful music in a life dogged by hardship and poverty.

A centre for the elderly 

In the convent in São Paulo, Brazil, Sr Maria da Paricida leads the sisters in local social work. Twice a week, elderly people from the area attend workshops that provide lessons in different life skills, such as technology classes, yoga sessions, English classes, embroidery lessons, and choir practise, among other things. The main aim of the Sisters’ work here is to help these elderly people feel part of the wider community, fighting in the face of loneliness and the depression brought about by extended solitude.

The majority of people who come to these workshops are very poor, and have no other opportunities to meet and mix with others. However, the hall where they currently gathering is in poor condition and is currently in need of repair to create a comfortable space for these elderly people to gather together to learn. The Sisters here are raising funds to buy paint as part of the hall restoration.

A donation of just €110 will provide paint for the entire hall, and will help to provide a bright, comfortable space for elderly people who have nowhere else to go.

Residents’ Association Stove

The area of Morumbinho, on the outskirts of the city of São Paulo, is home to approximate 800 families. The majority of these families are migrants who are living in extreme poverty. The local Residents’ Association have appealed to the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in the Parish of the Immaculate Heart of Mary for funds to purchase a professional stove, which will allow them to cook for the families who are unable to provide meals for themselves.

Just €175 will cover the cost of the new stove and provide desperately needed meals for families who have no other way to feed themselves.

OLSH in Cameroon

As a result of social and political unrest in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon, many children have been displaced from their homes and families, and are seeking shelter with extended family in the towns of Baffusam, Yaounde, and Douala. Many of these children are suffering greatly as a result of malnutrition and poor hygiene, and the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in the locality are doing their best to help.

Regional leader Sr Marie Solange OKO is raising funds for an aid project which will assist 50 internally displaced children in the Yaounde region, providing food, essential medication, and basic hygiene products.

Just €125 will support one of these children for five months.

CAN YOU HELP THE OLSH SISTERS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

OLSH in Papua New Guinea

A safe Novitiate Chapel

The OLSH Novitiate in Papua New Guinea is located on Yule Island, where the first MSCs and OLSH Sisters began their mission over 130 years ago. Since then, the OLSH Sisters in the region have set up schools and health centres to help local communities, and today, there are 86 Sisters currently working in the area.

Recently, the Sisters’ novitiate chapel had to be demolished following an infestation by white ants. They are sorely feeling the lack of this sacred space, and are raising funds to rebuild the chapel at a total cost of €4,800.

Daru School Library Books

The region of Daru in Papua New Guinea is an extremely isolated one, which takes five days to reach by boat, or a flight in a small place followed by another journey on land. This area is plagued by poverty and hardship, and two OLSH Sisters are currently teaching in the school there. The conditions are very basic, and the school’s library facilities are extremely limited. The books are old and in poor condition, and students must share books between them during their classes.

The Sisters in the Daru school are appealing for help, at a cost of €1,330 to purchase the books that the school so desperately needs. Education is the only hope for many of these children, and the gift of a book can make all the difference to their future.

OLSH in the Philippines

Sr Precy Peralta is principal of the Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Integrated School, an OLSH-run pre-school in the Philippines that currently accommodates 54 children. The majority of these children come from backgrounds of extreme poverty, and resources are very limited within the school.

The school is currently in need of a steel cabinet to store important documents safely, at a cost of €300, and a TV for classroom use, at a cost of €250. These small additions will make a great difference to the quality of education and administration for the staff and children at the school.

OLSH in South Sudan

The region of Mapuordit is currently home to four OLSH Sisters, two from Australia and two from Indonesia, who minister to the two groups living in the area, the Dinka and the Jur. Children from both groups attend the OLSH primary and secondary schools there, with 1,400 primary school pupils and 440 secondary school students.

In recent years, the OLSH Sisters have been trying to make the best possible use of the land around the schools by cultivating it for growth. The Sisters currently grow vegetables such as sweet potatoes and green vegetables for consumption by local families, using the natural resources available to provide a much-needed food source. The land in the region is extremely fertile, but with six months of regular rain and a six-month dry season, the garden is in need of a simple irrigation system to allow it to be used on a year-round basis.

The Sisters here are appealing for the funds to successfully establish and maintain two gardens. With a borehole fitted with a hand pump costing €8,000, the cost of each garden will total just over €10,000 – an investment which will provide years upon years of profit to local communities, from being a source of nutritious food to providing students with the physical and mental benefits of gardening.

PLEASE SUPPORT OLSH GLOBAL OUTREACH