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Our Charism

Our principal charism is to proclaim the Word of God. In sincere dialogue we bear witness to the fact that the God’s Word has come into the world in Jesus of Nazareth. Following the example of Jesus, with an open mind and deep respect for the peoples’ traditions, we seek to present the good news of God’s love to them.  We show a special preference for the poor and oppressed, and work firstly where the gospel has not been preached at all or only insufficiently and where the local church is not viable on its own. We join together to form a missionary religious community and take vows of consecrated chastity, evangelical poverty and apostolic obedience. A distinguishing feature of our community life is that priests and brothers from different nations live and work together. This becomes a mutually enriching experience when based on deep respect for one another's nationality and culture.

In prophetic dialogue, Divine Word Missionaries commit themselves to people who are (1) faith-seekers and who have no community of faith, engaging in primary evangelization (missio ad gentes) and re-evangelization; (2) poor and marginalized, seeking to promote integral human development; (3) of different cultures so as to learn from and share in the diversity of gifts given by the God of Life; (4) of other Christian Churches, followers of other religious traditions, and those committed to diverse ideologies. The SVD missionaries serve according to the needs of the local Church and the particular expertise they bring to the task.

Our History in PNG

On the 13^th of August, 1896 the first six Divine Word Missionaries (SVD) landed at Friedrich-Wilhelmshafen – the present-day Madang on the North coast of Papua New Guinea. Shortly afterwards they moved along the coast to establish their first mission at Tumleo Island near Aitape. They were led by Fr. Eberhard Limbrock. The priests had basic training in ethnology and linguistics, and the brothers, and sisters (Holy Spirit Sisters) came with skills and trades. Very soon they had a school and a printing press operating and were introducing new forms of agriculture with plants and seeds, cows, horses and water buffalo.

In 1905 the central mission was moved from Tumleo to Alexishafen, near Madang. Workmen, apprentices and plantation labourers and their families learned about the faith and when their contracts expired they returned to their homes, thus becoming the vanguard for the mission’s outreach into new areas. However, the first World War restricted mission expansion and the 31 boarding schools, with 2,000 pupils had to be closed. In 1920 when the former German New Guinea became a League of Nations Trust Territory, under Australian control, all German and Austrian nationals, including missionaries, had to leave the Territory and forfeit their land and possessions. This provided an opportunity to send American, Polish and Dutch missionaries to New Guinea. In 1933 the first Divine Word Missionaries entered Chimbu in the Highlands and the following year went as far as Mount Hagen.

Most of the mission infrastructure was destroyed during the Second World War and many missionaries died or were killed.  Twenty young priests from the United States contributed to re-establishing the mission after the war. Divine Word Missionaries continued expansion of the church in the Highlands, and opened Holy Spirit Major Seminary so as to promote the local diocesan priesthood.

There have been more than one thousand SVD priests and brothers and Holy Spirit Sisters working in Papua New Guinea.  Even today there are 150 SVD priests and brothers of twenty three different nationalities serving in various capacities throughout Papua New Guinea. This includes a growing number of national members.

History of the Society

The Society of the Divine Word (SVD) was founded by Saint Arnold Janssen on September 8, 1875 in Steyl, a small village in The Netherlands, close to the German border. It has since become one of the fastest growing missionary congregations in the church.

The ultimate purpose of the mission is “to proclaim the Kingdom of God's love" (Mark 1:14-15) as the common destiny of all humanity and the horizon toward which they travel. They give witness to the Kingdom in a world deeply divided by belief, social class, culture and religion. And so they reach out to others in prophetic dialogue, seeking to bridge the divisions that keep human beings separated from one another and from God.

Arnold Janssen accepted candidates for both the priesthood and brotherhood and made sure that they received as much practical training as possible so they could be more self-reliant in their mission work. Two years after founding the congregation, he sent the first missionaries to China. In 1889 Fr Janssen along with Helena Stolenwerk and Hendrina Stenmans co-founded the Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters (SSpS) and later the Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit of Perpetual Adoration (SSpSAP). In 1889 the first Divine Word Missionaries left for Argentina and soon others were leaving for Togo in Africa, Ecuador and Brazil in South America and the United States.  They came to what is now Papua New Guinea in 1896.

There are now over six thousand members working in sixty five countries around the world.

The following are just a few significant dates in the history of the Society of the Divine Word.