By December 2020, all those responsible for formation, training and localization in Daru-Kiunga Diocese, have offered seminars and workshops on the demands of the Catholic Faith to the Pastoral Agents, collaborators and employees. They have helped them discover the demands of faith for themselves and the people they serve, becoming THE DISCIPLES OF JESUS. They have lived and promoted being friends of Jesus, They have continued to build up the human, spiritual and technological capacity of all those responsible for the various ministries to enable them to respond effectively to the real needs of the people.
We have some good pastoral agents. They work hard to keep the parishes functioning well. Some people also express their willingness to become collaborators and supporting the life of the Church in their villages. However it is not easy to find the right people to work in the pastoral field. There are constant changes of the pastoral agents in the parishes. Some collaborators are demanding to be paid for their services. Many agents and collaborators don’t make use of the knowledge and skills given by the formation programs or they are not given the opportunity to do so. Still there is an on-going need to build the capacity of the pastoral agents and collaborators, especially the lay people.
People in leadership are from different age and experience. The communities take care of their collaborators and leaders and show their appreciation. There is an on-going formation and care for all the collaborators and agents. The pastoral agents, collaborators and employees work together as disciples of Jesus and live the way of Jesus as his friends, trusting God the Father, caring for the others and nature and being committed to their mission.
By December 2020, the Diocesan Formation Service, through its formation programs in the Parishes and at the Diocesan level, has contributed to the pastoral, human, intellectual and spiritual development of our Prayer Leaders, Communion Ministers, Sunday School Teachers and other Collaborators. They have become true and faithful disciples of Jesus. They have become free and ready to be sent, having the conviction and the courage to witness to the demand of faith by being Jesus friends, trusting God, caring for others and nature and also committing themselves to their mission as Jesus did to His Mission.
We have some committed collaborators who work faithfully in the villages. They work for the growth of the faith of the people in the villages and in the parishes. Some of them volunteer to work closely with the parish pastoral team. Formation and courses for the collaborators are given in the parishes. But we have experienced many new changes taking place and this has challenged our Catholic Faith. Although they receive formation, some collaborators don’t make use of the knowledge and skills they have received. Some people struggle to open to others and give service for the good of all in the community. Some of us do not understand how our faith can help us to deal with the social problems. We are still facing lack of Sunday School teachers who are able to give instruction to our small children.
As we walk our Journey of faith, all the Prayer Leaders, Communion Ministers, Sunday School Teachers and other collaborators are strong on their faith and are ready to share it with others. They live the demands of faith by becoming the friends of Jesus, trusting in God, caring for all the others and nature and committing to proclaim the Word of God. For this they receive the required formation and training for an effective ministry.
Objective: We live our faith by following the way of Jesus. We promote the value of "FRIENSHIP".
Objective: We live our faith by relating to God in a new way. We promote the value of being "TRUSTFUL".
Objective: We live our faith by relating to others and nature in a new way. We promote the value of "CARING".
Objective: We witness to our faith by being committed to our mission. We promote the value of "COMMITMENT".
By December 2020, the DTPA, Formation Service, the Vocation Service and the Bishop, have ensured that all that is necessary for the ongoing human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral formation and development of the priests, seminarians and religious in the Diocese is in place. They have been enabled to become true and faithful disciples of Jesus and minister with love to all people entrusted to their care.
We have a good number of priests and religious men and women in our diocese. They all try their very best to be faithful to their mission in their service to the people in the parishes or the Services. Their presence and ministry help people grow in their faith as Catholics. They love and care for the people. We have also a small number of seminarians who are preparing themselves to become diocesan priests. However, all the priests, religious and seminarians have yet to be fully introduced to the spirituality of communion and the teachings of the Second Vatican Council about the Church and the methods used for the implementation of our Diocesan Pastoral Plan. Many of them also have not yet adjusted to a culture that is different from their own and this takes time. It is important that we continue to offer all the priests, the religious and the seminarians ongoing assistance in order to grow as persons, as ministers and as people able to walk the journey of faith with the people of the Diocese. We also face the reality that we have no spiritual director in our diocese especially for the priests and religious. Despite our limits we endeavour to offer them opportunities for their on-going human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral formation. This formation is helping them in situations when they feel lonely and overwhelmed with the work they have to do.
The priests and religious have the spirituality and the zeal of the disciples of Jesus and are happy and at peace with the people to whom they minister. They live and walk in the way of Jesus, befriend him and learn from him to have a relationship with the Father based on trust, to care for others and nature and also to remain strong in their commitment to their mission as Jesus was committed to his own mission. They are faithful to their calling and give time to prayer, study and spiritual readings. They choose a companion to walk with them their journey as priests, religious or seminarians. Our seminarians see the importance of their years of formation and give priority to grow in their faith and adopt the life style of Jesus, his attitudes, his teachings and his example of life.
All the actions should:
Objective: The Priests, Seminarians and Religious live and promote the value of friendship that Jesus lived.
Objective: Priests, Seminarians and Religious live and promote the value of trust that Jesus lived.
Objective: Priests, Seminarians and Religious live and promote the way of Jesus who cared for others and nature.
Objective: Priests, Seminarians and Religious live and promote the way of being disciples of Jesus by committing themselves to their mission like Jesus did.
By December 2020, we, the rector and the candidates for priesthood living at Saint John Marie Vianney Vocation Home have grown stronger in our faith by allowing the life and teachings of Jesus to touch our hearts. We have made daily efforts to live as disciples of Jesus by following his way of life in his relations with the Father, others and the world around him. We have achieved this through programming well our time of study and formation, our moments of prayer, sharing and involvement with the parish community, SCC and the people of our zone.
We have nice buildings for the vocation home of candidates to the priesthood. We have two candidates for the priesthood. As there was no available priest able to take on the responsibility of Rector at the Vocation Home, the two candidates were accepted as boarders at St. Gabriel Technical Secondary School. St. John Marie Vianney Vocation Home is not only a boarding home. As they do their studies the candidates take time to reflect on their vocation and deepen their personal relationship with Jesus. They work at their growth as a human and spiritual person. At this moment the facilities are used by our Youth Coordinator and some of his friends to make it safe and clean. In 2017 we plan to re-start the program, find a rector and bring in candidates from some of our parishes.
We have enough candidates coming from our parishes. The candidates to the priesthood receive formation of the heart, mind and character under the leadership and guidance of the rector. Spiritual life is important to them and they grow in their desire to follow the call of Jesus. They understand that to become a priest is to become the disciple of Jesus and that they need to daily follow his way of life. They learn to relate to the Father and to others in the way that Jesus did. They study hard as they know that the road leading to priesthood goes through years of studies.
Objective: We live our faith by following the way of Jesus and becoming his "FRIENDS".
Objective: We live our faith by following the way of Jesus in his relation with his Father and we practice the virtue of "TRUST".
Objective: We live our faith by following the way of Jesus in his relationships with others and nature and we try to be more "CARING".
Objective: We live our faith by following the way of Jesus in his faithfulness to his Mission and we make stronger our "COMMITMENT".
By December 2020, we the staff of Peter To Rot Formation Centre, along with our friends, have discovered the demands of faith. We have made efforts to follow the way of Jesus and his example and teachings have helped us to become more caring as DISCIPLES OF JESUS for the people we serve at the centre. We have looked after the center and have maintained the parts that need repair.
Giving more attention to the Word of God has helped us to work better as a team, demanding of us to reflect on the demands of faith and live better our Christian life. Late bookings for the Centre and caring for two groups at the same time creates a lot of tension, especially as clients break the rules of the centre. There is an on-going need for maintenance.
As a team we give the best service possible to our clients. We care for one another in the team and for our clients. We witness to our faith through our welcoming and caring attitudes. The Centre is well kept and maintained.
Objective: We live and promote our faith by following the way of Jesus, we promote the value of "FRIENDS".
Objective: We live and promote our faith by relating to God in the way of Jesus and we promote "TRUST".
Objective: We live and promote our faith by relating to others and nature in the way of Jesus and become more "CARING".
Objective: We are "COMMITMENT" witnesses to our faith in the way Jesus was committed to His Mission.