Forty years after the Jesuits re-established their mission among indigenous people at Balgo, Australian Provincial Fr Steve Curtin SJ says the Jesuits’ commitment to Indigenous ministry remains strong. A letter was sent out to the Province in February to mark the anniversary, and to encourage people to continue to deepen their engagement with indigenous people.
“Around this time, 40 years ago, Fr Peter Kelly SJ, as Provincial, decided to mission Pat Mullins and Brian McCoy to Balgo Mission as part of their regency. This was a new and challenging decision for our Province. When we departed from the Daly River Mission in 1899, we became separated from our relationships and ministry with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for some seventy years,” said Fr Curtin.
“Since 1973, a number of Jesuits have continued to live and work with Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and also form significant links with other Jesuits and Indigenous people in the Asia Pacific Assistancy, in North America and beyond. We are fortunate as a Province to have some Aboriginal people now in our various ministries and also some initiatives that involve forming close and developing relationships with them and their communities. At the same time, it is obvious that the Jesuits who have been in this are now getting older and are not being replaced by younger men.
What remains encouraging is that there are more and more of our lay colleagues who have expressed interest and commitment to this work.”
The full text of the letter can be found in Province Express.