Presiding at the Eucharist was the Superior of PGS, Fr Gregorio Bicomong, SDB, flanked by his Salesian confreres and members of the Salesian Family. In his homily, he drew a parallel between the beginning of Don Bosco's work with Bartholomew Garelli and the start of the mission in Vanuatu, recalling Don Bosco's “20 reminders” to the first missionaries as a spiritual and apostolic compass.
The new missionary team is composed of Fr Alfred Maravilla, a Salesian from the Philippines, former General Councillor for the Missions (2020-2025) and now leader of the group; Fr Moïse Paluku, a Congolese Salesian; and Brother Paulus ‘Walnut’ Bataona, originally from Indonesia. They were presented with a picture of Don Bosco and relics of Salesian saints, a sign of the charismatic legacy they will be called upon to sow in the new context.
During the celebration, the message sent by the Rector Major, Fr Fabio Attard, was also read out, urging the missionary pioneers to make community life and personal and communal prayer their top priority, assuring them that ‘where this is guaranteed, God's blessing will not be lacking’.
Fr Maravilla expressed his gratitude to the PGS Vice-Province which, despite the limited resources of a reality comprising 9 communities and 47 Salesians of 15 nationalities, continues to distinguish itself for its missionary availability and generosity: in 2023 it had sent a Papuan Salesian to South Sudan; today it welcomes the challenge of starting a presence in a new Pacific nation.
On the 45th anniversary of the arrival of the first Salesians in Papua New Guinea and on the 150th anniversary of the First Salesian Missionary Expedition, the opening in Vanuatu represents a historic milestone and a sign of renewed apostolic momentum. The three missionaries will leave definitively for their new land on 13 December.
Vanuatu, a Melanesian archipelago in the south-western Pacific, made up of 13 main islands and inhabited by about 341,500 people, will now welcome the Salesian presence, called to work above all in the youth and educational sphere, in the wake of Don Bosco's charism.
https://www.infoans.org/en/sections/news/item/26371-papua-new-guinea-pgs-opens-a-new-missionary-frontier-three-salesians-leaving-for-vanuatu#sigProId5df27e85e4
