October 19, 2025
I have shared this before, but I will share it again. When I was young, I first met the Oblates in upstate New York. My mother loved visiting them. On one of our visits, an Oblate told me that if I were to become an Oblate, I would have a happy life. He was right!
There are Oblates serving the poor around the globe. Today I am going to share with you the work that the Oblates are doing in Australia. It is Mission Sunday, so it is a good day to learn about the work we do as missionaries around the world.
The Oblate mission in Australia was begun by Irish and English Oblates in 1894. The mission in Australia significantly developed in 1926, when Archbishop Daniel Mannix of Melbourne requested the Oblates to preach in the east of the country. He entrusted the poor fishing village of Sorrento to them as a foothold from which to preach missions.
The 1950s and 1960s saw an increase in personnel and so the Australian Oblates sent men to start missions in New Zealand and Indonesia.
In the 1990s, Australia was asked to take on the mission in Hong Kong.
Currently, there are 42 Oblates serving in Australia. We administer nine parishes across the country, direct 3 colleges for young men, and provide chaplaincy to hospitals, prisons, youth ministries, and homeless ministries, along with a variety of other services. The Province of Australia includes the Delegation of China and Hong Kong where an additional 19 Oblates serve.
Pray for our Oblates around the globe on this Mission Sunday!
