Central Southern

The Central and Western Region are now joined as a single entity.

Southern Central Region Hospitaller: Damian Wyld KMG

The Southern Central Region is perhaps concluded with Benediction. Such events are also unusually named, given that it now helpful in gradually increasing the Order’s profile in encompasses both South Australia and the broader Church. Western Australia. Such a vast area poses unique challenges, so it is encouraging to see how Coats for the Homeless members there have continued striving to further The Order’s national Coats for the Homeless the Order’s works. program remains a key focus in our region. In South Australia, 450 coats were purchased for those Lourdes Mass and Events sleeping rough in 2018 to help them get through the February 2018 saw our annual Adelaide Lourdes cold and wet weather. Mass celebrated in St Patrick’s Church (due to the Our distribution network across the Adelaide Cathedral undoing refurbishment). Members of the metropolitan area is now well established, Order distributed bottles of Lourdes water following comprising the St Vincent de Paul Society, the Hutt the Mass. The demand was considerable. St Centre (Daughters of Charity), the Adelaide

Reflecting the Order’s charism to serve our Lords Day Centre, and the Otherway Aboriginal Catholic the poor and the sick, it was heartening to see those chaplaincy. unwell, suffering disability or similar able to attend In recent years, Confrere Phil Wyld has made in good numbers. good inroads into regional South Australia, where

Around this time, region chaplain Fr Allan the Knights of the Southern Cross now assist in Winter hosted members for a screening of the movie distributing coats to the needy in Port Augusta, Port Bernadette on the life of St Bernadette Soubirous, Pirie, and Whyalla. and the Lourdes story. The program now reaches as far as Port Lincoln,

It was great for the region to have three members where the local Catholic parish not only assists with attend the Order’s international Lourdes pilgrimage. distribution, but also helps fund the program. Western Australia continues to punch well Marian Procession above its weight, with that part of our region In May, the Order sent a contingent to the Adelaide alone distributing 350 coats. Distribution partners Archdiocese’s annual Marian procession. included The Shopfront in Maylands run by the

Along with members of the Order of the Holy Perth Archdiocese; St Vincent de Paul Society Sepulchre, our members traditionally lead the bier Canning Vale who provided the Coats to their carrying Our Lady through the city’s parklands homeless services in Northbridge, Mandurah and during the recitation of the Rosary. The event Albany; Day Dawn Advocacy Centre (Indigenous

SOUTHERN CENTRAL REGION

homeless service in Northbridge; and St Patricks Community Support Centre in Fremantle.

The combined regional total coats for the year was 800 – a number we are working to repeat in 2019.

Supporting Charitable Works

The Order has supported several local centres for the homeless over a lengthy period of time. These are the Hutt St Centre (Daughters of Charity) and the Adelaide Day Centre. Both provide much-needed services for those sleeping rough.

In 2018, we were in a position to provide solid financial support to both, namely $10,000 to the Hutt St Centre and $6000 to the Adelaide Day Centre. This support was made possible by long-running regional fundraising efforts.

Celebrating our Patron

As is our custom in the ‘off year’ from the Order’s national assembly, the region conducted several activities around the feast day of our patron, St John the Baptist, in late June 2018

Fr Peter Zwaans of the Adelaide Archdiocese conducted the annual morning of reflection, and also offered Mass for us in St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral. The reflection focused on our patron, his life, qualities, and what we can learn from him.

We returned to the Cathedral the following day for the main Sunday Mass at which the Order formed a procession. As chance would have it, the celebrant was the Maltese-born Fr Charles Gauchi, who was shortly thereafter named the new Bishop of Darwin.

Annual Retreat

November saw the region’s annual retreat take place at the Jesuit center at Sevenhill, in South Australia’s picturesque and historic Clare Valley. A number of members were able to attend, either for part or for all of the retreat, and found the event quite edifying.

Film Fundraiser

Our annual film afternoon fundraiser was successful again. Despite lower than usual numbers, generous attendees and efforts to get our overheads down still produced a strong result.

This long-running event is crucial to funding our contribution to the Adelaide Day Centre – as well as our own Coats for the Homeless program.

Prize Giving

For many years, Members of the Order in WA have supported medical students at the University of Notre Dame for achieving excellence in Philosophy and Ethics with a prize at the annual awards evening.

However in 2017, the School of Medicine Fremantle combined Philosophy, Theology and Ethics into a single integrated course of Bioethics. As a result, there is now a single award supported by the Order of Malta, the Catholic Doctors Association (CDA) WA, and the LJ Goody Bioethics Centre.

Dr. Michael Tandon, President of the CDA WA, presented the 2018 prize for Bioethicsto recipient Sybil Trebeck.

Membership

We were saddened by the passing of two long-time members during the year, namely Confreres Giorgio Masero and Alick Haddad. They will certainly be missed.

Efforts were begun during the year to shift Order gatherings away from a formal meeting format and more towards the core business our two-fold mission (tuitio fidei et obsequium pauperum). It’s early days, but we are getting there.

Bi-monthly Adelaide meetings now usually alternate on the off months with a Mass at Calvary Hospital, followed by dinner. Increasingly, the spiritual and social dimensions of our gatherings have been a welcome development.