MM 50 Years Ago

New Marist Missions Set-Up

During September the Fathers and Brothers of the Oceania Province of the Society of Mary held a Chapter in Nouméa.

Among New Zealanders present were Frs Peter Carde (Fiji), Robin Leamy and Michael Goldfinch (Samoa) and Br Gregory (Honiara).

The new Provincial chosen was Fr Frank Lambert, an American, who is a missionary in the New Hebrides. The deputy-Provincial and Bursar will be Fr Jean Huteau, a Frenchman, from Samoa.

One of the important decisions made was that the regional seminary soon to be opened at Suva will take students from the French Pacific colonies as well as from other states and territories.

The headquarters of the Province will soon end its century-old association with Sydney. It seems likely that it will soon move to the more central spot of Nadi, Fiji. The large house and grounds of Villa Maria at Hunter’s Hill have been taken over by the Australian Province as a Novitiate and a residence for young Marists doing University studies. The Islands Province now has only a house on the property for missionaries in transit to and from the Islands.

October 1971