Finding a new priestly leader for MissioNZ has been a problem for our Bishops says outgoing MissioNZ director, Father Paul Shannahan.
“At last, a very experienced and qualified priest with missionary experience has been appointed,” he says.
He is Father Bernard Espiritu.
Espiritu is a Filipino missionary who belongs to the Australian province of the Societas Verbi Divini (SVD).
He was ordained in 1981 and first served as a missionary in Brazil from 1983 to 1990. His second mission was in Melbourne from 1991 to 2006. Espiritu’s most recent appointment was in New Jersey, USA for five years.
He has also served in the United Nations as a member of Vivat International, an organized network of religious orders whose work, expertise and experience have direct bearing on issues related to social justice, development, peace and ecology.
Shannahan has completed five and a half years in what he says has been a fulfilling mission. He says that after “48 years of full time involvement in pastoral leadership across New Zealand I have reached the age when I need to ease into semi-retirement.”
Espiritu took up his job on 31 May. On Thursday afternoon there was a gathering in Wellington to farewell Fr Paul and welcome Fr Bernard
It is connected with the New Zealand Bishop’s Conference and Bishop Owen Dolan is the accredited Episcopal Vicar.
Source:
- CBCP News
- MissioNZ