|
FR GENERAL VISITS CARDONER ON BROADWAY
Monday, 26 February 2024
|
|
During his recent visit to the Australian Province, Fr General stopped by the Cardoner Building on Broadway to meet some of the residents and recent volunteers, and officially open a newly renovated space downstairs. Speaking to OIU News about the visit, Cardoner CEO Stuart Salier said it was a privilege to have Fr General visit and connect with members of the Cardoner Network. "Well it was an incredibly auspicious occasion to have the head of the Jesuits visit our ministry. And, you know, how wonderful that 20 to 30 young adults were able to gather with him for a period of time and share their experiences. We had a half hour period of sharing stories and then a meal and then we headed downstairs where he officially blessed our newly renovated basement. Fr General emphasied the importance of the Young Adult Ministry and genuinely enjoyed listening to their stories. Its wonderfully reassuring that he showed such engagement in what we're doing." Stuart added "Operationally, we are really pleased with how Cardoner is tracking. We've gone from basically three residents at Bellarmine House the end of last year to 10 residents in situ at the moment, and we're hopeful for one or two more through the course of the year. So that's pretty much capacity. Already we're really feeling a hum in the corridors of the residence upstairs and in terms of volunteers, what we're already seeing is, we've received, as at today, we've got 15 expressions of interest for our 2025 program, which is way ahead of where we would have been this time last year, and this is even before we've gone to a lot of schools, which we're intending to do over the next sort of six to eight weeks. We are holding an information night - open to parents too - on Tuesday 9th April, and we would welcome anyone who has an interest, especially if they are a a year 12 student or a parent of a Year 12 student. The countries involved in the program are Thailand, Nepal. Micronesia, Timor Leste and Wadeye in the Northern Territory, volunteering for between six months to 12 months, depending on the location." Editor |