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Bishop Dolan with SVD confreres.

SVD US Western Province Celebrates 150th Jubilee with Diocese of Phoenix

GMD

The Diocese of Phoenix joined the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) in celebrating the congregation’s 150th Jubilee on September 14, 2025, with a solemn Mass at Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral. The liturgy was led by Bishop John Dolan together with Fr. Jon Kirby, SVD, Provincial Superior of the Western USA, and attended by SVD confreres, clergy, religious, and lay faithful.

Nearly three years ago, Bishop Dolan invited the SVD to staff several parishes, recognizing their missionary outreach and prior work in San Diego. Today, their presence is felt across three parishes: St. Augustine in Phoenix, Sacred Heart in Prescott, and Holy Spirit in Tempe, led by seven multicultural SVD priests from Mexico, Poland, India, Congo, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

“We are grateful they are here in the Diocese of Phoenix, representing the call to be proclaimers of the Word of God to all peoples,” Bishop Dolan told a packed cathedral. In response, Fr. Kirby thanked him “for being so generous to offer this opportunity to do our mission here in Phoenix and in Arizona as we are doing it in California,” emphasizing the importance of the vows of poverty, chastity, obedience, and the laity as “co-missionaries” in the Gospel.

The Jubilee, coinciding with the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, served as a reminder that SVD missionaries continue Christ’s mission of love, unity, and service across cultures.

The link below will take you to additional information.

The Catholic Sun
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