Institute Voluntas Dei priests are bringing a distinctive charism of service, team life and discernment to parishes across Melbourne and regional Victoria.
Agrowing number of Australian parishes have welcomed priests from Institute Voluntas Dei in recent years, including several in the Archdiocese of Melbourne. For this group, their vocation and their commitment to finding God in everyday life has led them from the other side of the world to serve local communities.
Voluntas Dei priests are a 21st-century answer to a pressing need, modern missionaries invited by local bishops to serve in Australia and fill essential roles in parishes and dioceses. But they do not merely plug gaps; they are bringing a specific, joyful way of being among the faithful.
Institute Voluntas Dei brings new life to Australian parishes
Institute Voluntas Dei is a secular institute, founded ‘for all the baptised’ in 1958 by Fr Louis-Marie Parent OMI in Quebec. It began in the Canadian province with 10 men and quickly spread to Laos, Sri Lanka and India, as well as throughout North and South America.
In 1987, Pope John Paul II officially recognised it as a Secular Institute of Pontifical Right. The following year, the institute began to include married couples as associate members, acknowledging that the call to follow God’s will belongs to everyone.
Melbourne Catholic recently met with a group of Voluntas Dei priests who serve in the Archdiocese of Melbourne and the Diocese of Sale. They were gathered for one of their regular team meetings, a key part of their shared life.
We are bound together in a team life.
Their Victorian story began with an invitation from Archbishop Denis Hart to work in Melbourne. The first of the group, Fr Shabin Kaniampuram IVDei of the parish of Holy Spirit and St Anthony’s in Thornbury-Northcote, arrived in 2011.
From there, the network grew. The priests were invited to the Diocese of Sale by the then-Bishop (now Archbishop of Canberra) Christopher Prowse. Today, they are also in Canberra and Wagga Wagga, and have been invited to work in the Archdioceses of Brisbane and Hobart.
An illustration of the Institute Voluntas Dei charism. (Photo courtesy of Voluntas Dei International.)
Their reputation continues to grow through informal recommendations between bishops. After a couple of priests had arrived, Fr Shabin says, the bishops observed how they were settling in to see if they could fit into the Australian way of life and the local diocesan and parish system.
‘Maybe they liked our institute’s charism and our way of being with the people. And bishops like our way of running the parish.’
All the men are originally from Kerala state in India, where they attended seminary together. Part of the Institute Voluntas Dei charism is team life, and support for each other is paramount.
‘We are bound together in a team life,’ says Fr Martin Jeramias IVDei of the Parish of St Anne’s, Seaford. ‘So every region has a team, and we come as a group and share and [hear] from other people, get encouraged, and go back to our life.’
The Institute Voluntas Dei charism and team life
A distinctive feature of Institute Voluntas Dei is that it is a secular institute, not a religious order. This means their ‘team life’ includes married couples, who participate for support and formation. There are several across both dioceses who have joined after seeing their priests model the way of life of the institute.
That’s how we focus: to everywhere discern what is the will of God and carry it out.
‘They try to live the way of life the [institute] is demanding,’ says Fr Joseph Sebastian IVDei from Meredith parish. ‘[There is] a specific charism and spirituality that every Voluntas Dei needs to follow, so it’s more of a way of life. How it translates into their married life is what makes them a Voluntas Dei.’
Fr Martin explains that the charism is to share in the mission of Jesus as his mother Mary did when she gave her resounding ‘yes’ to the will of God. ‘Our name itself —Voluntas Dei—is the will of God,’ he says.
‘That’s how we focus: to everywhere discern what is the will of God and carry it out. We don’t have a specific mission … We see the reality in the world and work there. Mostly we are in parishes helping the diocese do the will of God.’
An image of the founder of Institute Voluntas Dei, Fr Louis-Marie Parent OMI. (Photo courtesy of Voluntas Dei Canada Facebook.)
The Spirituality of the Three Fives
At the core of how they live their consecrated life is a unique framework known as the ‘Spirituality of the Three Fives’ (5-5-5). This guide integrates prayer, attitude and action into a daily rhythm.
The first ‘five’ focuses on intimacy with the Lord through prayer, reading, Eucharist, devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and devotion to Mary. The second ‘five’ cultivates specific attitudes: the presence of God, an absence of criticism, an absence of complaint, being of service and being peacemakers. The final ‘five’ calls for five concrete acts of charity each day.
One of the group described it as a practical spirituality, ‘very down to earth daily life things that you have to do’. This practicality is grounding as priests manage heavy workloads in parishes facing the challenges of ageing congregations and structural amalgamation.
Fr Joseph explains that Voluntas Dei priests are flexible and enthusiastic in their willingness to serve in diverse parishes. ‘Fr Shabin, for example, [works] in the heart of the city, and Fr Shymon [Thekkekalathungal, the parish priest at Westernport] and myself, we work in the outskirts, the countryside. So we are okay to go wherever we are sent.’
We are bringing new life, indeed.
Voluntas Dei priests bring new life to local communities
‘As you see, we are very young,’ Fr Martin adds good humouredly, saying this might be one of the reasons bishops like them: ‘because we are able to adapt to the new situations in Australia’.
As these Voluntas Dei priests continue to serve across Victoria, their presence is a reminder that a vocation is about bringing a living spirit to the community. By being in the community, they are ensuring the Church remains a vibrant, welcoming home for everyone.
The Institute Voluntas Dei priests serve in a range of Melbourne and regional Victorian communities, bringing their spirituality and commitment to parish life wherever they are sent.
‘We are bringing new life, indeed,’ Fr Martin says. ‘The secular consecration means being in the midst of the people, so that’s what makes the institute relevant in the Church in the 21st century.’
This article was first published by Melbourne Archdiocese and has been adapted and republished by EWTN Australia.
