Father Bill Burt, SVD, has joined our Te Awakairangi Parish Community on 15 January 2026. Born in Sydney 78 years ago, Bill joined the Divine Word Missionaries in 1966. On completion of his seminary training in Australia and Indonesia, he was ordained a religious priest in 1973. He worked in a parish in Indonesia for several years before returning to Sydney. He has held several positions, including that of the Provincial Superior of the Divine Word Missionaries’ Australia Province, which includes New Zealand. In recent years, he was the Rector of the Divine Word Missionaries’ Community in Sydney. Bill has said that New Zealand has always had a special place in his heart, and he is delighted now to be in Lower Hutt.