Our Priests
Father Bonefasius Buahendri, SVD, or Father Boni (pronounced Bonny) was
born on 5 June 1970 in Flores, Indonesia.He is the youngest of 3 brothers and 3 sisters.
Father Boni was inspired to become a missionary by his Parish Priest, Fr. Joseph van Hoef, SVD.
He joined the Divine Word Missionaries on 1st July 1990, was ordained a priest and on 10th October 1998 and I was appointed to the Australia SVD Province.
In July 1999 he arrived in Sydney, NSW and began the necessary preparations to work as a missionary in Australia.
In 2001 he started his mission working in the SVD Formation Ministry, as an Assistant Novice Master of Divine Word Missionaries in Epping, NSW.
In 2003 he I moved to the parish ministry in the Central Coast of NSW as Assistant Parish Priest of Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish, Terrigal, Broken Bay Diocese.
In 2005 he moved again to another multicultural Divine Word parish – the Mary Mother of the Church Parish at Macquarie Fields, NSW in the Wollongong Diocese.
In 2008 he was asked to do some studies and prepared himself to work in the Formation House in Melbourne.
In 2009, he was appointed as the Formation Director of the SVD Formation House & for young seminarians at Dorish Maru College, Box Hill, Vic.
During his time in Melbourne, he was also tasked to look after the chaplaincy for the Indonesian Catholic Family in Victoria.
In July 2019 he was appointed Parish Priest of St. Mark’s Inala for a term of 6 years.
born on 5 June 1970 in Flores, Indonesia.He is the youngest of 3 brothers and 3 sisters.
Father Boni was inspired to become a missionary by his Parish Priest, Fr. Joseph van Hoef, SVD.
He joined the Divine Word Missionaries on 1st July 1990, was ordained a priest and on 10th October 1998 and I was appointed to the Australia SVD Province.
In July 1999 he arrived in Sydney, NSW and began the necessary preparations to work as a missionary in Australia.
In 2001 he started his mission working in the SVD Formation Ministry, as an Assistant Novice Master of Divine Word Missionaries in Epping, NSW.
In 2003 he I moved to the parish ministry in the Central Coast of NSW as Assistant Parish Priest of Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish, Terrigal, Broken Bay Diocese.
In 2005 he moved again to another multicultural Divine Word parish – the Mary Mother of the Church Parish at Macquarie Fields, NSW in the Wollongong Diocese.
In 2008 he was asked to do some studies and prepared himself to work in the Formation House in Melbourne.
In 2009, he was appointed as the Formation Director of the SVD Formation House & for young seminarians at Dorish Maru College, Box Hill, Vic.
During his time in Melbourne, he was also tasked to look after the chaplaincy for the Indonesian Catholic Family in Victoria.
In July 2019 he was appointed Parish Priest of St. Mark’s Inala for a term of 6 years.
Fr Joseph was born in Saigon, South Vietnam in 1965, the 5th child of 7 children – two boys and five girls. Because of the Vietnam War Joseph and his oldest sister left Vietnam as refugees on a boat in 1979, to be eventually settled in California in 1980. The rest of his family arrived in 1990. Fr Joseph’s mother, who is 84, is still alive in California. Sadly however his father died 5 years ago.
Fr Joseph has a Bachelor Degree in Science and a Masters in Theology. He was ordained as a Divine Word Missionary Priest on the 23rd March, 1996 in Chicago after completing studies at the Catholic Theology Union in Chicago. Fr Joseph’s desire to become a priest began when he was a young man singing in the choir for the funeral of a widow who had no relatives. He saw the priesthood as a way to be with the people who are lonely and on the margins in society.
Fr Joseph’s first appointment as a Missionary Priest was to Australia. He has worked in Sydney, New Zealand and Melbourne before being appointed to the Inala parish in 2014. The Vietnamese Catholic community in Inala numbers around 3000.
Within the Inala parish there are many Vietnamese prayer and spirituality groups and the role of Chaplain is a very busy one. Fr Joseph believes that the opportunity to share in people’s lives through baptisms, weddings and funerals is the joy of his priestly vocation, and finds pastoral care very fulfilling. He is available in the parish for appointments on Mondays and Thursdays, and on Tuesdays and Fridays works from the Vietnamese Catholic Community Centre at 42 Lilac Street, Inala.
Fr Joseph has a Bachelor Degree in Science and a Masters in Theology. He was ordained as a Divine Word Missionary Priest on the 23rd March, 1996 in Chicago after completing studies at the Catholic Theology Union in Chicago. Fr Joseph’s desire to become a priest began when he was a young man singing in the choir for the funeral of a widow who had no relatives. He saw the priesthood as a way to be with the people who are lonely and on the margins in society.
Fr Joseph’s first appointment as a Missionary Priest was to Australia. He has worked in Sydney, New Zealand and Melbourne before being appointed to the Inala parish in 2014. The Vietnamese Catholic community in Inala numbers around 3000.
Within the Inala parish there are many Vietnamese prayer and spirituality groups and the role of Chaplain is a very busy one. Fr Joseph believes that the opportunity to share in people’s lives through baptisms, weddings and funerals is the joy of his priestly vocation, and finds pastoral care very fulfilling. He is available in the parish for appointments on Mondays and Thursdays, and on Tuesdays and Fridays works from the Vietnamese Catholic Community Centre at 42 Lilac Street, Inala.
Fr Joseph Long Xuan Nguyen, who prefers to be called Long, was born in Vietnam on August 18 1986 in Kien Giang Province but he grew up in Lam Dong. Before coming to Inala he was the Assistant Priest at the Kingston/Marsden Parish for nearly 3 years.
The middle child of his family, Long has five siblings. His father passed away approximately 10 years ago and his mother is a retired grocer, now living with Long’s brother’s family.
In his early years, Long never thought of becoming a missionary but rather a business man. His elder sister’s experience as a nun of the congregation of the Lover of Holy Cross in Saigon had a great influence on him and, during his final year of university, Long became aware of the challenging call from God to be a missionary.
Long joined the Society of Divine Word (SVD) in the Vietnam Province in 2006 and commenced the Seminary training. He took his first vows in July 2010 and then began his philosophical studies in Saigon, which lasted for two years. After that, he attended the Overseas Training Program of the SVD society in the Australian Province, learning elementary English in Melbourne. He was then sent to Thailand before returning to Vietnam in 2014 to complete his Theology degree.
Long took his final vows in June 2017 and was ordained on December 27th 2018 and sent to Australia again – this time as an ordained missionary priest of the Divine Word.
The middle child of his family, Long has five siblings. His father passed away approximately 10 years ago and his mother is a retired grocer, now living with Long’s brother’s family.
In his early years, Long never thought of becoming a missionary but rather a business man. His elder sister’s experience as a nun of the congregation of the Lover of Holy Cross in Saigon had a great influence on him and, during his final year of university, Long became aware of the challenging call from God to be a missionary.
Long joined the Society of Divine Word (SVD) in the Vietnam Province in 2006 and commenced the Seminary training. He took his first vows in July 2010 and then began his philosophical studies in Saigon, which lasted for two years. After that, he attended the Overseas Training Program of the SVD society in the Australian Province, learning elementary English in Melbourne. He was then sent to Thailand before returning to Vietnam in 2014 to complete his Theology degree.
Long took his final vows in June 2017 and was ordained on December 27th 2018 and sent to Australia again – this time as an ordained missionary priest of the Divine Word.
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