Jesuit Mission Australia Marks 75 Years of Service Rooted in India Mission

Jesuit Mission Australia celebrated its 75th anniversary with special events in Sydney and Melbourne, bringing together more than 300 supporters, Jesuits, missionaries, volunteers, staff, and friends to honor a legacy of faith, service, and solidarity that began in Hazaribag, a city in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand, in 1951.

The milestone commemorates the 58 Australian Jesuit missionaries who served in Hazaribag during the mission’s first 25 years, as well as generations of supporters whose generosity has sustained Jesuit Mission’s work over the past seven and a half decades.

Speaking at the Sydney celebration, Jesuit Mission Australia Chief Executive Officer Helen Forde reflected on the commitment of the pioneering missionaries who traveled from Australia to India.

“Seventy-five years ago, Australian Jesuits first arrived in Hazaribag. They went not as experts, but as companions. They walked alongside Indigenous tribal communities, Dalits, and some of the most marginalized people in India, sharing their lives, learning from them, and working together to build a more just future,” Forde said.

She also recalled the words of the late Father Phil Crotty, SJ, who spent more than 50 years serving in Hazaribag and later became director of Jesuit Mission Australia. Asked what it was like arriving in India as a young Jesuit missionary, he famously replied: “We were dead mad, but we were called by the Spirit.”

During a thanksgiving Mass in Sydney, Father Steve Curtin, SJ, reflected on the enduring missionary spirit that has guided the organization since its founding.

“The missionaries and co-missionaries who have gone before us embraced this task with relish, and so do we. Now the torch they carried is in our hands,” Curtin said.

Father Anand Beck, SJ, a member of the Hazaribag Jesuit Province who is currently undertaking tertianship, a period of spiritual formation in Jesuit life, in Australia, said the anniversary carried special significance for him.

“Being on the very soil from which these missionaries were once sent fills my heart with profound gratitude and a special sense of connection to their legacy,” Beck said.

Over the past 75 years, Jesuit Mission Australia has expanded from supporting a single mission in India to partnering in projects across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Its initiatives today include education, healthcare, livelihood development, ecological programs, and humanitarian assistance.

The anniversary theme, “One Vine, Many Branches,” highlights the shared nature of the mission and recognizes the many individuals and communities that have contributed to Jesuit Mission Australia’s work over the past 75 years.