Social Outreach

Fr Jeff Drane helping a new immigrant

The Society of Mary’s Superior General has set the Society a 2010 target of having only 40% of its members involved in traditional parish ministry, and asks Marists instead to embrace ministry in the likes of catechetical centres, missionary teams, clinics, prisons, schools, retreat centres, houses of prayer, social projects and the media.

Refugees and Migrants
Upon his return from 20 years of ministry in the Philippines, Fr Rob Devlin began work in Wellington in a range of social justice outreaches with includes the new migrants, the homeless and addicts. Rob’s ministry is based at the Home of Compassion Soup Kitchen.

Prison Chplaincy
With the return of Fr Peter Healy from a period of renewal and the addition of another team member, in 2006 the Society of Mary will have four Marists working in the Social Justice ministry in Wellington.

Budgeting and Advocacy
Jeff Drane has been engaged in community development and adult education since 1990.

As Co-ordinator of Budgeting and Advocacy and Adult education he has been guided in focus for ministry by the Principles and Practices of Structural and Cultural Analysis.

The bases for this work is practical experience with those sectors of the population which are disadvantaged socially and economically. These people are mainly those dependent on

• Social Welfare entitlements
• Mental Health consumers
• newly arrived Migrants
• Refugees from Ethiopia, Somalia, Rwanda, Sudan and Assyrians and Kurds from Iraq.

Jeff’s work is based in the Wellington South, an area with New Zealand’s highest density of public housing.