Melbourne Overseas Missions, connecting communities through faith and generosity

For more than 50 years, Melbourne Overseas Missions (MOM) has supported vulnerable communities worldwide, funding education, healthcare and empowerment projects.

Founded in 1968 by Cardinal James Knox, MOM initially sent priests to Papua New Guinea (PNG) and South America. Today, MOM operates under Catholic Mission’s governance, with former CEO Peter Moore still involved as a hands-on director. The Melbourne school principal ran the charity for 18 years, coming to the role through his family’s deep ties to the organisation. His in-laws Kevin and Shirley Blake, he says, were the backbone of the mission for 50 years.

‘Archbishop [Denis] Hart invited me to be the CEO,’ Mr Moore explains. ‘And we’ve been funding projects all over the world where we know people—usually priests and sisters linked with the Archdiocese of Melbourne.’ He says the charity relies mainly on funding from the Archbishop’s Campaign.

MOM did vital missionary work in PNG, building schools, medical facilities and even a tiny airstrip on the side of a mountain.

One of the first priests in PNG was Mr Moore’s wife’s uncle, Fr Cyril Blake, who worked in the rugged and remote mountainous region above the south coast town of Kerema. He received an award from Queen Elizabeth II in the 1970s for his work in what were often hazardous conditions. Two priests died when the light planes they were piloting crashed, and Fr Cyril contracted an illness that ended his 13 years there.

Now retired, Fr Patrick Harvey spent 18 years, from 1973 to 1991, in the same region, answering a call from Cardinal Knox for missionaries to work with the Kamea people.

Frs Cyril, Patrick and many others did vital missionary work in PNG, building schools, medical facilities and even a tiny airstrip on the side of a mountain, 1.3 kilometres above sea level. ‘We started from scratch,’ Fr Patrick says. ‘Little medical centres, primary schools and eventually a secondary school.’ Despite challenges like malaria—which he describes as ’just like getting a cold’—the mission left a lasting impact on him after nearly two decades working in the community.

One of MOM’s longest-running projects supports the Sisters of Sion in Jerusalem and the West Bank. It was during a visit to Israel, when Mr Moore was staying with the sisters in the old city of Jerusalem, that he heard about the education fund they had set up to cover school fees for disadvantaged children. The sisters convinced him that supporting the fund would be one way to make a real difference to the children’s lives.

‘The sisters ask the children, who are from a Muslim background, to learn Hebrew, and the children who are Christian, they learn Arabic,’ Mr Moore explains. ‘The sisters believe that the only way that the country will reach a peaceful solution is through the understanding that’s gained by people growing up knowing each other’s language.’

While the war continues, no pilgrims are coming.

MOM has funded the program for over a decade. ‘We’ve even supported tertiary students,’ Peter says, adding that it is especially beneficial for girls. ‘Orphaned girls, or those without a father-figure, are severely impacted if they don’t have a strong male family member who can advocate on their behalf.’

The sisters work discreetly to protect families from the stigma of receiving charity. ‘It’s very carefully managed,’ Peter notes. ‘We send the money to Sr Trudy, and she disperses it to about a dozen schools. This money often gets held by the bank until they can prove who Melbourne Overseas Missions is, prove that the Education Fund is funding children’s education.

‘You have to be very savvy to operate in Israel, and the sisters are very gentle, but they know how to make sure that they do everything by the book.’

Sr Trudy recently wrote to MOM to thank the organisation for its continued prayers and support, which are needed more than ever after more than 18 months of war. ‘While the war continues, no pilgrims are coming, and therefore most [residents] are unemployed,’ she wrote, saying the sisters are grateful for the most recent donation, which will cover school fees for dozens of children in the occupied West Bank for the school year that is about to start.

Peter Moore says MOM supports a range of projects based on need. In remote Pakistan, it funded midwifery training in a rural Pakari Koli Christian community. He says they are marginalised people with a very high infant mortality rate, and women often die in childbirth. ‘We built a facility and trained midwives, and they were so grateful. A group of women sent this beautiful fabric picture of Jesus that they stitched together with donations of material; it’s just gorgeous.’

Fr Joe’s doing amazing work, and he’s a classic example of when we know somebody and we know how they spend their money.

MOM is now exploring the possibility of renewing ties with Timor-Leste after meeting Cardinal Virgilio do Carmo da Silva when he visited Australia earlier this year. ‘He asked Catholic Mission if they would sponsor an education project, and they suggested MOM might help,’ Mr Moore says. ‘We were connected with Timor in the past, before my time. The Cardinal is putting something together with his team in Dili to see if they can make a new link with Melbourne Overseas Missions.’

The charity also has links with the African and South American continents. A major focus presently is Peru, where MOM supports Melburnian Fr Joe Ruys’ work in the remote highlands of Cheecha. ‘We provided him with a vehicle to deliver medical supplies and transport people,’ Mr Moore says. Fr Joe also distributes food packages to families living in basic tents and huts.

‘Fr Joe’s doing amazing work, and he’s a classic example of when we know somebody and we know how they spend their money. We’re happy to give them good-quality donations so that they can transform the lives of local people.’

MOM’s work relies on funding from the Archbishop’s Campaign but also receives donations, often from unexpected sources. ‘We’ve received generous bequests,’ Mr Moore says. ‘Last year, an old lady who was a nurse left MOM a substantial amount in her will. It was a lovely thing to be able to learn a little bit about someone who we didn’t even know.’

We can see in places like PNG, and even in the West Bank, a real difference that can be made.

Mr Moore finds the work of Melbourne Overseas Missions ‘rewarding and humbling’, saying it can be life-changing.

‘That’s one of the great privileges of being with MOM, because we can see in places like PNG, and even in the West Bank, a real difference that can be made. The good intentions of people from the Archdiocese of Melbourne, their donations, can be transformed into something that really, really makes an impact.’