Day 1: Radical self-emptying
Poullart des Places novena: day 1 (23rd of September)
First-ever Vivat International workshop in Papua New Guinea
History was written for the Church in Papua New Guinea as the first-ever VIVAT International Workshop was held from 14th to 18th September 2026 at the SVD Conference Centre, Madang, with the theme “Choose Life: Protect Life, Nurture and Thrive”
Poullart des Places Novena 2026
This novena invites us to revisit selected passages from Claude François Poullart des Places’ Choix d’un État de Vie as a spiritual pathway for life in an intercultural community. At first glance, the text appears to be a personal narrative—deeply introspective, centred on vocational discernment, and without explicit reference to the encounter between cultures. The very term interculturality did not yet exist in Poullart des Places’ time. And yet, the spiritual experience he describes touches the very core of what makes authentic intercultural community life possible: knowing oneself in order to open oneself more fully to others.