For 44 years, from his arrival in Western Australia in 1846 to his death in 1990, Rosendo Salvado, Spanish Benedictine missionary, bishop and monastic leader, was a single-minded and hands-on advocate for the mission he established among the Noongar-Yuet people at New Norcia in the Victoria Plains district north-east of Perth.

Stefano Girola's translation of Salvado's last Report to Rome makes the missionary's assessment of five decades of work at New Norcia available in English for the first time. It sets the missionary's mature reflection alongside his Memoirs, the promotional account of the foundation of New Norcia published in 1851.

Salvado's final Report to Rome ranged over widely varied tasks, physically demanding, intellectually stimulating, emotionally testing and integrated ultimately by Salvado's commitment to spiritual renewal and a sure future for New Norcia's community.

Translated by Stefano Girola

Contributor Katharine Massam

Published by the Benedictine Community of New Norcia