Columban Mission - October 2009

The Magazine of the Missionary Society of St. Columban

October 2009

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Volume 92 - Number 6 - October 2009

o n t e n t s

Columban Mission

The Issue Theme: Columban mission in the Philippines—where we started and where we are today

Published By The Columban Fathers Columban Mission (Issn 0095-4438) is published eight times a year. A minimum donation of $10 a year is required to receive a subscription.

Send address and other contact information changes by calling our toll-free number, by sending the information to our mailing address or by e-mailing us at missionoffice@columban.org.

Missing Rufus A brother’s tribute

4 Columbans in the Philippines

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Expelled from China, the Columbans found a home in the Philippines

7 Requiem

The death of Columban Father Rufus Halley inspires a seminarian.

8 A Technicolor Tragedy

A living nightmare for migrant workers

11 Export labor is driven by fear and consumerism

Strain caused by the remittance custom

14 A Pair of Artists

Rodilyn and Crisanto

15 The Great Good of Fair Trade

A grass-roots work project provides income and protects the environment.

17 Wanderers for Christ

Successfully working ourselves out of a job!

19 Bearing Witness

Columban lay missionaries in the Philippines

21 Grain by Grain

Making rice more affordable for the poor

22 The Community of Hope Center Gives and Receives

The gift of Mary Joy

Departments 3 In So Many Words 23 From the Director

Missionaries of the People—Locally and Globally

Mailing Address: Columban Mission PO Box 10 St. Columbans, NE 68056-0010 Toll-Free Phone: 877/299-1920 Website: WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG Copyright © 2009, The Columban Fathers (Legal Title) Publisher Fr. Arturo Aguilar, SSC directorusa@columban.org

Editor Sr. Jeanne Janssen, CSJ jjanssen@columban.org

Managing Editor Kate Kenny kkenny@columban.org

Editorial Assistant Connie Wacha cwacha@columban.org

Editorial Board Fr. Arturo Aguilar, SSC Jesus Manuel Vargas Gamboa Sr. Jeanne Janssen, CSJ Kate Kenny Jeff Norton Fr. Richard Steinhilber, SSC Connie Wacha

The Missionary Society of St. Columban was founded in 1918 to proclaim and witness to the Good News of Jesus Christ.

The Society seeks to establish the Catholic Church where the Gospel has not been preached, help local churches evangelize their laity, promote dialogue with other faiths, and foster among all baptized people an awareness of their missionary responsibility.

Cover and Graphic Design by Kristin Ashley

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The Philippines: Pearl of the Orient, Land of Promise

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he Philippines is indeed a pearl of great price. Its people are industrious, hard working and long suffering.

The land is fertile and filled with valuable minerals, gold and silver.

However, the pearl has become rough through abuse, corruption and the loss of respect for human dignity, and the land of promise has become a land of broken promises. Its people long have suffered the indignity of dire poverty. Its sons and daughters leave the country by the planeload every day in hope of finding jobs so they can provide better lives for their families. Natural resources are exploited, and the Filipino people are the ones living with the devastation left behind.

In the areas where gold and silver have been mined for nearly 50 years, the poor living in the mine areas have remained poor and are often removed from their land to facilitate the mining companies. Mining laws exist to prevent this, but they are seldom enforced. New mine holdings in Mindanao threaten the lives and livelihood of countless farmers and fishermen. The mines are located in an area where major rivers have their sources. Falsified documents showing that no people live in the area have been filed. The Subanen people have lived in the area for hundreds of n o any ords years and have the right, by law, not to be dislocated by Fr. Don Kill mining operations. The mining companies must, by law,

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have the prior informed consent of the whole tribe before they can begin mining operations. In spite of protests and court cases against the mining companies, government officials have granted mining permits “so that we can pay our national debt.” One has to ask what part the poor have played in accumulating such a massive national debt and why it has to be paid by destroying the ecology and the livelihood of thousands of farmers and fishermen.

It is amazing that there are not more who rebel against those who rule in this “land of broken promises.” However, hope springs eternal in the hearts of the poor. Their trust in the infinite mercy of God does not waver. They carry their part of the Cross entrusted to them by Jesus Christ knowing that they will rise with Him in a new life where pearls are without value and where promises are kept, the promise of Eternal Life with God.

Their trust in the

infinite mercy of God does not waver.

Fr. Don Kill was missioned to the Philippines in 1972. He continues his work with the Filipino people.

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Missing C Rufus

olumban priest Fr. Michael Anthony (Rufus) Halley was shot dead in Malabang, Mindanao, Philippines, on August 28, 2001. His death took place during an attempted kidnapping.

He was 56 years old.

A Brother’s Tribute

By John Halley

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Childhood Memories

My first vivid memory of Rufie is set in the kitchen of our home in Ireland when I was just six years old. He had a packet of cookies and he offered me one. I said, “Thanks, can I take two?” This made him so angry that he snatched back the cookies and shouted at me, “Now you won’t have any!” I bawled with shame and fury, but he didn’t care.

Walking out of the kitchen, he went to his car and drove off, taking the cookies with him. I can still see his black Morris Minor through the blur of the tears in my eyes receding in the distance, impervious to my tears. Later that evening we met again in the kitchen and I said, “Could I please have a cookie? I promise I’ll only take one.” He said, “Sure, take two.” I was reformed, and all was forgiven. Right or wrong, Rufus was always my inspiration.

Voice of Reason

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days we were both in England. I was doing my Ph.D. in engineering, and he was studying Islam in Birmingham. Meanwhile I had scandalized my family by becoming an evangelical Christian while at university. What I kept secret was that in London I had gone further and become involved with an extreme faction of evangelical Christianity, a cult interested only in proselytizing and which insisted everyone else was going to hell.

Under pressure I agreed with them that all Catholics must go to hell, including Rufus and the rest of my family. However, I couldn’t believe it very seriously, since I continued to confide all of my secrets to Rufus and never to them.

One day I told him all about my involvement with the evangelical group. I said that as this cult had been hammering at my defenses, they had somehow gained a handle on me. I remember Rufie said only this: “A handle? Now that’s not a good thing, when somebody has a handle on you, and wants to use it.” Though I remain an evangelical Christian, from that moment I never let any grasping organization get a handle on my soul. And I told the cult to get lost.

Brotherly Differences

Rufus and I were very different.

While I was always impressed with fancy things like glory and martyrdom (I’m still like that, a sucker for the epic picture) Rufie was more practical and preferred funny things. He was forever finding spiritual significance in boring, everyday events. He introduced me to the story of Charles de Foucauld, the Frenchman who left Western www.columban.org

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Fr. Rufus Halley

society to live the life of the unseen Christ in a small village in Muslim North Africa. De Foucauld was killed by gunfire during the First World War. It is still a bit hazy as to why he was killed, or by whom. Though de Foucauld was considered a failure in his lifetime, dying without any “converts,” he left a big impression on those he met.

Today the Little Brothers and Little Sisters of Charles de Foucauld are among the most vibrant orders in the Catholic Church, taking monastic vows but living alongside ordinary people.

My brother was very excited at the thought of nuns and monks doing proper jobs in factories and sharing serious poverty. That was far too gritty for me. Over the years, Rufie continued to grow closer to the ideas of Charles de Foucauld, and I continued to hide from them.

Visions of Glory

When Rufus and I talked, he didn’t entirely deny me the epic splendor that I craved. One such

moment was the evening he told me of his decision to work in Lanao del Sur, Philippines. He would be in Marawi, Philippines — “the Islamic City of Marawi.” He said his life would henceforth be dangerous. I was full of excitement. After all, I was young, and young people like risky adventures. When he shared with me his vision of dialogue with Islam, my enthusiasm grew. I had always had a romantic love of the religion of Mohammed, without ever having met a single Muslim.

Maybe I read the Arabian Nights too often when I was young.

Finally, he told me about the spirituality of the Sufis, about Ibn El-Arabi who had so inspired the young Saladin and about Rabi’ah al Adawiyya who is said to have run through the streets of Bagdad wielding a firebrand and a bucket of water, and threatening to burn and drown hell with these words: “Lord if I love you out of fear of Hell, throw me into Hell. And if I should love you in hope of Paradise, deny me Paradise.”

And so Rufus went to Marawi. And his gift for being as enthusiastic about everyday things and ordinary people’s preoccupations would make just as much of an impression as his love for Islamic philosophy and mysticism, probably more. That was over 20 years ago.

Missing Rufie

What I miss most is his laughter. There is a kind of humor that thrives between close friends and which is utterly unique to that friendship. As the friendship develops, so the dialogue grows with it and also the humor.

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Fr. Halley’s five brothers are pictured with Muslim friends at his funeral. From left, Eamonn, Emmett, Walter, John (author) and Gerry.

which only that one person will understand and laugh at. Rufus began this process with his humorous view of world events and personalities and, as we talked, I began to develop a similar capacity.

Between us there evolved an alternative history, a joke history of the world. Whenever we met or wrote letters to each other, we updated this history, adding new chapters and new jokes all the time. We spent many happy hours in this way. Even now, I will often wake up in the still dark hours of the morning inspired by some new connection. I know that only Rufus will get the joke. But Rufus is gone.

Finding Peace

That Rufus was murdered is hard, and the hardest part is not knowing why he died, or who really wanted him dead. You could call his death “martyrdom,” but there is nothing epic or glorious in it now. Sometimes, like in the “failed kidnap attempt” theory, it seems like a sort of glorified accident.

If it really was like that, then my brother shared the death of so many in Mindanao with whom he shared his life.

And so I, and others, have been compelled to share the indignity suffered by countless others in this world: to lose a dear one to injustice, to stupidity, to ignorance.

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As with the death of Charles de Foucauld, many times I have been tempted to believe that the sacrifice was pointless. I hear the call for justice and see it swallowed whole by conspiracies of silence and fear. This is a bitter pill for me to swallow. “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him” (Psalm 37).

Where are those seeds of his work? Bless those robust, cheerful souls who see evidence sprouting all around them like a runaway garden!

I haven’t been so lucky. But perhaps it is not the plan for all of us to see the same things. I have found some little things that start to wash away my bitterness. For example, the work of Charles de Foucauld no longer seems dull and, though it is not my vocation, I do not run from his ideas any more. Instead they stir in me a longing like the Song of Songs does.

Something else happened, too. For many years before his death, I had found going to church difficult. I was so trapped in selfrighteousness that the company of other churchgoers was virtually unbearable to me. Then one day I found myself in church again, and as I looked around I realized that I was no longer irritated by people. It was shortly after my brother’s death that I had this experience, and so I see it as his parting gift to me.

I believe that God will complete Rufus’ work, and that those of us who are willing to wait and pray may see some of it. But if this experience of mine is any guide, God’s work may be so quiet that we will see very little. Until one strange day we notice that the fear, the hatred, the darkness have moved on. No bells, no music, just gone. CM John Halley is a brother of deceased Columban Father Rufus Halley. He generously shared his story with our sister publication, Misyon, the Columban Philippine Magazine, and we reprinted it with permission here.

Fr. Rufus Halley and friends in the Philippines.

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Requiem The Death of Columban Father Rufus Halley Inspires a Seminarian

By Alito de los Santos, Columban Seminarian

I was employed with a nongovernmental organization, or NGO, in Mindanao when I decided to join the Columbans in 2002. At the NGO, my main task was to provide technical assistance to farmers in managing their cooperatives. I liked the job very much, and I was full of dreams. I wanted to address the many systemic problems that the Philippines was facing at that time and change the society for the better.

However, gradually things came up that challenged my idealism. First was the realization that the system I was fighting against was huge and extremely powerful. Second, I discovered that spirituality was lacking in my intervention as an NGO worker.

Third, I became aware that I, like most anyone else, could be corrupted by the system if I was not very careful. Still, I wanted to become the person I dreamed of being, and the thoughts of becoming a priest, which I had when I was in high school and college, came back to me.

I participated in the Columbans’ Accompaniment Program, a program for young professionals who are trying to discern their vocations in life, in 2001. I enjoyed the activities and the life sharing we did as “searchers.” I also met many Columbans and heard many stories about their lives and work. I admired their humility and passion www.columban.org

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as missionaries and felt that I had found my companions. At that time, I had no immediate plans to join the Columbans since my siblings still needed my financial support for their studies.

Then one day when we were having a retreat day, a tragic event happened. One of the Columbans working in the Philippines, Fr. Rufus Halley, was murdered in Lanao del Sur. I was shocked even though I did not know him personally. In my prayers I found myself saying, “Lord, a Columban has died. Let me replace him.”

When I attended Fr. Rufus’ Requiem Mass, I was touched deeply by the presence of so many people, particularly the Muslims,

who attended the service. The intense feelings I had at that time made me reflect about the urgency of answering God’s call. After the funeral, I talked to the vocation director about entering the seminary.

In 2002, I started my Columban formation in Manila. In 2004, I went to Chicago, Illinois, and began my formal studies in theology. The things that I learned at the seminary affirmed my desire to become a missionary priest.

The very demanding formation process slowly made sense. It clarified what I really desired in life and purified my motivations.

In August 2006, I went on my first missionary assignment to China, fully embracing the difficulties of learning a new language and doing pastoral work in a communist country. CM Columban seminarian Alito de los Santos continues his studies in Chicago, Illinois.

Alito de los Santos on his first missionary assignment in China.

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A Technicolor Tragedy

A Living Nightmare for Migrant Workers

By Fr. Jim Mulroney

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igrant workers in Hong Kong live out their private lives in the street. With big numbers from the Philippines and Indonesia, and smaller groups from Thailand, Sri Lanka and Nepal, the migrants come alone to work as domestic help in private homes and live with their employers. Most of the domestic workers have a holiday on Sundays, but with no homes to invite their friends to or private place to gather, they are on public display in their leisure, cultural, political, social and religious activities.

On Sundays Filipinos take over the central business district,

filling covered walkways, spaces protected by overhead roads or bridges, undercrofts of buildings or alcoves of closed office blocks.

They cover the ground with rugs and occasionally hoist umbrellas for a bit of privacy as they chat, play cards, gamble, telephone their families and friends, eat or sleep.

Indonesians occupy vast areas of Victoria Park in Causeway Bay, crowding into nooks and crannies to spend their day off. Thais opt for the smaller Kowloon Park, which they share with the Sri Lankans and Nepali.

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migrants back home. International couriers unfold big boxes for gifts going back to families. Consulates general provide services and information to the makeshift community. Evangelizers sing offkey while small groups protest against political developments and pray for the downtrodden. Political parties strut their stuff, medical people do health checks and photographers provide keepsakes.

There are over 300,000 domestic worker migrants in Hong Kong, and they are a sizable group in a population of only six million. Ninety-nine percent of the workers are women. Most of them are married, and all are living away from their families. They work in conditions that range from extremely bad to extremely good, depending on the whim and circumstance of their employer.

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as street pollution and occasionally petition to remove the “human litter,� most are sympathetically tolerant or simply accepting of them as part of the scenery.

Filipinos and Indonesians account for almost 250,000 of the 300,000 migrant workers in the territory with the two groupings roughly equal in numbers.

Most of the Filipinos are Catholic, so many parishes have English Masses on Sundays to accommodate them. Some even provide all-day recreational facilities or study opportunities, as well as social welfare and legal services. One parish provides round-the-clock Masses, distributing communion to approximately 14,000 persons each weekend.

Normally the migrants do not disturb the air. But when they celebrate, demonstrate or commemorate, a breeze springs up.

At a casual glance, it can be hard to tell which is which, as all three are marked by colorful costumes, brightly decorated stalls, banners, street theater, loud music, speeches and lots of laughter and good humor.

Most of the time, someone is demonstrating about something.

As a people discriminated against

in immigration practices, by workplace legislation, residency restrictions, labor law and often police enforcement processes, the migrants have plenty to complain about in Hong Kong.

In early April, a freebie English publication called HK Magazine, which is distributed around shops, bars, restaurants and hotels, ran a satirical attack on the behavior of the Chinese and Philippine governments in a disagreement over sovereignty of the Spratley Islands. It portrayed Filipinos in Hong Kong as potential prisoners of war in the event of an armed showdown and depicted them as a nation of servants.

The editorial hit a sore spot.

The Filipinos marched into the streets by the thousands to register their ire and hurt. There was no mistaking this demonstration for a celebration. Speaker after speaker added to the litany of discriminatory practices they are subjected to in Hong Kong.

Petitions went around, demands were made and, under the guiding hand of the police, all marched off to the government offices to present their demands.

Since it was Palm Sunday, most of the protesters carried palms.

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for peace and love while others proclaimed the dignity of their work. Slogans were shouted, fists were raised, and the usual laughter was replaced by tears of pride. They know that they stand on borrowed land, but on that Palm Sunday, they owned the streets.

As a group, Filipinos are highly educated and represent professions such as nursing, natural science, pharmacy, architecture, accounting, internet technology, management and social work. Among migrant workers, university dropouts abound, often for financial or personal reasons.

One of the larger celebrations among the migrant community is the feast of Santo NiĂąo de Praga. The celebration includes a dance with an ancient dance step, foreign to modern rhythm that challenges even the most nimble-footed from the disco.

The dance commemorates the arrival of Christianity and the transition of the Filipino people from predominately Muslim to Christian. The costumes are stunning, and the dancing is brilliantly connected to the haunting music. The production is punctuated by advertisements from mobile phone companies, political messages from potential presidents 10

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and congratulatory accolades from the consular staff.

Independence Day is another time for celebration. It features an interfaith prayer service rather than the Mass which is so commonplace at other functions. Recognition is given to the multi-faith reality of the country, which has a sizeable Muslim population, among others.

Again, there is music, dancing, costumes, political messages and advertisements, all conniving to put the most basic needs of friendship, relaxation and acceptance on public display for all the world to see.

As Europe began to close down its slave markets in the 19th century, enterprising entrepreneurs and tycoons realized there was money in the mass export of cheap labor. Men from poverty-stricken areas were lured with the promise of gold for a few years in the mines in far off places, women with household chores. Factories needed disposable labor.

Pope Leo XIII, in his watershed 1891 encyclical, Rerum Novarum (Of Things New), declared any labor program immoral if it necessitated family separation to eke an economic advantage.

Today, governments are splitting the families of their own nations through the exported sweat of

human brows. Other governments welcome the migrants to do the dirty, dangerous and demeaning work of their country only to dispose of the migrants when they are no longer wanted or needed.

The streets of Hong Kong are a weekly testament to the modern human tragedy of families broken by economic necessity. The reality of migrant labor is on display in its full “technicolor glory� in Hong Kong. Sadly, it is a living nightmare for many of the domestic workers separated from their families and loved ones, far from their homes. CM Fr. Jim Mulroney currently lives and works in China.

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Export Labor is Driven by Fear and Consumerism

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s the coordinator of migrant chaplaincy services for the Taiwanese Bishops’ Conference, Columban Father Peter O’Neill named migrant workers’ family members as being one of the greatest sources of pressure on them. He told the Conference, “The large majority of migrant workers are under immense pressure from their families to send home as much remittance as they possibly can. The workers are already under considerable pressure in their workplace, and yet they have this added pressure and burden coming constantly from their families.”

He added that many “feel as if their families do not appreciate the many long hours of work they do each day...and this pressure and lack of appreciation can have a psychological effect on migrant workers.”

He said that surveys among migrant workers across Asia reveal that they do not tell their families the truth about their struggles and the abuse they suffer in the workplace, so as not to worry them. However, he noted that the downside of this is that their families do not appreciate the suffering that goes into producing the remittances that they pick up on a regular basis.

In addition, the remittance custom places an undue strain on family relationships. Often adult migrant workers do not want to question their parents who receive the remittances about how they use the money, even when they know that their parents are wasting the money. In this situation, the mistrust tends to magnify. The children of migrant workers can be much too demanding on their parents, or older brothers and sisters overseas, which can leave the migrant worker feeling isolated from the home scene and even angry about it.

As the long-time director of the Hope Center for Migrant Workers in Taipei, Taiwan, Fr. O’Neill noted that as a group, both migrant workers and their families are characterized by an excessive consumerism. “They have a psychological tendency to fill up the vacuum of what they were

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not able to possess when they were poor. Male workers tend to buy excessive amounts of IT equipment and females excessive amounts of stuffed toys, cosmetics and jewelry.”

He also noted that parents who are away from home try to compensate by sending their children excessive amounts of toys, and families often waste the hard-earned remittances coming back to them on unnecessary consumer items.

“There is competition among migrant workers and their families as to who has more commodities and who has more children working overseas,” he summarized, adding that the upgraded standard of living that results from a family member working in a foreign country becomes a status symbol in the local community. “Many have large homes, out of proportion with other homes in the communities,” he added.

Fr. O’Neill said that the status symbol syndrome has also infected governments of labor exporting countries. “All migrant sending governments rely heavily on remittances to keep their economies afloat,” he said, as a result of which, “they compete with other governments for a greater share of the job market.” He noted that this leads to the reluctance to make demands on the governments of receiving countries, as well as an apathy towards creating jobs in the home economy.

“The president of the Philippines has as one of her goals to send one million Filipinos overseas every year,” he remarked, but stated that she has given up talking about her failed policy of creating one million jobs at home each year.

Fr . Peter O’Neill summarized the export labor industry as one built on fear, stress and excessive consumerism in a report given on behalf of the Migrant Forum Asia to the Transnational Assembly of Remitters and Families for the Global League of Community Sustainers, held in Mexico City, Mexico, in May 2008.

Fr. Peter O’Neill has been a missionary in Taiwan since 1991.

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Columbans in the Philippines: The Beginning Expelled from China, the Columbans Found a Home in the Philippines

By Fr. Kevin McHugh

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fter nearly 400 years of Spanish rule, the Philippines broke with Spain in 1898. The Spanish priests were deported and a Filipino nationalist church gained strength, severing connections with Rome. Filipino Catholics were left leaderless, their traditions languishing, as North American Protestant missionaries and school teachers poured into the country.

The Philippine Catholic Church cried to the world for help.

The Irish-born Archbishop of Manila, Michael O’Doherty, requested that the Redemptorists from Ireland, who had come to Cebu in 1905, accept the parish of Malate in Manila. In 1912, the Redemptorists signed a contract to work there for seven years but, as time went by, they were persuaded by the Archbishop to extend their stay for a further ten years. Since the Columbans had been founded in 1918 to work in China, it was only after protracted negotiations between Rome and the Archbishop of Manila that the Society leadership agreed to send a few men to staff Malate.

May 30, 1929, is an historic day for Columbans in the Philippines.

On that day Fr. Michael Cuddigan, who had sailed from Sydney, Australia, disembarked in Manila Harbor and made his way to Our Lady of Remedios Church, Malate.

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He was not the first Columban to visit Manila; several others had made it a port of call in the 1920s en route to and from China.

However, he was the first in a long line of Columbans who, over the next 80 years, would make the Philippines their home.

The following day, May 31, a second Irish Columban, Fr. Patrick Kelly, arrived. He had sailed from Ireland via Genoa, was met by Fr. Cuddigan at the pier and escorted to Malate, a short distance south along Manila Bay. Redemptorist Fr. Dennis Grogan graciously stayed on in Malate for a few months to introduce the two Columbans into Manila parish life.

In letters to their Superiors and members of their own families, the new priests described their early experiences. Excerpts give us a flavor of parish life 80 years ago. On September 25, 1929, Fr. Cuddigan wrote: “The parish is well organized and speaks well for the efforts of the Redemptorists.

When they came they found a deserted church and after years of hard work brought the people to a very devout stage in the practice of their religion. The love they have for the Virgin is simply wonderful.”

In a letter to his sister the following year, Fr. Kelly described “the grand old customs from Spanish times. Malate is a very popular shrine of Our Lady of Remedios (Healing). On Fiesta WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG

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Day many beautiful statues are brought in procession on specially decorated carriages lit up with electricity. Last of all is Our Lady of Remedios on a carriage covered with antique silver. As the evening was dark the whole thing looked very beautiful; thousands marching in the procession, with music from seven bands. It is all so different from the quiet manifestation of faith in Ireland….”

Malate Church was established by the Augustinians in 1588, only 23 years after the imposition of Spanish rule and the official beginning of Christianity in the Philippines. A statue of the patroness, Our Lady of Remedios, was brought from Spain in 1624 and installed behind the main altar. Fr. Cuddigan writes, “The Shrine of Nuestra Señora de los Remedios is the great attraction. Each Saturday is a day of pilgrimage.

Hundreds arrive from the back of the mountains across the bay.

Their parked bancas (boats) make things hum on Malate Beach. I’m sure 500 children come along in arms to be blessed at Our Lady’s Shrine.” He then describes how the priest would stand inside the altar rails and sprinkle the children and the parents with holy water as he moved along. This custom has endured until today, although devotees come now in jeepneys and on foot. Children are still brought for blessings on Saturday mornings.

Fr. Michael Cuddigan collapsed from overwork and tuberculosis in August 1930. He was assigned to Australia, arrived there in October 1930, and lived and worked to the age of 84! Starting in 1930 and following the assignment of Frs. Cuddigan and Kelly to the Philippines, more Columbans were assigned to the country. They were Gary Cogon, John Lalor, John Henaghan, Joe Monaghan, Peter Fallon, Tom Connolly, Sam Sheehan, Mick Donoher and E.J. McCarthy.

In the years that followed, the Society leadership undertook the staffing of several inland parishes outside the city in Silang, Morong, Rizal and Lingayen. In 1938, a large group of Columbans came and was assigned to northern Mindanao.

In four Provinces, which are now separate dioceses, Columbans staffed the newly created parishes since there were no Filipino clergy available at that time in northern Mindanao.

Following the Second World War and the expulsion of all Columbans from China, the Society took on more territories: Negros in 1950 and Zambales in 1951. By the mid-1970s, the total number of Columbans stationed in the Philippines had reached 253.

Since then, because of the taking on of mission assignments in other parts of the world, and because of aging and deaths, our numbers have been reduced. The work of building up the local Church had been accomplished, and the ways Columban missionaries contributed in this great work is a story of grace and blessings. CM Fr. Kevin McHugh works in the Philippines.

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A Pair of Artists Rodilyn and Crisanto

By Fr. Vincent Busch

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n the year 2000, Rodilyn Balido was sixteen years old and living in a remote mountain barrio in Mindanao.

A member of the marginalized indigenous Subanen people, Rodilyn had to stop her schooling to help her family survive. On market day she sold root crops and pieces of fruit to make a few pennies for the family. One market day Rodilyn met Carla Clarke, a Columban Lay Missionary from Britain. Carla and Rodilyn became good friends, and over the

Rodilyn and Crisanto (center) with their parents

development of their friendship, Carla noticed Rodilyn’s talent in weaving beautiful beaded bracelets. Carla introduced me to Rodilyn, and I too marveled at her beading skill. I wondered if a livelihood project could help Rodilyn and other Subanen artisans craft a better future.

From the skillful beadwork of a teenager, the Subanen Crafts Project was born. Rodilyn, her sister Jovie, her sister-in-law Marcelita, and Marcelita’s sister Andonie combined their crafting 14

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Fr. Vincent Busch and the Subanen crafters

skills in a new parish-sponsored livelihood project called Subanen Crafts. Through their association with this project they could now market their beautiful work and support their families using the skills handed down from generation to generation.

Life opened up for Rodilyn.

With income from her work, she was able to finish high school, to take college courses and, eventually, to get married. Rodilyn had found a path out of poverty and a sustaining and fulfilling life through her beadwork. However, she had another obstacle to overcome. Rodilyn was born with kyphoscoliosis, a debilitating spinal condition that bowed her back and stunted her growth. Kyphoscoliosis is a combination of kyphosis and scoliosis. Kyphosis is also called “hunch back” or “hunchbackism” due to the curvature of the upper spine resulting in a bowing of the back. Scoliosis is generally described as an s-shaped curve of the spine.

Due to her medical condition, Rodilyn could not walk until she

was five years old. As she aged her spinal condition worsened restricting her lungs and with it her breathing capacity. In fact, a common cold could prove fatal for Rodilyn. Physically, life would always be a struggle for her. Fortunately, the work of the Subanen Crafts Project does not physically stress Rodilyn.

In 2008, Rodilyn became pregnant. Due to her diminutive stature and limited lung capacity, her pregnancy had to be carefully monitored. She would definitely need a Cesarean delivery and, due to the kyphoscoliosis, the operation would require four doctors. Her generous doctors offered their services for free, and the Subanen Crafts Project was able to cover both the hospital bill and the bill for medicine required after the surgery. Her pregnancy went well and on March 16, 2009, Rodilyn delivered a healthy baby girl. Everyone rejoiced.

Two months later, while I was shopping for craft supplies in Manila, I received an urgent call from Rodilyn. Her 16-yearwww.columban.org

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old brother, Crisanto, had been catapulted off the top of a moving jeepney that was taking him and other students home after school. In rural areas where public transportation is limited, it is a common practice for high school boys to ride on the top of passenger vehicles so that others might ride inside. Crisanto was seriously injured, and Rodilyn was deeply frightened. He was taken to the nearest emergency hospital more than three hours away. At the time of the accident, Crisanto was living with Rodilyn and her young family. Crisanto was a trainee in the Subanen Crafts Project, and the money he earned paid for his education. Like his sister Rodilyn, Crisanto was a gifted artisan.

Long into the night I waited for more news about Crisanto.

To pass the time I turned on the television. The airwaves were filled with stories of the death of pop star Michael Jackson which did nothing

to take my mind off Crisanto. In the middle of the night, Rodilyn called to say that Crisanto had died. Her voice was full of tears.

Crisanto had broken his back as well as his skull in the fall. There was nothing that the doctors could have done to save his life. While the world mourned the passing of a larger-than-life entertainer, we quietly mourned the too-short life of a gifted artist who did not have the opportunity to fulfill his life’s promise.

When I returned to Mindanao I made an album for their family of the photos I had taken of Crisanto during a recent craft training session. In that training session Crisanto made Christmas cards in which he skillfully inlaid images of Mary holding her baby. When I look upon that image, I remember the joyful and the tragic stories surrounding that first Christmas. When I think of Rodilyn holding her newborn

Rodilyn with her daughter Jesabel

babe, I feel the joyful promise of Bethlehem. And when I think of Crisanto, I feel the tragic death of a holy innocent. CM

Fr. Vincent Busch works with the Subanen people in the Philippines. For more information about the Subanen Crafts Project, please visit www.subanencrafts. com or email Fr. Busch at subanencrafts@ yahoo.com.

The Great Good of Fair Trade A Grass-Roots Works Project Provides Income While Protecting the Environment

By Fr. Shay Cullen

S

everal years ago Maria Lopez, then 34 years of age, lost her husband, a coastal fisherman and the family’s sole financial support, in a terrible storm. With four children and no income, she was destitute and reduced to begging to feed her children and herself. With a small loan from the Preda Fair Trade project, she bought an old model mobile phone and established the first telephone service in her remote fishing village.

As information about the phone www.columban.org

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spread, the villagers were queuing up outside her house to send text messages and call relatives. She soon had more business than the phone could handle and bought another cell phone with the earnings from her growing and thriving business. Maria established a new business to aid her village, earned an income to feed, clothe and house herself and her children and secured a future for her family with a single, small loan which she soon repaid.

A group of women sewers in another village are making customdesigned t-shirts and polo shirts for Galway Community College in Galway, Ireland. The college wants their staff and students to wear guaranteed fair trade sports clothes. No customer can know if what they wear is made with child October 2009

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or exploited slave labor unless it is guaranteed fair trade.

Fair trade is a movement based on strict ethical criteria that guarantees justice and protection for workers and the environment.

It also provides an opportunity for consumers to buy products that are not tainted by exploitation, child labor or environmental degradation.

Preda Fair Trade is a sister project of the Preda Foundation Inc. and has been active in fair trade and humanitarian development projects since 1975.

Developmental fair trade is not only buying and selling fairly-traded fruit and making chemical free dried mangos, it is involved with the lives of poor people to help them live better lives and overcome injustice and exploitation. Recently as many as 100 villagers from the small farming community along the Zambales coast asked for help in removing dangerous fish cages near their coastal village. The cages are damaging their fishing grounds and reducing their catch. Preda is now part of their struggle for justice.

Preda Fair Trade is committed to combating the scourge of child labor especially in the sex industry. Hundreds of thousands of wealthy foreign sex tourists flock to the Philippines to exploit the impoverished children lured to the sex bars by false promises. Preda is rescuing dozens of children and giving them a new start in life, bringing the traffickers and abusers to trial when possible.

The ethical treatment of workers and care for the environment are what make Preda dried mangos and other Preda Fair Trade products in demand at supermarkets in Ireland, England and in the World Shops across Europe. The delicious, healthy dried fruit is of greater value, quality and importance because 16

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neither the workers nor the earth were exploited to produce it.

Thousands of dollars have been spent on school supplies, uniforms, shoes, school bags, and bus fares for the children of small farmers and farm workers as a share of the sales of dried mangos. The school bags are produced by another group of Preda workers who make the school bags with recycled drink pouches.

The children of the parents involved in the Preda Fair Trade projects continue their educations and break the cycle of poverty and exploitation.

Preda Fair Trade is a holistic organization heavily involved in protecting the indigenous people and their ancestral domain from logging and irresponsible and destructive mining. The reforestation component of Preda Fair Trade working with small farmers to plant trees on barren lands has rejuvenated the environment in many remote mountain areas of Zambales. The Preda project currently plants 1,200 trees annually with plans to double the amount this year. The farmers have received thousands of tree saplings and some have their own tree nurseries. The reforestation has saved hundreds of hectares of land that would have lost its topsoil and been washed into the rivers and sea, destroying many fish species and leaving the land barren and infertile.

With micro-loans from Preda Fair Trade, Filipinos are launching their own businesses to provide for their families and care for the earth.

For more information about Preda and their fair trade products, please visit www. preda.org. CM Fr. Shay Cullen continues his work with Preda in the Philippines.

Experience Life in the Philippines with Columbans!

Voices of the Earth

Columban Father Vincent Busch has lived among the people of the Philippines for more than 25 years. In this video, he shows how members of the Midsalip community are learning from the Subanen people to care for the Earth.

You will meet people of the parish community who work in education, organic farming and basic health care services. The prayer life of the community celebrates the relationship of the people and the Earth.

Voices of Women

Life in Manila’s streets is difficult, but the Gospel is alive in Dakota, where women struggle to protect their homes and families. This video is their story. Columban lay missionaries work with the women to provide education and health care for the children and to ensure lives of dignity. Dakota residents are threatened by powerful people, but the resolve of these women is strong.

Please send me the video(s) I have checked below. Enclosed is my donation of $15 per video. _____________________________ Name _____________________________ Address _____________________________ City _____________________________ State Zip Voices of Women o DVD o VHS Voices of the Earth o DVD o VHS Make checks payble to: The Columban Fathers/Mission Education, PO Box 10, St. Columbans, NE 68056

www.columban.org

9/10/09 4:23:51 PM

Wanderers for Christ Successfully Working Ourselves Out of a Job!

By Fr. Tom Shaughnessy

T

he recent deaconate ordination of one of our Filipino theology students made me reflect on my years in the Philippines and the many changes our Society has undergone since my ordination in 1966 and assignment to the Philippines in 1967. The new deacon, Rev. Andrei Paz, was one of the students when I was the director of our college formation program in Cebu. Of the many students I assisted as a vocation director and a formation director, Andrei is the first to persevere all the way to ordination. I look forward to attending his ordination to the priesthood on December 7, 2009, in his home parish in the province of La Union, Philippines.

Ordaining a Filipino as a Columban missionary priest was something we did not imagine in the early years. As secular priestmissionaries, we were sent to www.columban.org

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work for the diocesan bishop in whatever areas we were assigned

by Rome. Our task was clear: to build up the local Church until it no longer needed outside help. We did not accept candidates from any of the countries where we worked.

The rationale behind the decision was the belief that if we accepted local vocations for our Columban Society we would be working at cross purposes in our efforts to build up the local Church. Instead

we encouraged young men to join the diocesan seminary so they could eventually replace us in the diocese.

However, around 1980 our thinking changed. We felt that if a young man from our mission parishes wanted to be a missionary, we would welcome him into the Columbans. As a missionary society, we are in a good position to help develop such a vocation.

Far from detracting from the local The Stella Maris Academy was founded by the Columban Fathers.

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Fr. Tom Shaughnessy and parishioners

diocese, we would be helping the local Church itself become missionary.

Today there are 38 Columban seminarians from Chile, Peru, Fiji, Korea and the Philippines in various stages of formation. When Andrei is ordained in December, he will be the tenth Filipino Columban to be ordained.

Seminarians and ordination both speak volumes about our future in the Philippines and our continued commitment to the Filipino people.

The history of the Columbans in the Philippines is just as eloquent.

After my ordination, I was assigned to the Philippines and eventually to the island of Negros in the middle part of the archipelago. The Apostolic Nuncio in Manila made a special request to the Columbans to send priests to Negros. The bishop agreed to accept the Columbans into his diocese. He assigned the Columbans to the southern third of his diocese to oversee eight parishes.

Most of the parishes had been badly damaged during WWII; some were only a shell with grass and weeds growing inside. Mass was often held in large Spanish conventos (rectory) or any other structure available. Slowly the people began to rebuild each parish. Each parish covered a vast 18

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geographic territory. As the priests visited the outlying barrios, or villages, they discovered they needed to attend to the spiritual needs of many people who could rarely afford the time or the money to come into the town for the sacraments. Chapels were built in these villages, and the priests would visit as often as they could to provide for the people in the area. In my first parish there were twenty-two barrio chapels which we visited anywhere from from twice a year to once a month. Most of the chapels could be reached by jeep, but some of the more remote sites could only be reached by foot or horseback. Eventually some of the bigger villages became parishes in their own right. From the original eight parishes assigned to us in 1950, the Columbans established twenty more parishes.

Seeing the great need for education, the Columbans began establishing parochial high schools in most of the parishes. Eventually two colleges were also founded by the Columbans with a focus on training teachers but with many other courses also available. The schools proved to be a great boon in the lives of the people. Education was now available and affordable. The schools set a high standard, and many graduates went

on to attain professional degrees.

Some graduates also entered the local seminary, were ordained and have now replaced all the Columbans in Negros. From the original eight parishes assigned to the Columbans in 1950, there are now over thirty parishes comprising the Diocese of Kabankalan which was created in 1987. There are more than fifty diocesan priests serving 650,000 Catholics in the diocese. Many of the priests are products of Columban schools. With Columban support, a diocesan seminary was established in 2002 to provide initial formation for candidates wishing to become priests in the diocese. During my time in Negros, the ratio of priests to people was one priest for every 20,000 Catholics; today the ratio is one priest for every 11,000 Catholics.

As I look back on our work in the Philippines, I believe that we can take pride that we built up the local Church to become self-sufficient.

The last Columban parish was turned over to the diocese in 2007. Only three Columbans (from a high-water mark of 42) remain in Negros. Most have returned home to continue their ministry, many have retired and some have died. However, their legacy lives on. The Filipino Columbans who follow in their footsteps will continue that legacy in China, Japan, Peru and other countries for we are “Wanderers for Christ.� And, ultimately, they will work themselves out of a job as well! CM Fr. Tom Shaughnessy works in the St. Columbans, Nebraska, Mission Office.

www.columban.org

9/10/09 3:56:44 PM

Bearing Witness to God’s Reign of Truth, Justice, Peace and Love Columban Lay Missionaries in the Philippines

By Rowena Cuanico

I have the feeling that when the idea to develop a lay missionary program for the Missionary Society of St. Columban was conceived in the late 1970s, the advocates of the program had no inkling that it would become such a success or that individual lay missionaries would serve on mission for more than ten years. I also have the feeling that most people who applied to the program never thought of staying beyond the minimum three year commitment.

However, many Filipino lay missionaries have become longterm lay missionaries.

For instance, four Filipino lay missionaries have been on mission in Peru and Pakistan for over fifteen years. Indeed, for some people, the initial commitment of four years — one year in formation and three years on overseas mission — is not enough. The first three years of cross-cultural mission are usually spent learning the language and understanding the culture of

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the people where they are assigned.

It gives us a taste of missionary life, of being on mission. But “one serving” does not seem like enough for many people. A popular Tagalog expression would call it “bitin,” which means “the feeling is left hanging.” And thus, for some lay missionaries, the three years then became six years, and then nine years and then twelve years or more.

Since the development of the program, the Philippine Region has sent seventeen teams to Columban missions worldwide. These groups are commonly referred to as RP 1, RP 2 and so on. At the moment, there are three women in formation who will become RP 18.

Sixty-eight men and women comprise the seventeen groups of Filipino lay missionaries. Of these, twenty-two are still on mission.

About a half of the current Filipino lay missionaries are in a long term agreement which means that they have been on overseas mission for

more than six years. Filipino lay missionaries are currently serving in six countries – Ireland, Peru, Taiwan, Korea, and Pakistan – as well as the Philippines. Filipino lay missionaries have also served in Brazil, Fiji and Britain.

One Filipino lay missionary who is assigned to Ireland serves as a member of the Lay Mission Central Leadership Team (LMCLT). In addition, the Philippine Region has been enriched by the lives of the lay missionaries we have received from other countries. So far, we have received sixteen teams of single men and women, a married couple and a family. They came from Korea, Chile, Ireland, Britain, Fiji, Tonga and Peru. Columbans work in all of these countries except Tonga.

It is astonishing to discover the breadth of the involvement of these lay missionaries. They are involved in ministry with migrants, in prisons, with children with special needs, in Basic Ecclesial

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Communities (BECs) and in health and social services. Some are involved with the deaf, with indigenous peoples, in the Columban vocations campaign, or with children and youth. They have brought with them their gifts, their cultural and religious traditions and, more importantly, their experience of God, which they hope to share with the people.

They have brought with them their openness to embrace a people whose language, food, and customs may be different from their own.

All lay missionaries have to learn the language of the people, so their first stop is usually language school.

Lay missionaries assigned to Luzon study Tagalog. Those assigned to Mindanao learn Cebuano-Visayan.

Recently, communicating among ourselves has been an exciting and challenging experience. Some lay missionaries have limited facility in English and have studied Cebuano.

The lay missionaries in Luzon have a facility in English, but we have no common language.

The absence of a common language has been teaching us how to be more creative in communicating with one another. We try to communicate with the help of interpreters, translations from the internet, with whatever little English, Spanish, Cebuano and Tagalog we have between us, and yes, very, very creatively through actions.

However, it is amazing how the “little of everything” can go a long way in

reaching out to one another. We are also learning to be more patient, particularly during meetings, in order to give time and space for translation.

We have much to be proud of in the program as well. We take pride in the many “firsts” that happened in the Philippines or with Filipino lay missionaries overseas. The longest serving lay missionary, Columba Chang, served the Church of the Philippines for eighteen years before she took up another mission assignment. Columba was a member of the first group of lay missionaries from Korea.

The Philippines received the first group of lay missionaries from Chile.

It also received the first group of Peruvian lay missionaries in 2008.

One member, Gloria Canama of RP 1, continues to serve in Pakistan where she has been since 1990. Pilar Tilos, another member of RP 1, died and is buried in Pakistan.

The first lay coordinator of the Lay Mission Central Leadership Team (LMCLT) was a Filipina, Aurora Luceño. The first long-term lay missionaries in four countries, Pakistan, Korea, Ireland and Peru are all Filipinos. From the first group of Filipinos sent to Taiwan, one has recently renewed her commitment as a long-term lay missionary. The first family on mission to Ireland was that of Roberto, Kris and Desi Mina from the Philippines. The first group of lay missionaries sent to Brazil were

Filipinos. Two of the staff members at the lay missionary office and house have been working with us for 18 years!

We lay missionaries are very deeply involved in the running of the lay mission program. We enjoy tremendous support from the Regional Leadership, from the Lay Mission Leadership Team (LMLT) and from the Columban community in general—priests, Sisters, students and co-workers. Returned lay missionaries have been generous with their support in vocations campaigns, fundraising activities and community celebrations.

We have regular community meetings and faith sharing. We join the Columban priests in area meetings and regional gatherings. We also hold annual meetings to discuss important issues affecting our lives as lay missionaries. We organize intercultural living workshops to foster better understanding among ourselves. We have a common annual recollection and individual retreats to deepen our faith and vocation.

Every year we go on an outing to build teamwork and camaraderie. We attend summer courses as part of our on-going formation to ensure that we have adequate skills for our ministries.

We continue to discover, define, and articulate our identity and spirituality as lay missionaries. We continue to reflect on the challenges that threaten our commitment to a simple lifestyle because of the temptations posed by a consumerist society. Most of all, we continue to search for creative ways to bear witness to and to contribute our modest share to bringing about God’s reign of truth, justice, peace and love. CM Rowena D. Cuanico is the Coordinator of the Columban Lay Missionaries, Philippines. She served as a lay missionary in the Fiji Islands for nearly eight years before being reassigned to the Philippines to take up her present ministry.

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www.columban.org

9/10/09 1:12:35 PM

Grain by Grain Making Rice More Affordable for the Poor

By Fr. Damien McKenna

I

n the Santa Cruz parish where I work, we have over twenty churches serving the different communities within the parish. All of these communities have elected Church officials who take charge of different activities in their church such as Sunday services, bringing communion to the old and sick, services for their dead, preparing for the annual fiesta and

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the volunteer catechists who teach religion in their schools. While rich in community activism and faith, economically the parish is poor.

In the last few years the price of rice, like most foodstuffs, has doubled. All of the 1,860 families in my Santa Cruz parish in the southern Philippines depend on rice for their breakfast, lunch and supper. In a short time, I was getting hundreds of requests for help to buy rice. Finally the government stepped in and provided subsidized rice from its warehouses. I applied for a license to be a distributor of the government supplied rice. Lydia, who runs the parish office and the parish catechetical program, went to a seminar about the subsidized rice program, and after I fulfilled the other program requirements, we were given a license and the authority to buy forty sacks of rice per week.

Early each Wednesday morning, Lydia makes the hour-long journey into the city to the government warehouse. There she lines up with the other license holders to buy our allotted forty sacks of rice. It usually takes most of the morning as it is not easy to get all the signatures needed to release the rice from the warehouse. When the rice is finally released, Lydia negotiates with a driver of one of the hundreds of small passenger buses to deliver the rice to the parish and then pays laborers to load it on the bus. Finally the rice arrives in the parish in the

afternoon where she again pays laborers to unload the sacks into our store. By 6 p.m. all of the rice is gone.

Some of the communities in the parish are over an hour away from the center where our store is located. The mud roads are difficult enough when it is dry and very slippery when it rains, which it does most afternoons. The only way to get to these communities after doing the shopping is either to walk or ride on a passenger motorcycle that has heavy duty shock absorbers and can take two and sometimes three passengers on the back. Farmers who are better off financially and their families can get two or three people on a horse along with the groceries when going shopping.

Each community can purchase up to two sacks of rice per week.

The rice is transported on a passenger motorcycle or a horse.

By early evening all of the rice is on its way to the communities.

There are 1,440 families, more than 77% of the families in the parish, on the lists to buy one or two kilos of rice every week. It seems like a very small amount of rice but, since it costs half the price of non-subsidized rice, it can be the difference between eating and going hungry for a lot of families. CM Fr. Damien McKenna works in the Philippines.

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The Community of Hope Center Gives and Receives The Gift of Mary Joy

By Fr. Oliver McCrossan

M

ary Joy Tabuco was born on September 18, 1991, the second of five children. She has two brothers and two sisters. Her family lives in Tambulig, a small town sixty kilometers from Ozamiz City in Mindanao, Philippines. When she was eight years old, Mary Joy became ill and, as a result of the illness, lost her ability to both hear and speak.

Unfortunately, the local elementary school had no facilities to assist Mary Joy and help her adapt to her new situation. For several years, Mary Joy was unable to attend school. The sad reality is that there is very little funding and fewer resources for children with disabilities in the Philippines.

However, Mary Joy was one of the lucky ones. Her mother heard about the school for special needs children run by the Columban Sisters in Ozamiz. In 2004, Mary Joy came to Ozamiz and joined the other hearing impaired children at the Community of Hope Center.

Since her arrival at the Community of Hope Center, Mary Joy’s life has changed significantly. She is able to communicate in sign language, and she has made friends in the deaf community at the center. In March 2009, she graduated from 22

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elementary school. In June 2009, Mary Joy began her high school studies.

In addition to the academic program at the Community of Hope Center, the students can take advantage of various livelihood programs designed for people with disabilities. In 2007, we began our card making project at the center. Mary Joy was one of the first students to undergo training for the card making project. She discovered that she has a gift in designing cards and making cards using dried flowers. She has received a lot of praise for the quality of her work, and the money

she earns helps to pay for her school fees and personal needs. In addition to Mary Joy, there are five other young people with disabilities working in the card making project.

The income they receive from selling the cards pays for their school fees.

Mary Joy enjoys sports, especially badminton. She dreams of becoming a teacher one day and working with deaf children. Mary Joy wants to share her gifts with others. We are grateful for the gift of Mary Joy. CM Fr. Oliver McCrossan works in the Philippines.

Mary Joy signs “I love you” while taking a break with a friend and Fr. McCrossan.

www.columban.org

9/10/09 1:19:25 PM

Missionaries of the People—Locally and Globally

O

n July 22, 2009, Archbishop George J. Lucas was installed as the fifth archbishop of Omaha. As I processed into the cathedral with 200 other priests, bishops and cardinals who all then joined the assembled faithful in the church, I could feel the excitement and anticipation in the air. And as Archbishop Emeritus Elden Francis Curtiss was thanked and blessed for his sixteen years of service, my thoughts turned to the long relationship the Columbans have enjoyed with the archdiocese of Omaha.

It was in 1918 during the time of Omaha’s third bishop, Jeremiah Harty, that the U.S. Region of the Society was established.

Bishop Harty invited one of our founders, Fr. Edward Galvin, to establish the headquarters of the Columban Fathers in what was then the

From the Director

By Fr. Arturo Aguilar

diocese of Omaha. Columban Father E.J. McCarthy acquired a large tract of land just south of the city near the historic town of Bellevue on the Missouri River. He envisioned this place as a mission center where young priests would be trained and the work

Our charism of crossing

boundaries of country, language and culture for the sake of the Gospel has been instrumental in making the local Church more missionary.

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of supporting the missions would be carried out.

It became the Columban center for the entire U.S. Region.

Over the succeeding ninety years as we developed ways of communicating with benefactors and supporters all over the country from this mission center, and as we sent out new missionaries—a number of them Omaha’s sons—to “Teach all nations” (as the sign of welcome on our property in Bellevue is inscribed), we also participated in the life of the local Church. Many of the early diocesan pastors were themselves missionaries to the U.S. from Ireland, so a natural affinity existed between them and the then largely Irish contingent of Columbans. From the beginning, Columbans assisted in parishes throughout the diocese and continue to do so today. Through our magazine and mission education resources, we extend an invitation to participate in mission to adults and children in parishes and schools. Our charism of crossing boundaries of country, language and culture for the sake of the Gospel has been instrumental in making the local Church more missionary.

Archbishop Lucas began his homily by referencing St. Paul’s statement that there are different spiritual gifts in the Church, all manifested through one Spirit. Acknowledging the diversity within the archdiocese, the archbishop said, “We are the proof that St. Paul is right about the nature of the Church.”

In choosing the phrase “Grace and Mercy” from Wisdom 3:9 (“grace and mercy are with His holy ones, and His care is with those He has chosen”) as his episcopal motto, the archbishop is expressing faith and trust in God’s providence to aid and sustain us on our earthly journey towards fullness of life in heaven.

Bearing our diverse gifts and fortified with grace and mercy, we are all on this same journey. As the Columbans enter a new stage in our relationship with the archdiocese, we take up our position in the Body of Christ.

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Columban Fathers PO Box 10 St. Columbans, NE 68056

NON PROFIT ORG POSTAGE PAID COLUMBAN FATHERS

Visit Our Columban Website We encourage you to visit us online at www.columban.org to learn more about the Missionary Society of St. Columban and our work.

Through our website, you can join in our mission as together we help those who need it most.

Learn more about: • becoming a Mission Sponsor • making a donation to the Society • making a donation to a specific project • our Mission Education programs • our gift annuity program • our dedication to Catholic Social Justice • current projects and programs • joining us as a Columban Companion or Affiliate www.columban.org

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An Invitation Calls for a Response We are but clay, formed and fashioned by the hand of God.

That is to say, we are weak and vulnerable but with God’s grace we are capable of great generosity and idealism.

Is God calling you to spread the good news?

To a life of ministry among those who are less fortunate and more vulnerable than you are?

We invite you to join this new generation by becoming a Columban Father or Columban Sister.

If you are interested in the missionary priesthood, write or call…

If you are interested in becoming a Columban Sister, write or call…

Fr. Bill Morton National Vocation Director Columban Fathers St. Columbans, NE 68056 877/299-1920 Email: vocations@columban.org

Sr. Grace De Leon National Vocation Director Columban Sisters 2500 S. Freemont Avenue #E Alhambra, CA 91803 626/458-1869

Japan + Korea + Peru + Hong Kong + Philippines + Pakistan + Chile + Fiji + Taiwan + North America

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