The Magazine of the Missionary Society of St. Columban
November 2010
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Mission Today in Korea
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ver the last five years my work in Korea involved visiting parishes to talk about mission and invite people to join in Columban mission. During those visits I inevitably met people whose lives had been touched by Columbans. People who had known Columbans in some parish – there were many such persons since Columbans built 129 parishes and worked in so many others – people who had met Columbans in hospitals, at retreats, workshops, seminars; the people ministered to by the Columban Sisters. And then there are the friends, relatives and family members of our Korean Columban missionaries today. It gave me a new appreciation of the impact of Columban mission on the lives of so many in Korea. Today a major part of the work is our participation in the cross-cultural missionary outreach of the Korean Church. Korean Columban priest missionaries, lay missionaries, associate priest missionaries and Sister missionaries now work in many countries. This gradual but radical change from a missionary receiving country to a missionary sending group in Korea has given us a new level of insertion and involvement into the local Church. The relatives and friends of Korean Columbans are now key people in the Columban family. The Columbans are the only society in the Korean Catholic Church that sends lay missionaries. This new generation of Columban missionaries has introduced us to dioceses in Korea where we had never worked. Our mission education program for personnel In So Many Words going overseas is now in its twelfth year, and some 400 By Fr. Donal O’Keefe people have taken the course. Besides the formation and education of missionaries, we are also involved in mission on the ground in Korea, although recent years have seen a reduction in the numbers working in the Region. Columbans are involved in a variety of apostolates including working with persons with special needs, hospital ministry, marriage ministry, retreat works, counseling, spiritual direction, dialogue with religions and researching issues for mission today. The rapid growth in numbers of local Church personnel has given us a new freedom to do these works which the Society has prioritized. It is foreseeable that in the future our numbers will be smaller. However, the changes which we have undergone during the last twenty years show that we have the capacity to evolve, to take on new missionary challenges. Over the years people have told us that the presence of the Columbans was a blessing to the Korean Church, but today in particular the Korean Church is blessing the Columbans.
It gave me a new
appreciation of the
impact of Columban mission on the lives
of so many in Korea.
Fr. Donal O’Keefe is the director of the Korean Region.
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Across the Divide Missionaries In Their Own Land By Fr. Sean Conneely
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hree Korean couples, who have been friends of mine for years, came to visit me while I was on holiday in Ireland a few years ago. As I was showing them around my own area in Conamara one day I said to Thomas that I didn’t think the place was as beautiful as Seurak mountain in Korea and that the little village of Doire Choill where I came from was so small and the scenery not as good as other places. Thomas raised his hand and did not allow me to finish, and he began: 4
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“You don’t know how blessed you are. For the last two days you have shown us the primary school you attended and the church you attended since childhood.We just dined with your three sisters and brother-in-law in the house you were born in, and we met people of your village that you have known since you were born over 60 years ago. You don’t know or appreciate how blessed you are. Look at me— I left home at the age of 18 and never got to say goodbye to my parents and family. In the 57 years
since I left, I never had the chance to visit the house or village I was born in. I have no relatives or friends from childhood. That’s my plight and the plight of many people who escaped from North Korea in 1950. You are blessed; you have something better than gold. Nothing can replace the gift of family and homeland and longlasting friends.” Thomas is one of the many North Koreans who left their homes in the North to escape the Communist regime in the late 1940s until the 38th parallel border was set in 1953. Many were luckier than Thomas, and they came with all or some of their family. In Thomas’s case, he left home one morning in December 1950 because he heard there was an American army cargo ship leaving from Wonsan for Busan in the south. He was one of the luckier ones who got on the ship and reached Busan safely. Thomas was the eldest son of a large family. As he left that morning, he never imagined that he would not see his parents or any of his brothers and sisters again. WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
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For him, it was going to be a safe journey to escape his duty in the Kim Il Sung Youth Brigade. He was sure the war would be over in the spring, and he would be back home with his family to plant the rice in a united Korea with the help of the American and U.N. armies. All of that is history that didn’t happen. Sixty years later, Korea is divided at the 38th parallel with armistice talks going on every day in Panmunjom at the Freedom Bridge Crossing. And no civilian crosses from either side. Sixty years in the Orient is the full circle of life. In a person’s age, it’s called the Hwangap, the ripe old age when a person is honored for one’s accomplishment. This year in Korea conjured hope for awhile that something new would happen, that maybe people might come together. There was hope that the cold ice of hostility and resentment might melt and that people might be able to return home freely to visit their native land and pray at their families’ gravesides.Together northern and southern relatives would join together and sing and
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dance with their great old song Arirang. As I write this, the cold ice is not melting. In fact, the two sides seem further apart now than during the last two years due to the serious incidence in March when a South Korean naval ship was blown up supposedly by a North Korean torpedo. The Hwangap fullness
As Thomas left that morning, he never imagined that he would not see his parents or any of his brothers and sisters again. of time will not be this year unless God intervenes in some special way. Yes, Thomas was right about how blessed I am to have a family, home and a local village to visit. Thomas later related to me the many trials he has endured since coming south. He sought freedom from communism in the south, but because he came on his own he was
suspected of being a spy at first. Even when he passed the exam to join the South Korean air force, he wasn’t trusted to fly a plane in case he would fly north. When he arrived below the parallel, he had no friends or family. When he reached marriage age no family wanted to give their daughter in marriage to a man without family, an orphan so to speak, no permanent job and no house or prospects. Yet Thomas was lucky to meet his wife, Regina. They have been together more than 50 years. He was welcomed into her family, and they in turn cared for her family. Together they built one small business after another and raised and educated four children. Thomas didn’t have any religion when he came south but through meeting Regina he was introduced to the Catholic Church and was baptized. Though his new family and business made it possible for him to survive in the south, Thomas’ heart was always in the north with his family of origin. For years, he wrote a weekly letter to his family at home that he could never mail
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although he published some of those letters in a book a few years ago. In those letters, Thomas recorded the sorrow and the pain of losing a family and not being able to make any contact with his loved ones across the border in the north, less than a hundred miles away. He wrote about not knowing if his parents were alive or dead, and his shame, guilt and sorrow as the eldest son not being allowed to pay his dutiful respect to his aging parents or care for them in any way. Thomas also wrote about his anger at those who were keeping him apart from his family. Life can be difficult for anyone but to have to carry this pain makes life even more burdensome. As Thomas looks over his life with all its highs and lows, one of the high points that he identifies is his and his wife’s introduction to and involvement in Marriage Encounter. Shortly after the Korean language Marriage Encounter weekends started in Korea in 1977, Thomas and Regina participated in a weekend program. They then went on to be presenters on weekends and became the National Representatives in 1980. They not only presented at weekend programs in Korea but also in the U.S., Canada and Mexico for the Korean Diaspora. In 1982, they also presented various enrichment programs in parishes and schools across the country. I had the privilege of starting the Choice Enrichment Program for Youth in Seoul and other dioceses in Korea with them. At an age, 80 years, when many other people have put up their feet to enjoy a quiet retirement, Thomas and Regina started what they call The Evergreen Program as a support for retired couples. As we were discussing his life and involvement in Marriage 6
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It is clear that God has called and guided Thomas in family ministry to share God’s love in his own family and to help thousands of families over the years to enjoy the fruits of the sacrament of marriage. Encounter one thing began to become clear: that through Marriage Encounter his great passion and love for his own family and the families of others must be connected in some way unconsciously and spiritually to his desire to care for his own lost family of origin. Through this ministry, Thomas gains the family he lost and a sense of belonging for himself. Whatever the unconscious motive may be it is clear that God has called and guided Thomas in family ministry to share God’s love in his own family and to help thousands of families over the years to enjoy the fruits of the sacrament of marriage. I look on my life and calling as one of a missionary from Ireland to Korea, but by meeting and working with Thomas I see that God calls
other people to be missionaries in their own land. The Korean War was a tragedy and its aftereffects still are, but out of this tragedy, sorrow and grief God has called people like Thomas to give their life in a special way to others. Those who sailed south past the demilitarized zone were called to give life, hope, faith and joy to other people broken by the war and its aftermath. The power of the human will and spirit joined to God’s spirit is greater than all tragedies. CM Fr. Sean Conneely lives and works in Korea.
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Catholicism in Korea The Evolution of Mission By Fr. Michael Gormly
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outh Korea is a nation that looks and feels rich, peaceful and confident. The claim to a prosperous future is tangible, although some imagination is needed to appreciate the political and economic changes that have taken place over recent years. In religious and spiritual terms, the change has been no less significant. Liberation after 36 years of occupation by Japan meant a “cold war” division of the peninsula in 1945. North of the 38th parallel came under the influence of Kim Il Sung and Russian communism. South of the parallel went to Rhee Syngman and United States influence. Each side soon had its own government, its own capital and its own army. Both sides claimed legitimate authority over the whole peninsula. A bitter war broke out in June 1950 with huge troop losses on both sides. Worse, many civilians were killed by bullets, bombs, disease and starvation. In the end, the two forces faced each other in more or less the same positions. The wrenching effect of this unresolved crisis left a tragic imprint on the nation and remains the backdrop to national life. In 1965, we counted the Catholic population in Korea at about 500,000. Today we speak of 5,100,000. How does one explain this tenfold increase in one’s own missionary tenure? The immediate post-war period saw countless refugees seeking a livelihood in an already ravaged country beset with food shortages. Missionaries did their best to help with the WWW.COLUMBAN.ORG
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establishment of development projects and the building of community facilities, and I retain memories from the 1960s to the 1980s of real heroism in the Church and in society. Many Christians took a prophetic stance in the face of a series of dictators. Their voice was significant at a time when people feared to speak for themselves. They may have been denounced and even imprisoned, but ultimately they made a difference. The vitality of the parishes is the first thing that impacts on a visitor. The post-war role of missionaries played a large part in Church affairs of the time. Giving and serving was the initial task. Then, as local leadership emerged, both sides were giving and receiving. Mission became mutually enriching for all. Thirty years later, the Church is a vibrant and expanding force in Korean society. The stance of the Church in tough times has borne fruit. Non-Christians see the role of the Church in promoting Gospel values. People appreciate the teachings and accept its role for their society. Church leadership placed a great emphasis on promoting shared pastoral activity, especially with issues of social conscience and peaceful reconciliation. A dynamic style of lay leadership emerged. Moreover, vocations to the priesthood and religious life were abundant. Today the missionary role of the Korean Church deserves recognition. Korean missionaries
work in many countries. They cover the world from the place of sunrise to the place of sunset. The Korean Mission Society has commitments in New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Taiwan, China, Russia, Cambodia and Mozambique. In migration too, Korean Catholics are keen to play a part in the local Church scene. They certainly bring passion, energy and readiness to their Church life. The manner of their presence has already become both a challenge and resource for Catholicism in Australia and New Zealand. CM Fr. Michael Gormly is presently at St. Columban’s, Lower Hutt, New Zealand.
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Room at the Inn
A Shelter for HIV/AIDS Patients by Fr. malachy Smyth
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0lumban Sr. Miriam Cousins began her ministry in Korea in 1971 and today is working with AIDS patients in a number of shelters she set up to accommodate them. Her original intention was to counsel the patients living with HIV/AIDS, not to set up a shelter for them. She had been working in an area known for prostitution and there ran a little shelter for women. One day at the shelter Sr. Miriam was asked to meet with someone, and she said yes. When the person arrived for the meeting, it was a man; the shelter that Sr. Miriam was running was for women only. The shelter had only three small rooms, and there were already eight women there. But she had been preparing a small room in the yard by converting a storeroom into a prayer room because there was nowhere in the house to escape for a bit of peace and quiet. When
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the call came from the man who was HIV positive and looking for shelter, she was in the process of putting up wallpaper on what was to be their prayer room. So, in the confusion of the moment, she decided to house the man in the prayer room for a few days until she could decide what to do. She started to make phone calls around to arrange to have him moved to another place, but none of the institutes she contacted were ready to take a patient with HIV. After about five weeks she went to see the late Cardinal Kim, who expressed surprise that she had a man staying in the little house. The Cardinal had already visited the house and saw the work Sister Miriam was doing with the prostitutes, so he listened very closely to what she was saying. When she had finished the Cardinal said he couldn’t help her immediately but that he would talk to the Bishop and to Catholic Social Services. A week later a phone call came from the office of the social services saying they would help, but that it could not be much. In the meantime, Sr. Miriam had scouted around and had found a small two-room house for sale. With help from Catholic Social Services together with donations she had received, they were able to buy the house which became the first shelter for HIV/AIDS patients. Within eighteen months, she was able to raise enough funds to buy a larger house. At the same time Sr. Miriam was still working with the people caught up in prostitution and the two jobs were proving to be a bit too much. She felt called to concentrate on the HIV/AIDS patients full time. Eventually she opened up the shelters to anyone with HIV/AIDS,
both male and female. Within a year, Sr. Miriam purchased another larger house with room to accommodate children as well. As time went by she began to see that there were other men and women who were HIV positive in addition to having physical or mental disabilities who were in urgent need of help. At this point she made the transition to accommodate these people as well. Later, a chiropractor came along who wanted to be associated with the work, and it was a great boost for the rehabilitation work when he joined the program. Aside from the misconception that AIDS is a disease (it is a virus that causes the immune system to stop working properly, thus leaving the person vulnerable to disease), fear is the biggest problem for patients. It is also the biggest problem for Sr. Miriam and staff because they have to keep a low profile about the work. For example, even the Catholics in their area don’t know they are taking care of people with AIDS. It is believed that if the neighbors knew about the patients, the neighbors would assume that everyone coming and going from the house had AIDS. Fearing exposure to the virus, people in the area would not tolerate the program. The staff and the patients struggle with keeping the true purpose of the shelter a secret. When someone is first diagnosed with HIV/AIDS they wonder who to tell and who shouldn’t be trusted. Sometimes a family member is the last person they would tell. The fear of contracting AIDS is very strong, and the lack of real information is a big problem. One person thought she could get it from a handshake, another person www.columban.org
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was afraid to use a public phone in fear of contracting it that way. Sister Miriam goes on to explain, “I have lived with AIDS patients now for ten years, and I have no fear of contracting the illness. We live together, we eat together – there is no way you can get AIDS with ordinary living.” In speaking about the HIV/AIDS patients’ attitudes about their illness Sr. Miriam affirms that, “they have taken on society’s approach, which unfortunately is: keep them at a distance. The patient has bought into this and stays at a distance. There is a fear of breaking out, a fear of talking. The other thing is that they would blame themselves for getting this illness, for getting infected. When they are first diagnosed, many young people often quit their jobs, because they can’t face their peers knowing they have this problem. Sometimes they live in denial, at times up to a year, before they can accept the fact that they have AIDS and must live with it. It is still very much within the gay community in Korea. It happens there first. They haven’t any close family ties a lot of the times, because of the gay issue.” In 2007, Church involvement in the whole area of HIV/AIDS increased as local churches began to support the work as a collective body. Many other religious groups have also become involved in the meantime, setting up shelters and living with the HIV/AIDS patients. There is a meeting once a month wherein the different groups come together to share experiences. Catholic Social Services in Seoul, which is a very big organization, has undertaken to support the ministry as well. They are also encouraging the local papers, radio and television stations www.columban.org
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Mass celebrated on World AIDS Day
Local and Church leaders at the World AIDS Day 2010 celebration
to really focus and assist in the ongoing information and education necessary to combat the spread of AIDS in Korea. Worldwide, HIV/AIDS is a serious problem. While significant advances in medications have improved the lives of those with the virus, HIV/AIDS remains incurable. It is the work of Sr. Miriam, and others like her throughout the world, which
provides not only care and treatment to HIV/AIDS patients but also a tangible reminder of God’s love for all. CM After many years in Korea, Fr. Malachy Smyth now lives in Ireland.
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The Old and the New Columbans Then and Now By Fr. Ray Scanlon
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n 2008, Columbans in Korea celebrated the 75th anniversary of their arrival in the country. The first group of ten Columbans arrived in the port of Busan on the last Sunday in October 1933, the feast of Christ the King. Nine of the ten were fresh out of the seminary, having been ordained the previous year, and their average age was just over 25. However, their leader, Fr. Owen McPolin, had been ordained for twenty years and was a veteran of four years on mission in China. Eight of the ten priests were from Ireland, and they were joined by one from Australia and one from the United States. The Australian was Jerome Sweeney, and the American was Harold Henry who eventually became bishop of the area entrusted to the Columbans. One of the young Irishmen, Dan McMenamin, died of tuberculosis after just four years in Korea; he was only 29 years of age. At the time of their arrival in 1933, Korea was a colony harshly governed by Japan and that brought restrictions to the missionary work of the Columbans and tension to their lives. When World War II broke out a few years later, many of the first group, along with other Columbans who had followed them to Korea, were interned and three of them were actually accused of spying and were jailed for most of the war years. Those men were Frs. Austin Sweeney, Paddy Dawson and T. D. Ryan. It was not very long after WW II ended that the work of the Church in Korea was even more drastically interrupted by the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950. At that time, seven Columbans died at the hands of North Korean soldiers or in www.columban.org
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captivity. Two others, Bishop Thomas Quinlan and Fr. Philip Crosbie, survived the horrendous death march. Of course, many Catholics were killed and many more moved south to escape the Communist regime in the north. Following the truce that brought an end to the hostilities much of the missionaries’ time was taken up with relief work to help the people who had lost everything. A long period of Church growth and development followed. Many more Columbans traveled to Korea in the footsteps of the first group. In fact, altogether a total of 257 Columban priests have worked in Korea. The largest number in the country at any one time was 153 during 1970-71. At one time in 1977, Columban missionaries were working in nine different dioceses in Korea. In all, Columbans were responsible for starting a total of 129 parishes. Until the 1970s, parish ministry was essential for Columbans in Korea. The people were eager to hear the Good News, and the number of Korean priests available to staff the parishes was small. Fortunately, since those days, standards of living and levels of education have improved, and many young Korean men were able to answer the call to join the diocesan priesthood and take over the work of parish ministry. Today only one Columban can claim the title of parish priest and his parish is one of the smallest in the country. As the need for parish priests lessened, many other needs came to the notice of Columbans. They started special apostolates and became chaplains to hospitals, university students and labor apostolates. Columbans worked with farmers, migrant workers, www.columban.org
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the urban poor, the physically and mentally disabled, gamblers and those suffering from alcoholism. They taught in universities, gave retreats and offered spiritual direction, developed home industries for women, set up counseling centers and engaged in various justice, peace and ecological endeavors. Many of these apostolates have also been taken up by Korean clergy and religious. Much of the thrust of our work in more recent times has come under the heading of “helping the Korean Church to become more missionary.� Beginning in the mid 1980s we were permitted to take Korean candidates for membership
Chile, Japan, the United States and Ireland. The Columban lay missionary program in Korea is very active, both sending and receiving. Columban Sisters came to mission in Korea in 1955. They set up hospitals and clinics in four different dioceses where Columban priests were administering parishes and provided invaluable help to the people especially in times of poverty and poor medical services. Like the Columban Fathers, the Sisters recently have branched out in their work to help the disabled, AIDS sufferers, victims of sex trafficking and factory workers. Today they have a number of professed Korean women in their
The work of Columbans in Korea continues to change, but the mission remains the same. We have been blessed to spread the Good News in Korea and to mentor and teach others to do the same elsewhere. in our Society. A total of fifteen Korean diocesan priests have become Columban associates and worked with us in the Philippines, Peru and Chile. Currently there are priest associates on mission in South America. Every year we hold month-long workshops for Korean Church personnel going overseas on mission. We also have a strong group of Korean benefactors who help our missionary work by their interest and their spiritual and material support. Columban Korean lay missionaries have gone to work in Fiji, the Philippines, Myanmar,
ranks, most of whom are working in various overseas mission areas. The work of Columbans in Korea continues to change, but the mission remains the same. We have been blessed to spread the Good News in Korea and to mentor and teach others to do the same elsewhere. CM Fr. Ray Scanlon was on mission in Korea since his ordination in 1968, and he returned to his native Australia in 2010.
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Archbishop Harold Henry A Life Well and Generously Lived By Fr. John Burger
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few years ago when I was the director of the Columbans in the U.S., a phone call came into my office from a Korean gentleman living outside of Boston, Massachusetts. He had been asked to contact me by Fr. Lucas Song, the pastor of Naju parish in the Archdiocese of Kwangju, Korea. Fr. Song was in the process of setting up a memorial museum dedicated to the former Archbishop of Kwangju, Harold Henry, a Columban from Northfield, Minnesota, who died in 1976. Fr. Song was building a museum in Kwanju and respectfully asked if we would share some of the late Archbishop’s possessions in order for them to be displayed in the museum. Of course, I was surprised by the request, coming over 30 years after Archbishop Henry had gone to his reward. I consulted Fr. Don Devine who had worked closely with the Archbishop, and we put together a small box of photographs and artifacts to be placed on exhibit in the museum on permanent loan. Fr. Song followed up by inviting me to the opening of the museum, but I was unable to make the trip at that time. Recently I was in Korea on other Columban business and decided to make the trip south from Seoul to see the results of Fr. Song’s labor of love. I booked tickets on one of the new KTX express trains, the 12
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pride of KORAIL, Korea’s version of Amtrak. Two hours and fifty minutes after leaving the station in Seoul, we glided into Kwangju right on time. I thought about how in Archbishop Henry’s day the trip would not have been undertaken lightly; in those days it took sixteen hours by jeep. After eight hours of arduous driving over rough roads, the traveler would be weary of dodging ruts and ridges in the road, and he would be only half-way to his destination. Fr. Pat Murphy, who today lives at the Columban House in Kwangju, met me at the station and on our way there pointed out a few Catholic landmarks around the city. All of them, including St. John’s Hospital, were built on land that Archbishop Henry had wisely purchased in anticipation of the city’s rapid expansion. Back at the Columban House, Fr. Murphy recounted to me how Archbishop Henry was able to get so much done. Archbishop Henry had assembled a team of Columbans and laymen and gave them the power to act when they saw an opportunity developing. Two of the Columbans on this team, Fathers Don Devine and Eugene Ryan, I got to know only later, during their years in the Columbans’ regional offices in Nebraska. Fr. Pat Murphy also talked about the people of Chollanamdo, people
who have a special reputation among other Koreans as a little bit larger than life. Over the years, they formed a special bond with the Columbans who worked among them. But neither the Columbans nor Archbishop Henry wanted this to be an exclusive relationship. The Archbishop invited coworkers from many other religious groups to come and work in this part of the Lord’s vineyard. St. John of God Brothers from Ireland, Seton Sisters from Pennsylvania, Caritas Sisters from Japan are just a few of the communities that came and planted themselves. The next day Fr. Murphy and I hopped onto a purple municipal bus and in about 40 minutes we arrived at the “Catholic Church Crossroads” in the town where a young Father Henry became the first Columban pastor in Korea in 1935. Today the parish is well established and a large statue of Christ reaches out its hands in benediction over the city. The parish has been in the care of Korean diocesan priests for many years. I was sorry that Fr. Song was no longer there, but we were warmly greeted by Fr. Pae, the pastor, and his energetic, young parochial vicar. Julietta, a friendly parishioner, volunteered to guide us around the grounds and the museum. As we were talking at the end of our tour she shared the good news with us that her son, Antonio, www.columban.org
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Harold Henry, The Archbishop of Kwanju (1909-1976)
Archbishop Henry’s desk and typewriter
is in the final year of his seminary training. In addition to the present parish church, built in 1973, there is a large parish center, a new rectory for the priests, a grotto of Our Lady and an outdoor shrine dedicated to Korean martyr St. Andrew Kim. There are beautiful outdoor Stations of the Cross and an impressive memorial to the Korean martyrs who gave their lives in Kwangju. Also on the grounds is a beautifully restored traditional Korean-style house with a walled garden. It was the first home of the Caritas Sisters in Korea. At the highest point on the grounds stands a modest brick one story house that Father Henry put up in the 1930s. This is the building that Father Song has turned into the museum. At the entrance to the museum is a remarkable chart showing parishes and institutions that Archbishop Henry founded. Inside there were photos of a young Father Henry in the Japaneseoccupied Korea of the 1930s. Another striking photo showed Chaplain Henry, who had been repatriated by the Japanese early in the war, serving with the U.S. Army in Europe. There were other pictures of Bishop, later Archbishop, Henry confirming, presiding, ordaining. There were a few of the Archbishop’s personal possessions on display, a bishop’s purple skull cap and sash, some www.columban.org
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embroidered vestments and a typewriter that he used for keeping in contact with his many friends in the U.S. and Ireland. Together these things help to illustrate, but cannot tell the complete story, of a life well and generously lived. There were two things in the museum that, in my opinion, told the story of Archbishop Henry best. The first of these was the opening few lines of the Archbishop’s life story on a panel just inside the entrance. “For 42 years, Harold Henry served as a priest of the Columban Mission Society in Korea. Throughout all the hardship and upheavals he remained dedicated to his home, Korea, and its people. All who met him loved him not because he was an Archbishop, but because the way he lived was a message for all of us to live a life immersed in love for our fellow man.” The second thing was the guest book of the museum, with pages and pages of Korean signatures. I felt they were saying, “Yes, that’s who he was!” CM
Fr. John Burger serves on the Society’s general council and lives in Hong Kong.
July 11, 1909 Born in Northfield, Minnesota August 1922 Entered St. Columban’s Preparatory Seminary August 1926 Entered St. Columban’s Major Seminary December 21, 1932 Ordained in Omaha, Nebraska October 29, 1933 Columban Missionaries arrive in Korea; Appointed to Naju Noan parish May 10, 1934 Prefecture Apostolic established May 1935 Made pastor of Naju September 27, 1935 Opening of Hae Sung School October 1937 Blessing of Naju Church November 1937 Bought land for Ham Pyeong Church December 1941 Imprisoned for eight months under the Japanese August 1942 Repatriated to the United States July 1943 United States Army Chaplain, Received the Bronze Star for Valor August 1945 Part time lecturer in St. Columban Seminary October 1947 Return to Korea; Appointed Pro-prefect of Kwanju July 27, 1950 Monsignor Brennan, Thomas Cusack, John O’Brien captured by the Communists October 1954 Installment of fifth Ordinary of Kwanju January 21, 1955 Formal establishment of Kwanju as an archdiocese May 11, 1957 Episcopal ordination April 24, 1962 Became Archbishop August 15, 1962 Received Korea Cultural Award June 1963 Received Honorary Doctorate of Canon Law from Creighton University October 1966 Became Honorary citizen of Kwanju July 14, 1971 Retired to Jeju as Bishop of new diocese May 18, 1974 Received an Honorary Doctorate of Literature from St. Thomas University March 1, 1976 Died before morning Mass; Buried in Catholic cemetery near Jeju City
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Catholic Church on Jeju
Jeju Island
From Wilderness to Vineyard The Evangelization of Jeju Island By Fr. Malachy Smyth
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r. Patrick McGlinchey, a native of Donegal, Ireland, has spent all his missionary life on the Island of Jeju about eighty miles off the southern coast of South Korea. Fr. McGlinchey finds the island a good place to live, with challenging work to do and the freedom and opportunity to do it. Ordained in 1951, he is amazed and bemused when he remembers how things were when he first arrived on the isolated island more than fifty years ago. The way people were living and the whole economy could easily be compared to the 18th century. The residents of the island were extremely poor, and the farmers were working the fields with wooden plows and oxen. The farming methods were very primitive, and the island itself was mired in poverty. It was a great challenge to try to introduce new farming methods as a means to help the islanders improve their lives economically. In short, it was a challenge to apply the commandment “to love your neighbor as yourself,” in a modern way. Instead of concentrating on the traditional charitable works like feeding the hungry through the Catholic Relief Services, as 16
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missionaries did during the Korean War times and afterwards by way of free food and clothing, Fr. McGlinchey tried to zero in and encourage the people to make use of their unused resources, like the vast areas of unused land available, in addition to improvement of their methodology in farming and livestock raising. Fr. McGlinchey didn’t learn these methods in the seminary; the Columbans didn’t offer courses on animal husbandry! At the time, the traditional approach was to go in and set up parishes in mission lands, and they were very badly needed at the time. We were instructed to buy land and set up churches, houses and convents and to run programs of catechesis for the waves of catechumens coming out and for those wishing to be baptized. When Fr. McGlinchey arrived, there were only two parishes on the entire island and his was to be the third. Unfortunately, there were only a few Catholics, about 25 in all, but there were about 25,000 very poor farmers in the place. Something had to be done for the farmers since preaching would not feed them. It was obvious that talking to these people in their poverty about Christ was
not enough. While Fr. McGlinchey went about building outstations and hiring Sunday school teachers, it was clear that there was a lot more needed than that. Up to that time, it wasn’t expected that we missionary priests would get involved in technical skills and technical knowledge, so it wasn’t taught in the seminary then. But Fr. McGlinchey was lucky; his father was a veterinarian, and he had learned a lot from him. As a boy and young man, Fr. McGlinchey heard his father giving advice to farmers. Of course a lot of it was common sense, but he recognized the importance of bringing in experts from the outside to help with the work. The farmers were poor and very decent people and they used to give him barley, as there was no rice on Jeju at the time. Barley was the standard meal, and the farmers gave him chickens and eggs as well even though it was stuff they needed for themselves. Really, it was a measure of their kindness and generosity to give from what they needed rather than from a surplus. Countless changes have taken place on the island since Fr. McGlinchey first arrived, although the local customs and www.columban.org
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traditions have mainly survived the rush to modernize. There is a network of new roads like a spiderweb all around the island with the tourist industry very much emphasized. Despite the modernization, there are a lot of old people left on their own and that is why we started the old folks home and nursing home on the island. At the present time, there are 75 people in residence in the facility, and there are long waiting lists. In addition, there is a hospice that can accommodate 29 people which we run without government involvement or funding. The service care we offer in the different facilities attracts a lot of interest in the Church and as a result quite a number of the family members go on to show an interest in becoming Christians. They start coming out to the Church following their experience of a friend or family member being cared for at the hospice. Reflecting on the historic missionary approach, Fr. McGlinchey stated that, “You know, the longer I’m here the more I believe our missionary approach was wrong. We were all about catechetics and teaching catechumens, when it should have been about evangelization. This has shown up in these times of modern living when lots of people have fallen away from the Church: it really shows they
Fr. McGlinchey visits the sick.
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were never fully evangelized by the missionaries. They were taught doctrine and baptized and confirmed all right but that was the end of it. As Korea modernizes this is showing up as a basic flaw in what was the missionary policy. In later years, it is true, correct emphasis has been put on evangelization, and even with the decline in missionary numbers great efforts have been put into this approach. Here we have tried to reach out to all the people: the poor, the old, the sick, the homeless, the unemployed. The people see that reaching out as physical proof that we are trying to live the values of the Gospel that Jesus asks us to bear witness to. Down the centuries if it was all about theology and doctrine and catechetics without the practical witness, the remnant wouldn’t have survived at all. Jesus Himself gave us the lead in all of this reaching out to all kinds of people, He wasn’t parochial, and He wasn’t limited to narrow confines. Our projects here—the retreat house, the youth center, the hospice and hospital facilities—all try to reflect and mirror that same concern for the whole person. That’s what I like to call evangelization.” There have been many young people from Ireland who have come to help with the different works on the island, and they are just wonderful. Sometimes there is criticism of young people and
their lack of generosity and faith practice, that they are not going to Mass on Sunday and that they are falling away from the Church. However, at the same time, these young people are putting into practice what Christ talked about. They have come and worked for months at a time at different tasks on the farm. The way in which they got on with the ordinary workers here, the young people were evangelizing in their own way, in their words and work and living. They showed their concern for the people, they attended Mass and they weren’t trumpeting anything, just caring for others. The Columbans have enthusiasm, and they have the love of Christ, which made them leave home and come out to places like Korea. There is comfort in the thought that the people who built the Titanic were professionals, and the person who built Noah’s Ark was an amateur. That speaks volumes and reminds us to not to be afraid to change and move with the needs of the times. Perhaps if more people were willing to do this we wouldn’t be seeing large swathes of people falling away from the Church here or in Ireland or anywhere else. CM After many years in Korea, Fr. Malachy Smyth is now living in Ireland. Fr. McGlinchey continues his work on Jeju Island.
Fr. McGlinchey and parishioners
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Formation Highlights The Big Columban Family By Frs. Thomas Seungwon Nam and Pat Cunningham
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r. Thomas Seungwon Nam, Rector of the formation program in the Korean Region, provides the following update about life in the formation house in Seoul: While many of us have had an “Is it over?” experience, an experience or change that causes us to see one aspect of our life as ending, sometimes we realize it is a chance to see the life giving experience of God’s gift even if we ask ourselves “Is it over?” Some people may ask that question when they leave single life to get married. Others may ask it when they finish their college degrees and move on into the working world. However, another way to look at it is to realize that the moment can be called a resurrection experience in our daily journey. Many of our Columban students have had this type of resurrection experience since they entered the formation program. It makes me wonder when I hear someone say that their personal life is over when they enter the seminary. Does that make sense? I think that when we respond to God’s call it is the beginning of a 18
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new life as a gift from God, and it does not mean that one’s personal life has ended. Let me give you an example from my own experience. After joining the Columban formation program in 1992, I used to visit my mother on Sunday from time to time. One Sunday I visited Mom, and we had lunch together. In the late afternoon my mom asked me, “Why do you keep watching the clock?” I said without thinking, “It is time to go back home.” My mother stared at me for a while and asked, “Did you say, ‘your home’? ” but she didn’t say any more about it. Ten years later, I was preparing for my priestly ordination, and I visited my mother. She suddenly asked, “Do you remember the conversation we had about where your home is?” She carefully told me that at that moment she felt really sad and felt that our relationship – that of a mother and son – had abruptly ceased because of my remark. She felt that I had somehow separated myself from her when I said, “It is time to go back home.” She told me with a big smile, “I realize I have not lost my son,” even though as a missionary priest I have a big Columban family
now in addition to my birth family. Entering the seminary as a response to God’s call does not mean leaving the relationships that children have with their parents, nor does it mean the end of one’s personal life; it is rather a beginning of a new life in a larger Columban family. That is why we call the formation house “our second home” because this place is not just for studying or boarding; the formation house is not only a residence. The formation house is our home as we begin a new chapter in our lives. Currently, we have nine students in our formation program, all members of the larger Columban family. Some are living in Korea while others are overseas. Four students are in South Korea: Gregorio Youngin Kim, who is preparing his deaconate ordination at present is in Seoul. Peter Daecheol is in his third year at the major seminary in Seoul. Paul Changyoon Yee and Peter Syehyun Kwan are both in their first year at the major seminary. Five students are abroad. Lucano Hwa Ku finished the First Mission Assignment (FMA) and is preparing to go back to Catholic
The ordination of Fr. John Taemoon Kwon
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Fr. Thomas Seungwon Nam, Peter Daecheol, Andrea Sunjong Ryu, Paul Changyoon Yee, Antonio Jinwook Seok, Fr. Patrick Cunningham in the formation house chapel
Theological Union in Chicago, Illinois. Augustine Jeehoon Yee and Carlo Yuigyun Jung are in the process of completing their last two semesters at Catholic Theological Union. They will do their FMA in Fiji next year. Andrea Sunjong Ryu and Antonio Jinwook Seok are studying their first semester of theology at the Jesuit seminary, Ateneo, in Manila, the Philippines. For these nine Korean Columban students, we ask your prayers so that they may be strengthened and nurtured in their vocations. Please tell other people around you about the vocation to the missionary priesthood so that young people can muster up the courage to respond to God’s call, to embrace new beginnings and new life. www.columban.org
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Entering the seminary as a response to God’s call does not mean leaving the relationships that children have with their parents, nor does it mean the end of one’s personal life; it is rather a beginning of a new life in a larger Columban family. Fr. Pat Cunningham, Vice Rector of the formation program in the Korean Region, provides the following update about ordinations, students and changes at the formation house: This past year has been a very eventful year with many comings and goings at the formation house, and of course an ordination celebration which was the highlight of our program and the Korean Region. We witnessed the end of
Fr. Ray Scanlon’s many years of dedicated service as Rector of the formation program in Korea. In extending our gratitude and saying our farewells to Fr. Ray, we had the great pleasure of welcoming his successor to the program, our new Rector Fr. Thomas Seungwon Nam! The changing of the guard happened against the very happy backdrop of a wonderful ordination celebration where, in January 2010, Fr. John Taemoon Kwon became November 2010
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our latest missionary priest to be ordained. It was a wonderful moment for him, his family and friends and local parishioners who literally pulled out all the stops in making it a day to remember for all who were present. It was also a day to celebrate for all those who journeyed with Fr. John during his initial formation, formators and fellow students alike, who helped nurture and strengthen his missionary vocation over the ten years or so in Columban formation. He took up his assignment to Taiwan in September 2010 after a period of ministry in a local parish. Our thoughts and prayers went with him as he began his new assignment. Ordinations are wonderful celebrations and a great sign of hope for our Society. They represent the culmination of many years of struggle, self questioning and moments of joy along the way when one feels a certain confirmation in one’s response to God’s call to become a missionary. We are happy to report that we had another ordination in the region quick on the heels of Fr. John Taemoon Kwon. Gregorio Youngin Kim’s deaconate ordination was on September 18, 2010, and his ordination to the priesthood will take place in March 2011! I guess the reason why I’m getting carried away with all the ordination talk is that there has been a hiatus of eight years since our last priestly ordination. Ordinations are a great opportunity to showcase our vocation and formation programs and to stoke up interest in Columban mission and are incredibly energizing for all the Columban family in the region! We need new students to keep 20
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Fr. Thomas Seungwon Nam and Paremi
the vision of our founders (who themselves were constantly motivated and energized by God’s call to spread the good news in lands far from home) and patron St. Columban alive for the next generation. Therefore, at the beginning of the year, we were only too delighted to welcome two new students, Peter Syehyun Kwan and Paul Changyoon Yee, to the program. We also welcomed the return of another student, Peter Gikwang Kyu, who had been in the program previously and is now in his fourth year in Columban formation. Following an initial period of time of getting to know one another and gradually finding our feet as a new community, everyone soon settled into the daily routine of classes, the various activities of the program and life together in the formation house. We are also happy to announce that we have another student, although he is of the four legged canine variety and doesn’t always abide by the guidelines set out in the program. His name is Paremi, or “hope” in English. Some people have noticed that the vice rector
has lost a few pounds recently, and I can put that down to Paremi as he has been putting me through my paces around the the streets near the formation house. I’m not sure who has been walking whom, by the way! Paremi, a guide dog puppy and quite a big one at 52.8 pounds, is temporarily on loan with us from the Samsung guide dog school. He will return to the guide dog school following graduation from the program at the end of the year where he will undergo postgraduate formal training. Paremi has turned out to be a big hit with our neighbors and is settling into Columban formation with aplomb. We are fearful he may have trouble passing his exams though, as he appears to be too lackadaisical and has a tendency to break the rules! As you can see our formation program is not only engaged in forming missionaries, but guide dogs as well, so it demands a lot of versatility on all our parts. We are all on the journey together, and someday we will reach our destination! CM Fr. Thomas Seungwon Nam (L) is the Rector of the Columban Formation program, and Fr. Patrick Cunningham (R) is the Vice-Rector of the Columban formation program in Seoul, South Korea.
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Diamond (60 years) 1950 Christopher Baker Terence Bennett Charles Flaherty John V. Gallagher James Gavigan John Griffin Mark Kavanagh John Marley John Moran Seamus O’Connor David Wall
Golden (50 years) 1960
Fr. Christopher Baker celebrates Mass in Peru.
Columbans Celebrate Sacerdotal Anniversaries In 2010, thirty-two Columban Fathers celebrated jubilees totaling a combined 1,585 years of crosscultural mission. The Missionary Society of St. Columban extends our deepest gratitude for their years of service and their continued commitment to Columban mission worldwide.
Daniel Ahern Donal Bennett William Byrne John Colgan Patrick Fahey Charles Meagher Michael Molloy Anthony Mortell Cornelius Murphy Maurice O’Connor Francis O’Kelly Michael O’Loughlin Gerard O’Shaughnessy Myles Roban Edward Roberts Patrick Smyth
Silver (25 years) 1985 George DaRoza Cathal V. Gallagher Aidan Larkin William Morton Francis Nally
Jubilarians of the U.S. Region
George DaRoza
Charles Flaherty
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John Marley
John Moran
Anthony Mortell
William Morton
Gerard O’Shaughnessy
Edward Roberts
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Leaving a Legacy… A Conversation with Paul and Marge Hartnett about their Legacy Gift to the Columban Fathers
“The Columban annuity program provided everything we were looking for in the gift.” As long time benefactors of the Columban Fathers, Paul and Marge share their thoughts on why they made a legacy gift to the Society: “In the late 1950s, we moved to Bellevue, Nebraska. At that time, the Columbans hosted an annual festival in the summer. We decided to volunteer at the festival since, as parishioners at St. Mary’s in Bellevue, we knew many of the Columban priests who said Mass at St. Mary’s and it seemed like a good way to get involved. Soon, our relationship with the Columbans deepened and evolved beyond festival participation. We are delighted to have developed friendships with so many of the Columban Fathers over the years. They are truly ‘priests of the people’– down to earth, easy to relate to, and genuinely interested in others. After so many years of friendship with the Columbans, we decided that we wanted to make a legacy gift. God has richly blessed our lives, and we wanted to give back in a way that would benefit others. The Columban annuity program provided everything we were looking for in the gift. It was an easy and simple way to give both now and in the future. Setting up the annuity was very straightforward and uncomplicated. After setting up the program, it is virtually maintenance free. We receive income now and know that our desire to help others will continue in the future. The Columban Fathers is a great organization. As the role of mission changes around the world, the Columbans continue to adapt to the needs of the people they serve. Continuing to learn about where the Columbans are working via the Columban Mission magazine and talks by Columban priests reinforces our desire to give by making us more aware and appreciative of what the Columbans are doing around the world. Through our annuity, we have safe, secure retirement income now and the peace of mind that comes with the assurance of our gift being used to help others in the future.”
For a confidential discussion about leaving a legacy gift or to personally discuss the various planned giving opportunities, please contact:
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Fr. Michael Dodd Planned Giving Office/Columban Fathers PO Box 10, St. Columbans, NE 68056
Toll-free: 877/299-1920 Email: plannedgiving@columban.org www.columban.org/donate
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Educating Tomorrow’s Missionaries Today
I
n his Message for World Mission Sunday just last month, the Holy Father invites all Catholics “to live intensely the liturgical and catechetical, charitable and cultural processes through which Jesus Christ summons us to the banquet of His word and of the Eucharist, to taste the gift of His presence, to be formed at His school and to live ever more closely united to Him, our Teacher and Lord.” I am moved by the phrase to taste the gift of His presence, for I find it is that which is the heart of the missionary. Having tasted the gift of His presence, the impetus is to share it. This resonates with me and, I would venture, finds resonance in every missionary heart. On page two of this magazine is a statement of mission of the
From the Director By Fr. Arturo Aguilar Society. One of our aims is to “foster among all baptized people an awareness of their missionary responsibility.” We Columbans take this goal to heart. Here in the U.S. Region, one of the most effective ways we participate in the evangelization and missionary formation of the local Church is through resources we develop for mission awareness. Our mission education programs provide an opportunity for parishes and schools to connect with and grow in their call to continue Christ’s mission and ministry in the world. We are reminded by Pope Benedict that the people of our time ask us “to make Jesus seen, to make the face
Having tasted the gift
of His presence, the impetus is to share it.
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of the Redeemer shine out in every corner of the earth before the generations of the new millennium and especially before the young people of every continent, the privileged ones to whom the Gospel proclamation is intended.” Through our well received and widely known Come and See! and Journey With Jesus programs, for example, we have helped young people open their hearts and engage in mission. Blessed with the joys and sorrows, the work and relationships of our lives of ad gentes mission, we aim to assist the Church in understanding missionary activity and, out of our mission experiences, to act as agents between God’s people in other lands and cultures. Walking with God’s people, we learn from them about their cultures and faith experiences and at the same time share with joy the Good News as we have received it. For over twenty-five years we have helped people, especially young people, engage in mission and in solidarity with the poor. In the twenty years since we have kept data, we know that over 2,250,000 children and young people have been introduced to mission by over 150,000 teachers and catechists using our mission education curriculum. At the Mission Congress held last month in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the Missionary Society of St. Columban was honored to receive the Mission Award from the U.S. Catholic Mission Association. This is given annually by the USCMA to organizations or persons that exemplify a mission minded understanding of the world, the Church, and all people. In a note accompanying a donation from a fifth grade class, one student wrote, “We realize that $67.00 won’t make living conditions perfect in Peru, but it’s a start anyway.” Yes, it is indeed a start on what we hope will be a lifelong commitment to answering the baptismal call to mission. The Columban Fathers are grateful for the opportunity to educate and witness to those who are students today but may become missionaries tomorrow.
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Columban Fathers PO Box 10 St. Columbans, NE 68056
NON PROFIT ORG POSTAGE PAID COLUMBAN FATHERS
Where will mission take you?
An Invitation Calls for a Response We are but clay, formed and fashioned by the hand of God.
• • • •
Grow in your faith Encounter Christ in others Live simply and in solidarity Give of yourself
For more information about international mission opportunities, please contact: Amy Woolam Echeverria Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach Email: ccaoprograms@columban.org Call: 301-565-4547 Find us on Facebook Missionary Society of St. Columban Attn.: CCAO Department P.O. Box 10 St. Columbans, NE 68056 877/299-1920 www.columban.org
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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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