San Columbano2.pmd

No 2 Advent-Christmas 2008
From the Desk of the Regional Director
By Fr Patrick O’Donoghue www.columbanmission.net
Warm greetings to all our friends who will be reading this second edition of Columban
Mission.
As you know from the last edition, 2008 is a special year for the Columbans as we
celebrate 90 years as a missionary society. We had a Mass of thanksgiving at St Columban’s,
Singalong, Manila, on 29 June attended by Columban Priests, Sisters, Lay Missionaries and
Students as well as our staff and family members of some of the students. We had a double
reason to be grateful to God – our 90 years of service to Mission and the acceptance into the
Society of two new members, Ruben Lobo and John Arga, who had completed their probation of two years. As we gave thanks
to God for what has been and for the ‘new life’ visible in the vocation of John and Ruben, we also remembered with gratitude all
our benefactors who have faithfully supported us in so many ways over the years. They, too, have been a visible sign of God’s
blessing on our efforts to try to put into practice what Jesus commanded his disciples to do: ‘Go out to the whole world and
proclaim the Good News to all creation’ (Mark 16:15).
By God’s grace we, as Columbans, have a history we can be proud of and grateful for. But this does not mean that we can
now sit back. On the contrary, especially at this time when the world is all the more in need of Jesus and his Word of truth and
love, our priority must be to strive even more to be faithful missionaries and to encourage others to join with us and support us in
that effort. In this edition of Columban Mission you will read more about all this and hopefully come to know more about us,
young and old alike! And, as you read, know that you, our benefactors and supporters, are very much part of it all. Without your
interest and support we would not be able to do what we do.
As we begin Advent and prepare our hearts to welcome the Christ
Child more deeply into our lives this Christmas, we will thank Jesus in
a special way for each of you and your families and ask him to continue
to bless you abundantly. We ask you, in turn, to pray for us, especially
all the Filipino Columban Missionaries who are so much part of the
new life of our Society. We also ask you to continue to support us in
other ways: through encouraging others to read our magazine which is
available online at www.misyononline.com as well in two CD formats
and, of course, with your financial contributions, no matter how small.
Many thanks and every blessing.
Death of Great Columban Friend in Bacolod City
Mrs Salvacion Valderrama Tinsay, a great friend of the
Columbans for many years, died peacefully at her home in
Bacolod City early in the morning of 8 August. Most of her family
were with her, including her daughter Marisa, who lives in Belgium,
with her husband Kris and their three children. ‘Salving’, or ‘Tita
Salving’ as she was known to many, had turned 76 in April. She
had been battling with cancer for some time. I anointed her about
a week before her death.
Salving became involved with the Deaf when a young Deaf
Peace Corps volunteer stayed in her home back in the 1980s.
Not long after that she met the late Columban Father Joseph
Coyle who had become aware of how marginalized Deaf people
see COLUMBAN FRIEND, page 4
COLUMBAN MISSION December 2008
Every October since 2004 Mr Jay Nanagas of United
Hills, Parañaque, visits the Misyon office in Singalong
to deliver the contribution to Columban Mission which
he and his wife, Nona, have saved inside a yellow
teddy bear. In the photo above Cathy de Leon, then
one of the Misyon office staff, assists Mr Nanagas to
extract the coins, totaling P13, 659.00 for the year
2007, from the teddy bear.
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Mary Doohan RIP and The Little Way
A
great supporter of Columban and other missionaries throughout the world,
Mary Doohan, died in England on 29 August at the age of 91. She has two
brothers who are Columbans in the Philippines, Father John and Father
Michael. At the time of this writing Father John is very ill. He has been in the
Philippines since 1948, initially in Mindanao and from 1950 in Negros until his
retirement more than 50 years later to the Columban house in Singalong. Their
sister, the late Columban Sister Philomena, worked in Burma, the Philippines
and Chile.
The Doohan Family are from Mullagh, County Clare, Ireland. While working
in the Civil Service in London Mary responded to a plea from Father John to
help rebuild his church which had been destroyed by a typhoon. This eventually led her to founding
The Little Way, an organization inspired by the spirituality of St Thérèse of Lisieux that continues to raise money for the
Church’s missionary work throughout the world. One of many such projects is the Little Way College Seminary of the Diocese
of Kabankalan.
The Word, the magazine of the SVD missionaries in Ireland, had an article on Mary by Fr Liam Dunne SVD in October.
We’ll have an expanded version of that in the May-June issue of Misyon, www.misyononline.com . Father Dunne ranks her
with such outstanding Irish missionaries
as Frank Duff, founder of the Legion
of Mary, Fr Patrick Peyton CSC, ‘The
Rosary Priest’, and Bishop Edward
Galvin and Fr John Blowick, founders
Lord, we thank you for 90 years
of the Columbans.
Of crossing boundaries of country,
In recognition of her work and of
Culture and class to preach
the work of the Association, Mary was
the Gospel
twice honored by the Church. In 1979
And for all the blessings our work
she was awarded the Pro Ecclesia et
Has brought us.
Pontifice medal. In 1996 Pope John
Paul II awarded her the ‘Damehood
Thank you for all the different
of St Gregory the Great for her work
peoples in our lives.
for the missions’. The only privilege
knights and dames of the Pontifical
The people at home,
Equestrian Order of St Gregory the
Who have loved, encouraged
Great have is that they may ride a horse
And supported us.
in St Peter’s Basilica. None, least of
all Mary, have exercised that right for
The people overseas,
a long time and Father Michael, her
who have shared
brother who has used horses all his
Their rich cultures, their Gospel
missionary life, was unaware of the
And sometimes their poverty.
unusual if unused right that his sister
had.
May we in the spirit of Christ,
Paul and St Columban Ccontinue
Mary was buried in her native
To become more human and
County Clare, a particularly beautiful
Christian together.
part of Ireland. As we say in Irish, ‘Ar
dheis Dé go raibh a h-anam uasal’,
Fr Noel Connolly
‘May her noble soul be at the right hand
Regional Director
of God’.
Australia & New Zealand
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COLUMBAN MISSION December 2008
Columban Students Take
Oath of Membership
On 29 June, the Solemnity of Sts Peter and Paul and the 90th anniversary of the
official approval by the Vatican of the Missionary Society of St Columban as a
society of apostolic life of pontifical right, John Arga of Iba, Zambales, and Ruben
Lobo, of Subic, Zambales, took their oath of membership of the Society during
Mass in St Columban’s, Singalong St, Manila.
John (near camera) and Ruben receiving
their mission crosses from Fr Patrick
O’Donoghue, Regional Director.
John, left, and Ruben taking
their oath of membership.
Five of our students - Erl Tabaco
(Cagayan de Oro City), Kurt Pala
(Iligan City), Louie Ybañez (Tagaloan,
Misamis Oriental), Mike Buctot (Tangub
City, Misamis Occidental) and Etuate
Tubuka (Suva, Fiji) began their Thirty
Day Ignatian Retreat on 27 October in
Sacred Heart Jesuit Retreat and
Sprituality Center, Novaliches, Quezon
City. Their director was Fr Michael
Mohally
Mission Art Contest Winners
The winners in this year’s art contest organized by the Mission Awareness Team
in Cagayan de Oro led by Fr Richard Pankratz are:
Gold: Sosante M. Pajarillo III, Fourth Year Section Jumo, Gingoog City National High School,
Gingoog City, Misamis Oriental.
Silver: Gilbert Asinero, Third Year Section Mark, Agusan National High School, Agusan,
Cagayan de Oro City.
Bronze: Riza A. Perez, Fourth Year Section Loyalty, Christ the King High School,
Maranding, Lala, Lanao del Norte.
The winning entries will be featured in the March-April issue of Misyon, www.misyononline.com
COLUMBAN MISSION December 2008
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COLUMBAN FRIEND
from page 1
Columban Lay Missionaries in Ireland
are in the Philippines. With Salving’s
support he eventually opened Welcome Home, a residence for out-oftown Deaf students in Bacolod. She
gave the last twenty years or so of her
life to the Deaf, apart from running a
nursery in her own home for babies left
on her doorstep. She and her late husband Bert raised these as their own
and formally adopted some of them.
When Father Joe died on 18
December 1991 everyone was
devastated but Salving not only
continued the work he had begun but
expanded it to places such as
Kabankalan, Pontevedra, Escalante,
all in Negros Occidental, and to
Malaybalay, Bukidnon, where the
family has business interests.
I celebrated Mass in Villa
Valderrama chapel the evening of
Salving’s death and Frs Terence
Bennett and Brian Gore concelebrated
at the funeral Mass on 11 August. May
this dear person, a lady in the fullest
sense of that word, rest in peace.
The members of ‘RP-17’, the five Columban lay missionaries who went to Ireland
earlier this year, have now been given pastoral assignments there.
From left to right they are: Lenette ‘Nette’ Toledo of Esperanza, Sultan Kudarat,
and Marivic ‘Ivic’ Quilab of Ozamiz City, to Ashbourne-Donoughmore parish,
Diocese of Meath, Virgie ‘Gie’ Tanate from General Trias,Cavite, to Navan parish,
Diocese of Meath, Lorelei ‘Lalay’ Ocaya from Cagayan de Oro to Ballymun
parish and Marife ‘Epie’ Padao from Katipunan, Zamboanga del Norte, to the
neighboring Columban-administered parish of Balcurris, both in the Archdiocese of
Dublin.
COSE Award to Columban Friend
By Richelle H. Verdeprado
Sister Felicitas B. de Lima DSA, a great friend of the Columbans, was among
the ten awardees of the Coalition of Services of the Elderly (COSE) at St Paul
College, Quezon City, on 5 October.
Sister Etat, as the 74-year-old founder of the Daughters of St Augustine is
known, got to know the Columbans sometime in 1990 when Fr Brian Gore was
doing vocation work in the Bicol Region. Columbans have been visiting ever
since.
The COSE award cited The Foundation of Our Lady of Fatima for Human and
Development Inc, or Fatima Center, a charitable institution which Sister Etat cofounded and is situated in San Agustin Village, Iriga City, Camarines Sur. Since
1974, Fatima Center has been able to implement various programs and services
for the improvement of the living conditions of orphans, street children, victims of
violence, abandoned children, persons with disabilities, single parents, cultural
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COLUMBAN MISSION December 2008
ESSAY CONTEST 2008 WINNERS
Misyon recently held its third annual essay competition with the theme:
‘You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you;
and you will be my witnesses’ (Acts 1:8).
Out of 411 entries from 23 different schools, ten winners were picked by
our judges. Three main prizes and seven consolation winners.
Fr Pankratz awarding Blaise
2nd Prize Winner:
Norhanisa Dimarangun Rangaig
4th Year - Einstein,
Iligan City National High School
Principal: Mr Abundio P Saadvedra Jr
Values Education Teacher:
Laurence D. Librado
Michelle with Fr Dick Pankratz
and Mrs May Flores
minorities and the
disadvantaged. It has
an orphanage for 150
poor children, and a
public elementary
and high school for the
local community, as
well as a shelter and
services for battered
women
and
indigenous Aeta
people.
1st Prize Winner: Blaise Sy Piecco del Bando
- 2nd Year St. Bartholomew,
Lourdes College High School, CDO
Principal: Sr Ma. Marilou E Pabatao RVM
Christian Living Teacher: Jhonas P. Dela Torre
CONSOLATION PRIZES:
Norhanisa with Wilbert A. Torres of
Columban Mission Awareness, CDO, and
Mrs Estrella C. Leong, Dept Head-Values
3rd Prize Winner: Michille Rose Tabamo
Jovita - 4th Year San Juan del Castillo,
Xavier University High School
- Ateneo de Cagayan, CDO
Principal: Fr Stephen T.Abuan SJ
Christian Living Teacher:
Fr Stephen T. Abuan SJ
4th Praxides Patangan Gamotin
4th Year Rizal
Iligan City National High School
Principal: Mr Abundio P Saadvedra Jr
Values Education Teacher:
Ms Maria Tita Y. Bontia
5th Arlo L. Poletico
4th Year no specified section
9000 Cagayan de Oro City
Principal: Anele P. Gonzalez
Christian Living Teacher:
Liv Marie U Gakyramon
6th Kenneth John Aguinaldo Punla
4th Year St Bernard of Clairvaux
Columban College
Principal: Mrs Corazon M. Amarille
Christian Living Teacher:
Mrs Judith S. Edquilane
7th Debbie Mae F. Dizon
3rd Year Our Lady of Mercy
Fatima College of Camiguin
Principal: Ms Dina B Guinitaran
8th Acut, Janeth May Illana
4th Year St Peter
Xavier High School
Principal: Mrs Teresita R. Suarez
Christian Living Teacher: S. Emie V.
Ceballos
Sr Etat, center, Fr Brian Gore at back
You can read more
about Sister Etat in the March-April 2009 issue of Misyon,
www.misyononline.com
COLUMBAN MISSION December 2008
9th Sweeny Malate Bumagat
3rd Year Shakespeare
Angelicum Learning Centre
Principal: Lemuel Parantar
10th Donica Gadian Igot
4th Year St John Vianney
Sacred Heart Academy
Principal: Sr Mary Conception Perejan RSM
Home Room Teacher: Realisa G Sanayo
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Columban Jubilarians
This year four Columban priests and one Columban Sister who have served in the Philippines celebrate their Diamond
Jubilees, while five priests and four sisters celebrate their Golden Jubilees, the priests of their ordination and the
sisters of their final profession.
Golden
Diamond
Fr Michael Harrison:
Manila
Sr Ann Breen:
Mindanao
Sr Patricia McGuinness:
Mindanao
Fr Aodh O’Halpin:
Mindanao
Fr Bernard O’Connor:
Luzon
Fr Patrick O’Herlihy:
Luzon
Fr Kieran Heneghan:
Luzon
Sr Joy Carmody: Luzon
Platinum
Fr Patrick Hurley:
Negros
Sr Rose O’Mahony:
Mindanao
Fr Thomas Revatto:
Negros
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Sr Ita Hannaway:
Mindanao
Fr Peter Kenny: Luzon
Fr John Dennehy: Luzon
Though they never served in the Philippines, we offer our very
special thanks and congratulations to two Columban priests
who celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of their ordination in
December 1938.
Fr Francis Gallagher:
Korea, USA and Ireland
Fr Thomas Hanahoe:
Ireland, USA, Rome and
Australia
As we thank God for all of these faithful
Columbans we toast them with the old Latin
phrase, ‘Ad multos annos’, ‘May you have
many more years’.
COLUMBAN MISSION December 2008
Since our first issue of Columban Mission six Columban priests who served in the Philippines have died.
Fr Liam Heffernan, born in
Ireland on 15 March 1923,
ordained on 21 December 1947,
served in Mindanao from 1948
till 1950 when he was assigned
to the new mission in Negros. A
quiet, conscientious and
dedicated pastor, he served
there in, among other places,
the parishes of Ilog, La
Castellana and Aguisan, his last
assignment before retiring to the Columban house in
Batang, Himamaylan, four years ago. Last year he returned
to Ireland because of his health and died on 6 July.
Fr Malachy Toner died in
Ireland on 9 August 2008,
one week short of his 92nd
birthday. Ordained on 21
December 1939, he spent
the War years promoting
the Columbans in Ireland.
In 1946 he went to China
but because of the
advance
of
the
Communists there was
transferred
to
the
Philippines in 1949. He worked in Student Catholic Action,
becoming both National Director and Director in the
Archdiocese of Manila. In 1954 he moved to Mindanao
where he worked in parishes in Ozamiz, Magsaysay,
Marawi and Lopez Jaena. From 1984 till 2004 he was
chaplain to two communities of religious before retiring.
Father Malachy was a talented and dedicated missionary,
an accomplished preacher, a man of strong independent
views, and also a man of considerable charm.
Fr Paul J. O’Rourke, born in Providence, Rhode Island,
USA, on 6 October 1934 died in Bristol, RI, on 28 October.
He was the brother of the late Fr Hugh O’Rourke, also a
Columban, and of Columban Sister Claire O’Rourke. Father
Paul and Sister Claire, now based in Boston, both served
in Mindanao.
COLUMBAN MISSION December 2008
Ordained in December
1961, Father Paul came
to the Philippines in 1962.
After five years he joined
the US Navy as a
chaplain and was
assigned to Vietnam in
1968 where he was
injured a year later in a
mine explosion. He
returned to Mindanao in
1971 where he was very enthusiastically involved with the
Christian Communities Program (CCP). After five years
he was appointed to the formation staff of the Columban
college seminarians in St Paul, Minnesota, but returned to
Iligan in 1980 and was there for four years.
Father Paul was then assigned to a Spanish-speaking
community in Las Cruces Diocese, New Mexico and, ever
the missionary, went to Jamaica in 1991 where the
Columbans had a mission at the time. Four years later he
was appointed superior of the Columban house in New
York City. After two years he moved to Bristol, RI, but his
health gradually deteriorated.
Fr Joseph Bradley was
born in Ireland on 15 October
1923 and died peacefully at
St Columban’s, Singalong,
Manila, on 28 October after
a long illness.
Ordained on 21 December
1947, Father Joe arrived in
Manila in May 1949 and, after studying Pangasinense, went
to Sual, where he stayed till 1961. From then till 1978 he
was based in Singalong in Society administrative work
before returning to Pangasinan. He was parish priest of
Labrador for four years before returning to Sual where he
stayed till 1996 when a stroke incapacitated him. For the
last few years he was bed-ridden and cared for with great
love by a team of nurses. The manner in which he bore
his suffering during the last years of his life is a testament
to the man and an example to all of us.
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Fr Robert Stack was born 13
April 1921 in Ireland. He was a
member of the class ordained on
21 December 1946, many of
whose members made an
enormous contribution to the
Church in Mindanao. After one
year in Ireland, Father Bob spent
54 years there. In his early years
he worked in Aloran and Iligan before serving as Columban
superior in Mindanao from 1962 till 1968. After that he
served in Lugait, Oroquieta, Balabagan, Medina and in
Agusan and Bugo, two parishes in Cagayan de Oro. He
retired to Ireland six years ago. A strong man of unfailing
good humor, he had a great love for the poor and was very
supportive of his fellow priests. This ‘good and faithful
servant’ died on 10 October.
May he rest in peace.
Fr Michael Donohue died
suddenly on 18 October after
a heart attack while attending
a funeral. He had turned 88
only a month before. Ordained
in December 1945, he was
assigned first to China but
around the time of the
Communist takeover he was
transferred to the Philippines
where he was to work for 50 years. Apart from a term as
Regional Director, beginning in 1959, when he was based
in Manila, he worked in Mindanao in places as diverse as
Tangub, Molave, Marawi, Mahinog, Linamon and Corpus
Christi, Iligan. A very kind man with a great human touch
who hated not being up to date on Columban news, he
was what is known as a ‘character’ and stories about him
have brought a laugh and a smile at many a Columban
gathering.
Mass for Fr Robert Stack RIP
Mass was celebrated in Holy Rosary Church,
Agusan, Cagayan de Oro City, the only remaining
Columban parish in the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro,
for the soul of Fr Robert Stack who died in Ireland on 10
October. He had served in the parish.
In the photo is Jessica Revaca, a very active
parishioner for whom Father Stack had bought a
wheelchair.
May all of these ‘mighty men’, as
older Irish Columbans might
describe them, rest in peace.
PUBLISHER:
Fr Patrick O’Donoghue
Regional Director
Editor:
Fr Seán Coyle
Assistant Editor:
Anabelle Gubuan
Editorial Assistant:
Mary Joy Rile
Contributing Editor:
Lourdes de Guzman
Mission Awareness Coordinator:
Father Richard Pankratz
Office Manager:
Father Dominic Nolan
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