On June 29th the Columbans will be one hundred years old. Jubilees are occasions to reflect as well as celebrate. In preparing for this Jubilee I have been reflecting on my life as a Columban. My memories are overwhelmingly positive. I like to think being a Columban has been an expansion of my mind, heart and humanity. I am a bigger man because of my experience.
Columbans are people oriented missionaries and I feel that whatever energy, hope and vision we have has been a gift of the people we have lived and worked with. Both the people we grew up among and who have educated and supported us and those overseas with whom we lived and came to love.
At our 2000 General Assembly in Sydney we affirmed, “A defining element of the Columban contribution to mission was that of missionary experience in a culture and country other than our own.” Every Columban spends at least some years living in another country and that gives us special insights and sensitivities.
Columbans have struggled with the languages and cultures of China, Korea, Taiwan and Japan; lived with the Filipinos and Chileans through dictatorships; served their people in shanty towns in Latin America; lived in largely Muslim countries like Pakistan and have seen the destruction of the environment in the “Third World”. These experiences changed us and gave us unique insights into questions of poverty, ecology, culture, interreligious dialogue, migration and refugees. They expand your horizons.
They also give us skills and attitudes that are valuable for mission in Australia. We went to the peripheries and now people from the peripheries have come to us. Forty-nine percent of all Australians were either born overseas or have a parent born overseas. Catholics are increasingly multiethnic. Some dioceses have more than one third of their parishioners born overseas and a good number of dioceses would have one third to a half of their clergy born and trained overseas. This is both a gift and a challenge and an area in which the Columbans can contribute because we too have been migrants and know instinctively what is involved. We have had to learn languages, have felt isolated and suffered culture shock. We can befriend migrants for whom we have a special empathy.
More importantly because we have experienced hospitality among strangers we fear difference less. We enjoyed the people with whom we lived and so welcome difference. This is an important virtue in times of increasing nationalism, isolationism and the growth of immigration as a polarising issue in almost all western nations.
In 2002 Rabbi Jonathan Sachs wrote the powerful book, The Dignity of Difference: How to Avoid the Clash of Civilisations. In introducing the book, he wrote, “The duty I owe to my ancestors who died because of their faith is to build a world in which people no longer die because of their faith.” Faith builds identity but unfortunately identity often creates enemies. Peace does not equal everyone embracing my faith but living happily with difference.
Sachs points out that many people fear people who are different and especially if they have a different faith. “Anxiety creates fear, fear leads to anger, anger breeds violence”. For him, “the greatest single antidote to violence is conversation”. That is where Columbans can help. We know some of these people. They are our friends. We have enjoyed living with them and have found God in and with them. We want to share our stories so that there will be less fear; so that our peoples can grow beyond fear and tolerance to friendship, respect and affection.
The constant message of the Bible is that we meet God in one who is different, in the stranger. The unity of the Creator is seen in the diversity of creation.
For almost ninety-eight years Columbans through The Far East have been trying to foster a conversation, introducing the people of Australia to the lives and struggles of the people of Asia and Latin America we have worked with. This is not merely a fund-raising strategy. It is, more importantly, a way to build understanding and appreciation of difference. This is important not only for ourselves and our Christian communities but for the nation and the world.
Columban Fr Noel Connolly is a member of the Adult Formation Team with Catholic Mission Australia and is a member of the Facilitation Team for the Plenary Council 2020.
Related links
- Read more from the current Columban eBulletin
