We are all Columbans

Kim and Fr Patrick from CCCMR with Columbans and co-workers from different countries on their visits to Sydney. Photo: CCCMR

At our Columban Synod for Oceania in late 2022 and early 2023, the first of the five emerging directions, which was affirmed by everyone through spiritual conversations, was “Our Columban Identity: We understand Columban identity as inclusive – we are all Columbans, and we are one Region”. As a co-worker working in Sydney with Fr Patrick McInerney at the Columban Centre for Christian-Muslim Relations, what this sense of inclusivity has provided me is a greater connection to the priests, lay missionaries and other co-workers who make up the Region of Oceania. It has shown me that I am journeying with a wider team beyond the Centre in Sydney.

Our team is the Columbans, and together, our goal is to share the Good News, work with the poor and exploited, seek justice and dignity for those denied their rights, develop faith communities, care for the earth, and, particularly in my area of focus, interfaith relations. I won’t go into the interfaith works of the Centre here. Instead, I’ll share with you how the Synod enhanced my sense of being a Columban.

Briefly, the opportunity to meet most, if not all, the members of the Region provided me with a concrete sense of who they all are and the roles they play within our wider team, rather than remain an abstract name that was difficult to remember. There is real value in seeing the faces and hearing the voices of the members of the whole Region, even online. It enhances connection and familiarity.

Of course, at the heart of this meeting was our participation in conversations that asked us to listen to the Spirit. For me, it proved to be a process that better established and deepened relationships so that I can access a greater sense of the whole. Simply, it provided me with a more concrete context in which I work but more importantly, affirmed and deepened my humble contribution to a culture of peace in the name of the Columbans. Spilling over from the Synod, Fr Patrick and I have continued relationships with Columbans involved in interreligious dialogue in Fiji. As a result, I’ve developed a good working relation with my IRD counterpart, Priscilla Magdalin, in Fiji, meeting each quarter online but also casually communicating via Facebook and email to share our achievements and challenges in the interfaith space and generally provide support for one another. Before the Synod, I wasn’t too aware of Priscilla. Now we are working together, which better serves our mission in promoting dialogue. My online communications with colleagues in Melbourne and New Zealand, however brief, are somehow fuller and deeper since the Synod, too. There is a greater familiarity that is reaffirming and appreciated.

In Sydney, Fr Patrick has continued to ensure that staff at the Centre and the local Columbans continue to build relations by inviting me to Redmyre in Strathfield for meetings, professional development days, and the annual CCCMR-Columban barbecue, a social event that’s always a highlight. These relationships are further enhanced when Columbans visit our Centre in person. Recent visitors were Superior General Tim Mulroy, Fr Pat Visanti from Pakistan, Regional Director Fr Peter O’Neill, and even Priscilla, who stopped in while on a personal visit to see family in Sydney. Fr Patrick and I always look forward to these visits for their professional and social benefits.

As a Columban co-worker promoting the interfaith apostolate in Western Sydney, my relationships are broadening beyond the Columban fold as we strengthen ties with the Diocese of Parramatta. The Bishop of Parramatta, The Most Rev Vincent Long OFM Conv, has established an interfaith commission, whose members consult Fr Patrick in their journey with believers from other faiths. We are working closely with the commission members to embed interfaith in the diocese even more. What this shows is that the synodal process has led to awareness of not only the wider Columban Region of Oceania but of the wider church and society of which we all contribute and help shape.

As a co-working “Columban”, I take seriously the responsibility to share the Good News, and especially interfaith dialogue, in the spirit of listening, prayer, dialogue and boldness. 

Related links

• Read more from the current Columban eBulletin.