'Those who journeyed with us' book cover
In February we remembered four Columbans, Peter Fallon, John Henaghan, Patrick Kelly and Joseph Monaghan. Along with 16 parishioners from Malate Parish in Manila, they were taken by Japanese forces in 1945 and were never seen again. They are a few of our Columban martyrs, of whom there are 24 - 23 Columban priests and Columban Sister, Joan Sawyer, who was killed during a prison break at the jail where she ministered in Lima, Peru in 1983. Columbans were killed on mission in China (2), Burma (2), Korea (7), the Philippines (9), Japan (1) and Jamaica (1). Patrick McMahon (August 14) was killed in Normandy in 1944 when working as a chaplain; he was attempting to rescue wounded soldiers. One of those who died in the Philippines was Francis Vernon Douglas (July 27) from New Zealand. He was taken prisoner by the Japanese in the Sta Cruz area of the Philippines and was not seen again.
One of the men who died in Burma was Tommy Murphy (March 16), who was from my hometown of Naas, where a commemorative plaque was erected by the local historical society. At my first mass, I used his chalice, which was loaned for the occasion by the Fox family, as Peter Fox, Fr Tommy’s nephew, was a friend and classmate at Naas CBS.
At our weekday masses here in the Hutt, we take time to remember not only our Columban martyrs but all those who have gone before us. This prompted me to reflect on what surfaces for us in remembering our Columban dead.
Some of those we remember were gone long before we joined the society and were not known to us personally. We know their names and something of their stories from the profiles in the booklet “Those who Journeyed with Us”. Sometimes these profiles are very short, and 40 years of dedicated and faithful service in some part of the Columban world may be summarised in a single sentence.
A striking feature from the early days of the society is the number of men who died very young, in their 20s and 30s. In recent times, our men are living into the 90s. Bernard Toal (November 14) was 101 when he died in 2016 and is, I believe, the first to make it to 100. In the last few years, we have seen several of our men celebrate 70 years of Columban Missionary Priesthood, most recently Barry Cairns from New Zealand, who is still in active ministry in Japan.
There are some whose anniversaries carry personal as well as societal memories. I am thinking here of Fr. Brendan O’Connell (September 14), who was assigned to vocations work in Ireland when I was at secondary school. He was the one who prompted me to apply to the Columbans. The profile of Colm Rafferty (February 8) mentions that his 16 years as director of vocations “were the hardest part of my life as a priest”. A common story in many of these profiles is that men were called away from their country of assignment to do vocation promotion work in Ireland, the USA, England and Australia/New Zealand. The great support that we received over the years from our benefactors is a testament to the work that they did on the road in establishing relationships with our supporters and promoting the mission message. Some Columbans have spent their entire missionary lives in their country of origin because their gifts and talents, as well as Columbans' needs, meant they best served in either administration or formation/teaching roles.
Another feature that comes through in these profiles is the strong family connections among our members. The following families provided us with 3 members: Lovett, McGrath, Conneely, Hurley, Smith, Halliden, and Baker. A quick survey of the profiles shows that at least 20 sets of 2 brothers became Columbans. There is also mention of many nephews who followed their uncles into society.
Included in the profiles are the names of 10 men who served as Columban Brothers. Two of these were also blood brothers - Patrick (March 25) and Michael (September 30) Nolan. The last of brothers was Br Paul (john Clarke) who died July 20, 1996, and thereby closed that chapter of Columban history. There are at least two profiles of men who were permanent members of the society but died before ordination. They were John Walsh (August 23) who drowned in Chicago while attempting to rescue a child and Dan Fitzgerald (August 24) who died following an injury in a football game.
In more recent times other names have been added to the list of those who have gone before us. These included three Lay Missionaries - Serafina Ranadi Vuda (May 31), Yean Sin Elizabeth Lim (November 4) and Pilar Tilos (January 4). Serafina was from Fiji and worked in Chile and Peru before becoming Coordinator of the Central Leadership team. She died unexpectedly in Los Angeles in 2014. Yean Sin was from Korea and was just one year into her appointment to Fiji when she contracted hepatitis and died. Her profile mentions that when her parents saw the affection that the Fijian people had for her, they agreed that she be buried in Fiji. Pilar from the Philippines was assigned to Pakistan. Her profile says that she was hard working and full of life and humour and died in her sleep in Lahore.
In 1982 the decision was made by our General Assembly to invite vocations from the countries where we work and to begin a lay mission program. The photos taken at a recent meeting of younger Columbans in the Philippines reveal the multicultural nature of this younger group. Of the Columban ordained following that decision the first to be added to the list of those who journeyed with us was Aminiasi Ravuwai from Fiji. He was just a couple of years into his mission in Peru when he died on January 9, 2025.
May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace.
Columban Fr Pat O’Shea, lives and works in Aotearoa/New Zealand.
Related links
- Read more from the current Columban eBulletin
