Brothers receive awards

Columban Frs Peter and Kevin O’Neill are twin brothers who hail from Geelong, Victoria. During the month of December, 2015, both received awards.

Fr Kevin O'Neill receiving an honorary Doctorate, December 14, 2015.Columban Fr Kevin O’Neill receives an honorary Doctorate in Philosophy

On the December 14, 2015, Fr Kevin received an honorary Doctorate in Philosophy from St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, Ireland. Fr Kevin has been the Superior General of the Missionary Society of St Columban since 2012. He received this honorary Doctorate as Superior General, during the commemoration year of the 1400th Anniversary of the death of St Columban in 615AD.

Fr Kevin’s honor was intended to recognise the outstanding missionary work done by the entire Missionary Society of St Columban – formerly the Maynooth Mission to China – from its foundation until the present day.

In his acceptance speech Fr Kevin stated:

"On behalf of the Missionary Society of St Columban I wish to thank the Pontifical University, St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, for conferring this award in commemoration of the 1400th anniversary of the death of St Columban and in recognition of the work of the Missionary Society of St Columban. This award honors the rich heritage and legacy which unites our work and mission.

“As Columbans we enter into a given cultural context sharing life with the people among whom we live and serve. We deliberately choose to locate ourselves among those most in need and strive to live in solidarity with them. We encourage people and walk with them on their faith journey and in their struggle to change the unjust structures that keep them poor and on the margins of society. The source of our witness and actions is our faith in Jesus. We desire to mirror in our lives the pattern of Jesus' life, helping people of all faiths, or no faith, to gain their dignity as sons and daughters of God, loved by God."

Columban Fr Peter O’Neill received the 2015 Hsinchu City Hero Award

Fr Peter O'Neill protesting with migrant worker in Taiwan. On December 26, 2015 the mayor of Hsinchu City, Taiwan awarded Fr Peter O’Neill and two other people the 2015 Hsinchu City Hero award.

Fr Peter received the award in recognition of his 23 years of service to migrant workers and immigrants in Hsinchu City.

Fr Peter is the director of the Hope Worker’s Centre founded by the Missionary Society of St. Columban in 1986. The centre works to educate migrants on their rights, lobby the government for fair employment conditions and assist immigrants in distress.

In his acceptance speech, Fr Peter stated: “At our rally in 1996 we began lobbying the Taiwan government to reduce the work hours from 48 hours/week to 40 hours/week. Recently we received some good news that at long last the Taiwan government has finally approved a 40 hour work week which many industrialized countries have had for over 40 years. In 2000 the working hours were reduced to 84 hours every 2 weeks. We have waited 20 years for this victory.”

The Superior General of the Society of St Columban, Fr Kevin O’Neill, twin brother of Peter, arrived in Taiwan just in time to attend the award ceremony. It had been 15 years since they celebrated Christmas and the New Year together.

We congratulate Frs Peter and Kevin on their well-deserved awards.

Read more from The Far East, April 2016