After 34 years of missionary work in Pakistan, I came to Rome at the end of 2011 to serve as the Procurator-General of the Missionary Society of St Columban. The Columbans have a residence in Rome called Collegio San Colombano for priests who are studying in Rome, for those who have official business and also for visitors. This is where I live.
The first and most important role in Rome of the Procurator-General of any religious society or congregation is to represent the Superior General and his council at the various Vatican offices. Our Columban Superior General lives in Hong Kong, so I facilitate any matters between the Vatican and him. I also assist some of the dioceses where Columbans are working or which have had long missionary connections with Columbans. Columbans have worked in the Philippines since 1927 and have a good relationship with the Mission Society of the Philippines which was founded fifty years ago. As part of this relationship I am also the procurator general of this Mission Society of the Philippines. One of the very good effects of the pontificate of Pope Francis has been a fresh commitment and readiness of the clerical and lay officials in the Vatican offices (called dicasteries or the Curia) to deal quickly and efficiently with matters which are brought before them. This makes my work pleasant. It is good to collaborate with these officials in friendship and with a common vision to serve the needs of the Church throughout the world.
The Columbans are not a big society. However, when speaking to people in Rome who are in leadership of much larger religious orders, congregations and societies I have been surprised to realize the importance and quality of the sharing that Columbans are able to do about important issues which have come from our missionary experience in many countries. On behalf of our superior general I have presented to Vatican offices the Columban policies on socially responsible and ethical investment, climate change, migrants, and inter-religious dialogue. The response has been one of genuine appreciation for well-presented statements on key moral and missionary issues, some of which are still being worked upon by the Vatican and other religious congregations.
My working contact in Rome as Procurator-General with men and women of many nationalities in leadership positions of religious congregations and societies has helped me understand the huge international network of faith and ministry in the Catholic Church. I had taught about this as an historic reality in my church history courses at the major seminary in Karachi. I am now experiencing it as an actual present-day reality. Meetings, conferences, liturgies, and gatherings in friendship are occasions for crossing boundaries of culture, race and language. This is made easier by the fact that we share the one faith and also because we speak Italian as our new common language whether we are from China, Malawi, India, Australia, or France.
Being in Rome has been an opportunity for me to develop close ecumenical relations with the Anglican and Methodist Churches. The Archbishop of Canterbury has his personal representative to The Holy See as does the World Methodist Federation. My commitment to ecumenism is something I received from my parents. I believe that it is difficult to be a missionary and ignore the ecumenical challenge and possibilities for collaboration for justice and peace, for human rights and religious freedom, in interreligious dialogue, and against human trafficking and slavery.
Meeting ambassadors accredited to The Holy See has created fruitful points of contact especially in the countries where Columbans are present. In 2016 the Irish ambassadors to The Holy See and to Italy joined the celebration in Rome of the 100th anniversary of the Easter uprising in Dublin with the 100th anniversary of the Columbans receiving approval from bishops in Ireland to begin their missionary work in China. Good contacts with the diplomats means that issues of Columban concern can be effectively presented and often visa difficulties for missionaries can be resolved. I maintain excellent contacts with the Pakistan ambassadors to The Holy See and to Italy. I assist them in making their view heard in the Vatican offices. I am able, in turn, to insist to them on issues relating to human rights, religious freedom, and the blasphemy laws which threaten Christians and others. It is a relationship of respect and understanding.
Being Procurator-General for the Columbans is an interesting position with many possibilities for furthering the work of our Society and making the Society better known on the international level. These are some of the possibilities that I have been able to make realities.
Columban Fr Robert McCulloch works as the Procurator-General in Rome, Italy.
Related links
- Read more from The Far East, July 2018
