Fr Seán Coyle SSC
A Columban Inspiration
By Fr Seán Coyle
Fr Gerardo A. Alminaza of the Diocese of Bacolod was ordained bishop in San Sebastian Cathedral there on 4 August. The following day he was installed as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Jaro in St Elizabeth Metropolitan Cathedral there. Bacolod is a suffragan diocese of Jaro, located in Iloilo City, an hour to the west by fast sea-craft. The main consecrating bishop was Papal Nuncio Edward Joseph Adams, with Archbishop Angel N. Lagdameo of Jaro, current president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, and Bishop Vicente M. Navarra of Bacolod as principal co-consecrators.
The new bishop is a ‘product’ of the Columbans, having grown up in San Jose, Sipalay City, now part of the Diocese of Kabankalan, separated from Bacolod in 1987, and consisting of what was the main territory in the southern part of the province of Negros Occidental entrusted to the Columbans in 1950. Bishop Alminaza’s parish priest during his high school years in Cabarrus Catholic College, San Jose, was Fr Patrick Hurley, one of the Columban pioneers in Negros and still, at the age of 84, serving in the Chaplaincy of Our Lady of Peace, Biscom Sugar Central, Binalbagan. The late Fr Augustine Rowe was the priest in San Jose when Bishop Gerry was ordained in 1986. The new priest’s only parish assignment was in Kabankalan, working there with Columbans for a year or so after his ordination. He has spent the rest of his priesthood in formation work and studying. He was on the staff of the major seminary in Jaro for some years and so is no stranger to his new diocese, where he will be based at the cathedral.
MISYON Student Essay Contest 2008
Misyon announces its fourth annual essay contest, which this year is open to all high school students. First prize is P10,000, second prize is P5,000 and third P3,000. There are ten consolation prizes of P2,000.
Theme: ‘You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses’ (Acts 1:8).
This passage occurs after the death and resurrection of Jesus, just before his ascension to the Father. It represents the birth of the Church.
'Beautiful Witness Of Fidelity To Christ' In Iraq
By: Father Seán Coyle
On Friday 29 February this year, just after celebrating the Qurbana, the Eucharist of the Chaldean Rite of the Catholic Church, in the Church of the Holy Spirit, Mosul (the ancient city of Nineveh), Iraq, Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho was kidnapped. His driver, Ferris, and two bodyguards, Samir and Ramy, each a married man with three children, were shot dead. On 13 March, after a phone call, the body of the archbishop was found in a shallow grave. It wasn’t clear if he had been directly murdered or if his death was due to the lack of medicine that he needed because of his poor health. He seemed to have been dead for about a week. Pope Benedict expressed his distress, describing what happened as ‘an act of inhuman violence that offends the dignity of the human being and seriously harms the . . . coexistence among the beloved Iraqi people’.
'Would You Be So Kind As To Tell Me Who You Are?'
By: Father Seán Coyle SSC
The 150th anniversary of the first apparition of Our Lady of Lourdes to St Bernadette Soubirous is 11 February. Pope Benedict hopes to visit Lourdes for the celebrations.
I remember the smiling face of the young Italian man cheerfully helping to lower Tony into the baths in Lourdes during Easter Week 1991. Tony was very tall but partly disabled and brain-damaged from a car accident in Ireland. The Italian and his compatriots had come to the shrine of the Blessed Mother at their own expense to assist pilgrims, whether disabled or not. And the extraordinary thing about the baths is that you put your clothes back on without drying yourself and don’t feel uncomfortable. I was with a group from Ireland with serious disabilities. I shared a room with Tony, Tom, an older man who had had polio as a child, and Joe, a married man the same age as myself and the leader of our group.
A Heavenly Farewell
By Father Seán Coyle
In Ireland and Britain the robin redbreast appears on Christmas cards and decorations. This comes from Victorian times in Britain when mailmen wore a red uniform and delivered letters even on Christmas Day. The robin too is the only bird in that part of the world that sings right through the winter.
Evangelizing Seafarers
By Fr Seán Coyle
Father Arsenio ‘Dodo’ Redulla from Bohol, now a priest of the Diocese of Lubbock, Texas, USA, worked for some years with the Columbans in Ireland. Early one Sunday morning he was driving out of the small southeastern port city of Waterford to celebrate Mass in a nearby town and to speak about the work of the Columbans. As we say in Ireland, ‘There wasn’t a sinner to be seen’ – the Irish aren’t early risers on Sunday morning – except for a young Filipino thumbing a lift. At the time there were very few Filipinos in the country and Father ‘Dodo’ was the only Filipino priest there. Of course, he stopped. To his amazement the young man said, ‘I was hoping someone would take me to a church for Mass.’ His ship had just docked and he had never been in Ireland before.
Filipina Mother Gives Life For Her Child
By Father Seán Coyle
Bernadette Mimura, known as ‘Milai,’ a Filipina living in Ingleby Barwick in the north of England, was faced with a stark choice last year. Aged 37, she discovered she had breast cancer. At the time she was one month pregnant. The doctors told her that they could cure her – but that the drugs they wanted to use would be very strong and affect the baby.
