On 23 November last year a bust of Robert Schuman was unveiled at the Documentation Centre named after him at University College Cork (UCC), part of the National University of Ireland, The press release didn’t mention that it was St Columban’s Day.

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Care for Creation is High on Pope Benedict's Priority List

By Fr Seán McDonagh SSC

Care for creation has become a central theme of Pope Benedict XVI's pontificate. In July 2008, he told the dignitaries gathered to welcome him at Government House in Sydney that ‘the need to protect the environment' was of paramount importance. The following day, addressing a crowd of more than 250,000 young people who had gathered for World Youth Day 2008, he spoke about the feeling of awe for God's creation which he experienced during his long plane journey from Rome to Sydney.

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...

A One-sided Report

By Fr Shay Cullen 
Columban Father Shay Cullen of PREDA, www.preda.org , ordained in 1969, has been working in Olongapo for many years now with children and women who have been sexually abused. His weekly Reflections are published in newspapers and magazines in a number of countries and appear each week inwww.misyononline.com/misyonforum under Father Cullen's Corner. Your comments there will be most welcome.

Adventurous Life

Fr Patrick McInerney

Since I joined the Columbans in 1972 I have visited 32 countries, even if some of them only very briefly. For 22 years from 1978 to 2000 I was assigned to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. 

Living in and visiting other countries, I have known the helplessness of not having a clue what is going on around me, of not knowing what someone was saying to me, or how to ask even the most basic (and necessary) directions!

Old Age, A Gifted Time

By Fr Keith Gorman

Father Gorman, an Australian ordained in 1943, worked for many years in Japan. Here he tells us how old age is a special, gifted time from God. Gardening, an activity going back to Adam and Eve, and his computer, a very recent invention, both help him to pray.