Fr Cornelius Kieran Campion
(1925 – 2014)
Fr Cornelius (‘Con’) Campion, who died on 26 July, was born in Ballagh, Errill, County Laois, Ireland, on 26 July 1925. Educated at Errill National School and St Kieran’s College, Kilkenny, he came to St Columban’s, Dalgan Park in September 1943 and was ordained priest on 21 December 1949.
Appointed to the Philippines in 1950, Father Con spent the next thirty-four years there, all of them on the southern island of Mindanao. He served as pastor in the parishes of Ozamis City, Clarin, Tangub City and Oroquieta City, all in the present Archdiocese of Ozamiz. His prodigius energy ensured that even the most distant villages were visited regularly, and that wherever the rights of the poor were threatened every effort was made to ensure that they were treated justly.
In 1984, he was appointed to mission promotion work, and from the Glasgow house, he visited most of the Catholic parishes in Scotland over the next four years.
St Andrew’s Cathedral, Glasgow, Scotland
From 1989 to 1996 he faced a new challenge and became part of the Columban mission to Belize, Central America. This was followed by three years pastoral work in Jamaica, West Indies.
On celebrating his Golden Jubilee in 1999 he returned to a slower pace of life as a retiree in Dalgan Park. There he helped out in the editorial offices of the Far East, and was always available to do some shopping for those who were less mobile, or to bring a group out for a drive on a sunny afternoon.
Montego Bay, Jamaica, where the Columbans served.
Interested in every aspect of the life of the Society, he had firm convictions on most topics and gladly shared them with others. As his health failed in recent years, he was most appreciative of the level of care he and his companions received in the Dalgan Nursing Home. He read widely, had an extraordinary memory for details of every kind, and was totally involved in the affairs of the house until the end. He will be remembered as a kind and committed missionary, a man of courage and initiative, a warm-hearted and dedicated priest, a friend to all.
May he rest in peace.
Mount Malindang, which overlooks the four parishes in the Archdiocese of Ozamiz where Fr Campion served.
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Your editor succeeded Fr Campion as parish priest of Tangub City in December 1978, the last Columban to serve in that position. In February 1979 Fr Iluminado (‘Lumen’) Rojo became the first diocesan priest to be appointed parish priest there. Father Lumen died five days before Father Con, at the age of 64, and was parish priest of Clarin at the time of his death.
Fr Patrick Campion, a brother of Father Con, ordained a year ahead of him in 1948, was also a Columban and died suddenly in Dumalinao, Zamboanga del Sur, Diocese of Pagadian, on 15 March 1989.
Please remember these three priests in your prayers.
Photos of places from Wikipedia.