L to R: Frs John Leydon, Paul Glynn and Reynaldo D. Raluto
Fr Kevin O’Neill, the Hong Kong-based Superior General of the Missionary Society of St Columban, has appointed Fr Paul Glynn Regional Director of the Region of the Philippines and Fr John Leydon as Vice Director. They will begin their three-year term on St Columban’s Day, 23 November.
Father Paul first came to the Philippines as a seminarian on his two-year First Mission Assignment. He was ordained in Ireland in 1994 and has worked for many years in Mindanao where he has been very involved in inter-religious dialogue between Christians and Muslims.
Father John was ordained in Ireland in 1973. He has been part of the team in Our Lady of Remedies Parish, Malate, Manila, for many years, some of them as parish priest. He has been involved with the Center for Ecozoic Living and Learning (CELL) in Silang, Cavite, and was one of those who established it in 1999.
Father Paul succeeds Fr Daniel O’Malley while Father John succeeds Fr Raymond Husband. The Columbans are a society of apostolic life, not a religious order or congregation. The terms ‘Region’ and ‘Regional Director’ are the equivalents of ‘Province’ and ‘Provincial’ among religious.
Please pray for Fathers Paul and John as they take up their new responsibilities.
Fr Reynaldo D. Raluto in the photo above is a priest of the Diocese of Malaybalay and Dean of Studies at St John Vianney Theological Seminary, Cagayan de Oro City. The photo was taken at a forum on Laudato Si’ last February, one of a number of activities marking the 25th death anniversary of Archbishop Patrick Cronin, a Columban pioneer in Mindanao, first Bishop of Ozamiz and later Archbishop of Cagayan de Oro.