Obituaries

‘Blessed are those who mourn . . .’ Sunday Reflections, Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed.

There are no fixed readings for the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls’ Day). Below are links to selections of readings.

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) 

In England and Wales this year the Solemnity of All Saints will be celebrated on Sunday 2 November and All Souls’ Day will be observed on Monday 3 November.

Readings for All Saints’ Day (England and Wales, Jerusalem Bible)

Fr Edward McNamara LC of Zenit responds here to a reader’s query about the celebration this year of the Solemnity of All Saints and the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed. One can truthfully say that there are reasons for confusion!

 

S

Synaxis of All Saints, Unknown Icon Artist, early 17th century

Musei Vaticani, Vatican [Web Gallery of Art]

 
The following gospel is that for All Saints’ Day and may be used on All Souls’ Day and in any Mass for the Dead.

Gospel Matthew 5:1-12  (New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, Canada) 

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him.  Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.“

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

The video above is a production of Jesuit Communications, Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola Heights, Quezon City, Philippines. The speaker is Luis Antionio Cardinal Tagle, Archbishop of Manila.

 

The video above was produced by the L’Arche Community, Bognor Regis, England.


 

Antiphona ad communionem  Communion Antiphon  Cf. 4 Esdras [Ezra] 2:34-35 

Lux ætérna lúceat eis, Dómine,
Let perpetual light shine upon them

 cum Sanctis tuis in ætérnum, quia pius es.

 with your Saints for ever, for you are merciful. 

 Réquiem ætérnam dona eis, Dómine,

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,

et lux perpétua lúceat eis, 

and let perpetual light shine upon them,

cum Sanctis tuis in ætérnum, quia pius es. 

with your Siants for ever for you are merciful.

 

The first part above is the Communion Antiphon in the second Mass formulary for All Souls’s Day. The whole is used as the Communion Antiphon in the first formularu for funeral Masses outside Easter time.

Columban Fr Seán Holloway RIP

 

:

Fr Seán Holloway

25 August 1921 – 29 October 2014

 

Fr Seán Holloway was born in Horseleap, County Offaly, Ireland, on 25 August 1921. He was educated at Horseleap National School, Tubber National School and St Finian’s College, Mullingar. He came to St Columbans, Dalgan Park, Navan, Ireland – known to Columbans simply as ‘Dalgan’ – in 1941 and was ordained priest there on 21 December 1947.

Horse Sculpture in Horseleap [Wikipedia]

Assigned to the Philippines, he spent the first two years in Mindanao, the southern island, before being assigned to Negros Occidental where he would spend the next 18 years in the parishes of Isabela and Himamaylan. Father Seán was among the first Columban group to be assigned to this new District in 1950. It covered a huge area, had been served by a bare handful of priests, and few of its old churches were standing. The area covered the southern part of the Diocese of Bacolod, which then included the whole province of Negros Occidental. That area became the Diocese of Kabankalan in 1987.

Camangcamang, Isabela [Wikipedia]

Building up the existing parishes and developing new ones was a herculean task. Father Seán  had the gift for bringing the best out of laypeople. Working with the help of innumerable praesidia (branches) of the Legion of Mary, he wore himself out over the following two decades.

Altar used at Legion of Mary meetings [Wikipedia]

 

Assigned to the Region of Ireland in 1970, he spent three years on Vocations Ministry, followed by five years as Farm Manager and Bursar of Dowdstown House. Availing of the expertise of competent lay friends, he established the beginnings of the present cattle herd.

He was also responsible for developing and sustaining Dalgan’s much-admired network of forest walks. [You can see some of these walks in the video below, with links to two other videos in the series.]

 

 

 

Part Two and Part Three
 

There followed a twelve-year period as Assistant and later Parish Priest of St Joseph’s, Balcurris, Ballymun, Dublin. As in the Philippines, his charm, and reliance on the laity won him many friends. He established a school for the Travellers (a nomadic ethnic group in Ireland also called ‘Pavee‘) and helped integrate them into the parish.

 

Ballymun Lullaby
Father Seán is remembered in Balcurris with great affection. On returning to Dalgan in 1991 he served in other management roles until his health began to deteriorate. A man of great charity and generosity, there was a childlike transparency in him, and a great capacity for making friends, helping persons develop their gifts, and seeing creative possibilities in every situation.

 

Father Seán  wrote in his will:  I wish to thank everybody for their personal kindness to me over the many years that the Good Lord has given to me.

May he rest in peace.

Columban Fr John D. Griffin RIP

Fr John Griffin
 
Columban Fr John Griffin died in Wellington, New Zealand, 25 September 2014.  Here is an article about him written by his fellow Columban and New Zealander, Fr Michael Gormly, from the website of the Columbans in Australia and New Zealand and published in 2010. Fr Gormly used this article for his obituary of Fr Griffin, adding a few details.
 

Father John Griffin was a missionary priest blessed with an engaging personality and relentless charm. His friendly, positive and expansive spirit influenced people in many mission situations. Throughout his career blessings emerged from family, friends, names, faces, travel, cultures, languages and music. 


His travelling violin played a part too. He was a fiddler on the roof, making music, telling stories, bringing inspiration and hope to others. Faith came wrapped in warm-hearted affability.

 
Father Gormley describes Father John as ‘a fiddler on the roof’. The late priest liked to play music from Fiddler on the Roof.

 

Father John, born in Timaru, New Zealand, in 1927 commenced his missionary journey as a youthful volunteer in 1944. His theological studies were completed at Corpus Christi, Melbourne, with ordination sixty years ago, in 1950, at Dunedin.

Sacred Heart Basilica, Timaru, New Zealand [Wikipedia]

 

His first mission assignment was to the Philippines, to the province of Zambales, north-west of Manila. He first grappled with the intricacies of Ilokano, a language brought by migrants from provinces in Northern Luzon. He was to work in Ilokano parishes in the Diocese of Iba for twenty years.

San Narciso, Zambales, Diocese of Iba, where Fr Griffin was parish priest [Wikipedia]

 

A medical emergency in 1970 sent Father John home to New Zealand for the amputation of his right leg due to cancer. The medical specialist spoke of a choice, ‘Your leg or your life”. With an artificial limb, plus a car adapted to his needs, he joined the mission education team based in Lower Hutt.

 

Lower Hutt from the air, looking eastwards [Wikipedia]

 

In 1974 he was nominated by the Bishops’ Conference to head the National Missions Office. For ten years he brought his talent, charms and enthusiasm to promoting the mission cause in all corners of the country. In addition he established close personal contacts with Kiwi missionaries across the world.

Santiago, Chile [Wikipedia]

 

Next, Father John volunteered to serve in Latin America, learn Spanish and settle in Chile. For ten years he assisted the Columban team in the capital, Santiago. On his return to New Zealand in 1995, he moved around the Diocese of Auckland with a message of mission awareness. He made a deliberate effort to keep mission alive in the local church. In retirement at the Columban Mission Centre he was by no means house-bound. Family, friends and colleagues enjoyed his company, visits, phone calls and emails.

Ageing and a loss of mobility led to dedicated healthcare and professional nursing at the Aroha Centre for the Elderly. He spoke of his final blessings In terms of ‘aroha’ – warm care and attention based on love and respect.Father John Griffin died peacefully in Wellington, New Zealand, on 25 September 2014, remembered as a gifted missionary priest with a remarkable interest and concern for people. One tribute says it well: ‘He arrived among us bringing short moments of joy and encouragement; he departed leaving long memories of friendship and celebration.’

Santiago Cathedral at night [Wikipedia]
In reviewing his life, Father John recalls wisdom learned as a youth. ‘You will receive much more than you will give; you will learn much more than you will teach’. He has no doubt that learning that truth and humbly accepting it has been the greatest experience of his life.


Praise to the Holiest, by Blessed John Cardinal Newman
Sacred Heart Basilica, Timaru, New Zealand
 
+++
 

 

Father John, a tall, handsome, distinguished-looking and very kind man, wrote an amusing account of the unexpected obstacles he met while travelling from Australia to New Zealand for his ordination in 1950 in Ordination Misadventures.

San Alberto Hurtado SJ, Chile’s second saint

 
Father John also wrote an article on San Alberto Hurtado SJ which we have used a number of times in MISYONonline.com, A priest, I bless you – Alberto.
 
In that article Father John writes about the Hogar de Cristo (Home of Christ) founded by the saint. May he join San Alberto in the Hogar that Christ has prepared for us all.

Columban Fr Cathal Coulter RIP

 

Fr Cathal Coulter

 (1931-2014)


Fr Cathal (‘Charlie’) Coulter died on 8 August 2014. He was born 9 July 1931 at Saul, Downpatrick, County Down, Northern Ireland. Educated at S. Patrick’s Saul, St Columbanus, Belfast, and St Malachy’s College, Belfast, he came St Columban’s College, Dalgan Park, Navan, County Meath, in 1948. He was ordained priest 21 December 1954.

 


Statue of St Patrick, Saul, County Down [Wikipedia]

 
His first appointment was to post-graduate studies at Fordham University, New York, followed by further studies at Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. Then for three years he served as an Observer for Caritas International at the United Nations, New York. He was assigned to vocations work from West Chester, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,  in 1960 and became Director of Promotion in the US Region in 1967. This involved a move to Omaha, Nebraska. He served two terms as Director of the US Region from 1977 to 1983. He was responsible for setting up low-cost housing for the elderly on surplus Columban property in Bellevue, Omaha. 

One of many videos produced by the Columbans in the USA

 

After some months study of Spanish in Bolivia and Chile, he returned to San Francisco for Mission Education, Justice and Vocation work. In 1990, he was reassigned to Omaha where he and his team were responsible for the production of an excellent series of films and videos. He learned the technical side of this art as he went along, but there was no denying his creativity and his skill as a writer.

 


In 1992 Father Cathal was elected with Bill and Mary Anne Boylan as the Leadership Team for Worldwide Marriage Encounter (WWME) in the USA. He loved to work with married couples and was dedicated to this pastoral outreach for many years. His gift for this work was recognised when, in 1995, he and the same couple were elected as the International Coordinating Team for Marriage Encounter in 81 countries.
 

 

Fr Cathal with Bill and Mary Anne Boylan of WWME [Photo: WWME-Phils]

 

In 1995 he was appointed to Ireland where he and the late Fr P.J. Kelly set up a trust fund for the support of the Columban Nursing Home in Dalgan. He became editor of Columban Intercom in 1997 and published many stimulating articles in the magazine.

Father Cathal developed his many gifts over lifetime of service in a broad variety of tasks. Ever pleasant and with wide interests, he was always good company. He suffered greatly in recent years as his health deteriorated but showed great patience to the end. May he rest in peace.



St Columban’s, Dalgan Park, where Father Cathal spent his first seven years as a Columban and his latter years.

 
Though he was ordained on 21 December 1954 Father Cathal would have been celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of his ordination on 15 August, the date when Columbans in Ireland come together each year to honour our jubilarians.

‘I look back in gratitude to God for the many blessings on the journey and for the many good people who were part of my life . . . The Society [of St Columban] has been very tolerant and generous to me. I doubt if I would ever find the same anywhere else.’

 
– Fr Cathal Coulter


I

‘ll Never Find Another You, written for The Seekers by Tom Springfield in the 1960s, was adopted as the Theme Song of Worldwide Marriage Encounter. Father Cathal would have sung this many times with his friends in WWME.

‘Cathal’, pronounced ‘KAhal’, is an old Irish name often used as an equivalent for ‘Charles’. In the USA Father Cathal was known to his friends as ‘Father Charlie’.

 

The cemetery at St Columban’s, Dalgan Park, where Father Cathal was buried on 11 August.

Columban Fr Cornelius Campion RIP

 

 

 

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.

+++

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.

Obituary of Serafina R. Vuda, Columban Lay Missionary

Serafina Ranadi Vuda
(24 August 1962 – 31 May 2014)

Born to Esira Vuda and Makarita Dicakau, Serafina was baptized by Columban Fr Arthur Tierney, in Navala, Ba. After elementary school, she attended Xavier College in Ba and St John’s College in Levuka, Ovalau. In 1984 she graduated from Corpus Christi Primary Teachers’ College in Suva and taught in Navala, St Theresa, Ba and Stella Maris, Suva, during the following 12 years.

Navala [Wikipedia]

During these years Serafina was an avid netball player, and traveled to Europe as a member of the Fiji National Netball Team.

In 1996 Serafina joined Columban Lay Mission and did her orientation program in Suva. After studying Spanish in Bolivia, her first mission assignment was to Chile (1997 – 2000). There she lived and worked among the indigenous Mapuche people, promoting the formation of lay leaders. After a vacation back home she was assigned to Peru where she spent the following nine years (2001 – 2010). There she was engaged in parish ministry, the formation of lay leaders, and the accompaniment of others in their discernment regarding a lay mission vocation. From 2008 to 2011 she served as the Coordinator of the Central Leadership Team of Columban Lay Mission, while from 2011 to 2014 she continued as a member of that Leadership Team.

During those years that she was in leadership positions, Serafina lived in Dublin, Suva and Los Angeles. While living in Dublin she joined outreach endeavors to migrants and homeless people. After arriving in Los Angeles 20 months ago, she began to learn to drive, and succeeded in obtaining her license a year ago. She had also initiated outreach to parishes in that city as well as to the South Pacifican community across California, particularly in the San Francisco area.

Two weeks ago Serafina was unexpectedly hospitalized in LA and found to be suffering from a number of serious ailments. Since then it seemed that she had only fleeting moments of consciousness. Columban priests in LA, fellow Fijian lay missionaries, Monika Lewatikana and Sainiana Tamatawale, as well as several friends visited her daily. Then, on Saturday evening, 31 May, just after having been commended by them to God, she returned to her Creator,and joined her parents and brothers, Villame and Petero, who had gone ahead of her.


At Holy Family Home for Girls, Bacolod City, Philippines, 2009

 

As she had lived in several countries and visited several others as a Columban lay missionary leader, Serafina’s passing is grieved by Columban Missionaries and the various peoples to whom she ministered.

Serafina’s death is also a cause of great sadness to her sister, Udite, her brother Paulo Ramasima, another brother, Sipriano Ranuko, and his wife Sisilia, her sister-in-law, Mere, as well as nephews, nieces and extended family.

Before Requiem Mass for Serafina, St Columban’s, Dalgan Park, Ireland

Messages of sympathy may be sent to: Mr Sipriano Ranuko, PO Box 1141, Ba, Fiji. Tel: + 679-667.8026

Please remember to pray for the eternal repose of Serafina, as well as consolation for her grieving family and friends.

Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon her. May she rest in peace, Amen.

The above was issued by the US Region of the Columbans on 4 June. You may read more about Serafina and how she saw herself as a lay missionary here.

 

Columban Fr Peter Doyle RIP

Fr Peter Doyle (died 21 March 2014)

The Good News Priest

by Fr Gary Walker 

 

Columban Fr Peter Doyle was farewelled from St Francis Xavier Church in West Mackay, Queensland by Bishop Emeritus, Rev Brian Heenan and a large contingent of priests and people who filled the Church on 2 April.

The homilist for the Requiem Mass was Fr Gary Walker, the Regional Director of the Columban Fathers in Australia and New Zealand.

Lima, Peru, where Fr Doyle worked for many years.

Since Fr Peter stipulated that he did not want flowers or a eulogy at his funeral service, Columban Fr Walker used readings to reflect the kind of priest that Fr Peter was. He was a Good News priest, like Jesus the High priest. He was compassionate and generous to the people whom he served and finally he was ‘a man of God’; a man and priest with a well-developed sense of humor who was nevertheless serious about the ‘things of God’.

Columbans in Lima, Peru, remember him with cash stuffed into his shirt pocket and clearly visible to anyone ‘on the make’. He was one of the easiest ‘touches’ in town and people came from far and wide to try their luck with Peter. He would give the shirt off his back to those in need and that of any Columban who left a shirt hanging from a chair in the priest’s house.

He was deeply appreciated by the parishioners because of his capacity to listen and empathize. His sense of humor was a great asset in his work and in the final analysis, he was a very humble man. He knew his limitations and still did whatever was requested of him.

Pioneer Valley, west of Mackay, Queensland

Peter John Doyle was a local from Marian, just outside Mackay, where his father was a cane farmer. After primary school with the Sisters of Mercy at Marian, and secondary school with the Christian Brothers at Yeppoon, Peter completed his teacher training in Brisbane and taught in Queensland State Schools for three years during 1959-1961.

He entered Pius X seminary in Brisbane in 1962 and was ordained a priest for the Rockhampton diocese in 1968 by Bishop Francis Rush at St Patrick’s Church, Mackay. His first appointment was as assistant priest in Bundaberg, 1969-1973, where he became friends with the Kinne family, (their son, Warren is now a Columban missionary priest in Shanghai, China).

Cane workers, Bundaberg, where Fr Peter served. His father was a cane farmer.

Bishop Francis Rush had a scheme of sending priests from the Diocese of Rockhampton to New Guinea. Peter spent three years at the Catholic Mission, Burlei, in Wewak Diocese. On his return, he was appointed to St Joseph’s parish in North Mackay, but after three years he asked for permission to become a Priest Associate with the Columban Fathers and was assigned to Lima, Peru. Six years later, Peter applied to become a permanent member of the Missionary Society of St Columban in 1987 and remained in parishes in Lima until 1998 when he returned to Australia.

Near Wewak, Papua New Guinea

Ill health became an issue for Fr Peter and in 2008 he retired to St Francis of Assisi Nursing Home in Mackay under the splendid care of the Franciscan Sisters. The nursing home became his ‘parish’ and each morning after Mass he would do the rounds greeting the people, staff and carers.

He celebrated his last Mass with some assistance on St Patrick’s Day, 17 March, and insisted on saying a few words in honor of St Patrick.

He died quietly on Friday afternoon 21 March in contrast to his sometimes boisterous life. He was buried in the family plot at Walkerston
outside of Mackay.

May he rest in peace.

Stained glass window of St Patrick

All photos, except that of Fr Doyle, are from Wikipedia.