Sr. Fidelis Ong PDDM has worked as a missionary in Taiwan for many years. In her first few months inTaiwan, Sr. Fidelis had a difficult time adjusting to the culture and the people, like any missionary. In the university where she studied the Mandarin language, she found the students to be indifferent. “I wanted to make friends with them but they hardly ever smiled,” said Sr. Fidelis.
By Christine Ortaliz
Columban lay missionary Christine Ortaliz shares with us the challenge of adjusting to a new culture. We see something of the marvelous benefits of living for a period in a cross-cultural situation. It was during her stay in Taiwan that she finally came to grips with her own identity.
Q. To begin, could you tell us a little about your personal background? A. I was born in a little town called Binh Tuy, South Vietnam, in 1958. I have five brothers and two sisters. My parents, natives of a very strong Catholic village, fled from North Vietnam, in 1954.
A. Those who came from the same village in the North had a Catholic priest as leader who established a new settlement for the refugees. They turned this very poor, dry area of Binh Tuy into fertile farmland.
By Fr. Wens Padilla, CICM
When the Wall came down in Europe in 1989 many countries opened up for the first time in years. Mongolia was one of these. The new Mongolian government asked the Vatican to send missionaries. The Vatican asked CICM and CICM asked Fr. Wens Padilla, them working in Taiwan. Along with a team Fr. Wens, a Filipino, was the first catholic missionary to return to Mongolia since 1920's. It is a tiny Catholic community centered on helping street children. Here Fr. Padilla takes a look at the exciting and exotic countryside of outer Mongolia, home to the two hump camel ad the famous blue sheep!
By Sr. Mercedes Castellano, CM
Life in the mission is indeed a continues self-emptying, a suspension of our own ideas and knowledge. It is here I have experienced my own handicaps, my own paralysis in so many ways. I am working a Hua Kuang Center for Development of Mentally Retarded Children and Adults in Taiwan. I have been in this Catholic-run Institution from its beginnings; I have journeyed with this Center in all of its hardships and difficulties beginning from zero up to now. At present we have 177 student-individuals. I can them individuals rather than handicaps, lest we forget they are persons.
By Sr. Lawrence Consulta, PDDM
Sr. Lawrence is from Tinambac, Camarines Sur and comes from a family of nine children. She graduated from St. Paul’s College, Quezon City with an AB degree in Psychology. After her formation in Antipolo, she was sent by her congregation to Taipei. Here she shares with us something about the Pious Disciples of the Divine Master in Taipei.
The church of Taiwan is dominated by an aging clergy. Due to the fact that Catholics are a minority and the society is becoming more and more industrialized, vocations are scarce. Therefore, a young priests are few. Our response to this situation is Eucharistic, Priestly and Liturgical Apostolic. Particularly in the Archdiocese of Taipei at St. Joseph’s House, we assist priests in the exercise of their priestly ministry, in their sickness and old age, and even at their death bed. In Taiwan, we are composed of eight members: one Chinese and seven Filipinas.
By: Sr. Adoracion de los Santos, DC
Sr. Adoracion de los Santos, a Daughter of Charity has been missioned in Taiwan for more than 12 years. Her first assignment was in a small Parish in Southern Taiwan. She did nit stay long in this parish because she was then preparing for her language studies. However short the time was, she still learned many good things from the simple people whom she worked with.
By: Sr. Josephine Evident, DC
30 Years Ago
I came here thirty years ago on last, 1960 when Taiwan was still an agricultural country with mud houses even in the suburbs of Taipei. People farmed with primitive means of cultivation and their produce was not of good quality. Everything was of miniature size like fruits and vegetables and they used human waste for fertilizers which polluted the whole vicinity.
By: Eamon Sheridan
Fr. Eamon Sheridan is a young Irish Missionary working with Fr. Dodong Redulla and other columbans in Taiwan. Here he tells us of a tragic death and its strange consequences.
Mostly Illegal
It is estimated that there are between 30,000 to 50,000 Filipinos working in Taiwan. Most are working illegally. They have filled a large gap in the labor market, and contributed not insignificantly to the “Taiwan economic miracle.” However like Sri Lankans and other illegal migrants they are forced to live in fear being caught and put in detention center where they can stay for up to six months before they are sent home. Let me tell you a story of two Sri Lankans who I knew.
By: Bro. Bernard Collera, SVD Seminarian
Celebrate and Dance
I am an SVD Seminarian in Taiwan, but as a baptized Catholic, I am a missionary too, though I am still in formation my stay here in Taiwan is indeed a missionary experience. Taiwan has 200 million more people, and only 3% of these are Christian, half of these 3% are Catholics the rest are Protestants. I am fortunate to have lived with native Catholics here during my regency in Tefuyeh where our Divine Word Missionaries (SVD) are actively committed to the evangelization of the Tsou tribe. I enjoyed that short period, and was able to enter rather smoothly and happily as evidenced by my dancing with them during times of celebration. Indeed life is worth celebrating (despite the world class catastrophes we’ve been having these years) with a smile.
