.NIGERIA – Progress yes but issues of injustice remain   

Nigerians have much to feel positive about.    In the past decades democracy has strengthened and Nigeria has witnessed improvements in infrastructure, banking, communications and also greatly reduced its indebtedness.  It has however been dogged by social strife often caused by longstanding divisions within Nigeria’s diverse population.  These are visible and sometimes erupt along the intertwined lines of politics, religion and ethnicity.

There are also socio-economic tensions not entirely of Nigeria’s own making.  One contentious area is oil production.  Nigeria has proven oil reserves of 25 billion barrels and natural gas reserves of 100 trillion cubic feet.  Here Nigeria has definitely scored an own goal – these resources and the revenue they bring, are being misused. The oil industry and the complex interaction of multinational companies, politicians and officialdom have become synonymous with corruption, environmental destruction and shady dealings that have bred anger, violence and distrust among those who are dispossessed and excluded from the benefits that oil wealth should bring.

The Oil Industry is a major cause of social and environmental injustice in Nigeria.  While this injustice is particularly visible among the local people in the Niger Delta region where the oil is produced it also affects the wider population.  Nigerians have gained far too little benefit from what should be a national resource.  Instead billions of oil-dollar profits have gone into the coffers of Multinationals or have disappeared into the pockets of corrupt officials and leaders.  At the same time the environment and health of local people in oil producing areas is being destroyed and poisoned.  In spite of the huge profits accruing to Shell, ENI, Exxon and Chevron these companies, although responsible, do little to clean up their mess or prevent it continuing.  On the wider level the disappearance of oil revenues has prevented social investment in education, health, agriculture and infrastructure.  This is a huge injustice.

HOLDING SHELL ACCOUNTABLE

REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA  – Human Trafficking

The Republic of South Africa can hold its head up high not only for its creditable performance on the field but also as the first African nation to host the FIFA World Cup.   RSA has shown that it can successfully host a tournament that has attracted 350,000 visitors and entertained millions of people around the world.

In the midst of all the tournament euphoria a note of caution wasr aised expressing fears that human trafficking, especially for the sex industry, would increase during the World Cup period.  Now that the World Cup has gone to Spain the problem of trafficking remains in South Africa and indeed in many African countries.

Justice worker Sr Melanie O’Connor, Coordinator of the Counter Trafficking in Persons Desk set up by the South African Bishops Conference has said, “We need to seize the opportunity of the World Cup, the first on the African continent, to draw the attention of the media and the fans to the tragedy of women and children all over the world being trafficked”.  She also said, “It is an honour for us having been chosen to host the 2010 World Cup, but we cannot forget that such an event can have its dark side. South Africa is already known to be a ‘hotspot’ for human trafficking. We need to be vig ilant at all times and do all we can to protect our people from this hideous crime”. The Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference has been working in the last two years to protect potential victims of trafficking, especially through awareness raising programs. Click to  Read More

WORLD CUP 2010 IN AFRICA

The World Cup is over and even though African teams did not go as far as was hoped (Ghana was robbed!!) and even through the the final iteself was not a great game to look at South Africa 2010 was a well organised tournament.  The long term effects Africa’s first world cup remain to be seen hopefully they will be positive and make sport and the lives of people in Africa better. 

Looking beyond footaball  and the legacy of the World Cup there are issues of injustice that need to be dealt – we highlighted some of them by focusing on three nations participating that participated in the World Cup.  Two of them have now been eliminated from the competition.

Click on the flags below to access information on issues affecting African countries where Irish SMA’s work i.e. Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa host of the event. ………………..

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…..GHANA…………………………………………………….NIGERIA………………………………….SOUTH AFRICA

The African Missionary Newsletter is published twice a year and sent to our supporters free of charge. It is also available online. To read the latest issue click here.

sma – our objectives

spirituality & lifestyle

Provision of carpenters tools and materials
for 60 qualified carpenters

SMA PARISHES

SMA Irish Province is responsible for the pastoral care of 4 Parishes:

Ireland:

Diocese of Cork & Ross
SMA Parish of St Joseph, Blackrock Road, Cork
SMA Parish of St Joseph, Wilton, Cork

England:

Diocese of Brentwood
Our Lady of the Rosary and St Patrick Parish, Walthamstow, London

Australia:

Archdiocese of Perth
Parish of Christ the King, Beaconsfield, West Australia

SMA Mission Statement

The Society of African Missions (SMA) is committed to preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ chiefly in Africa and to people of African origin.

We regard

• solidarity with the poor and the powerless,
• commitment to reading the signs of the times,
• activities for justice and peace,
• dedication to building a better world, including care for the environment,

as constitutive dimensions of witnessing to the Good News. We do this through education, health care, development projects and conscientisation for justice. We also help in caring for African immigrants in Europe and the USA and draw attention to those structures that oppress them and other people of the Third World.

Though the obstacles are many, the Society of African Missions is filled with hope, a hope that is rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. in the service of this Gospel, whose power we have witnessed in the birth of new Christian communities throughout Africa, we seek to give prophetic witness to the

• word that is truth,
• word that illumines and gives life,
• word that liberates and transforms

in fundamental continuity with the traditions of the Society and in imitation of the life and example of the Founder, the Society will continue to give joyful witness to the Gospel, chiefly among Africans and people of African origin. That witness springs from a vibrant missionary apostolic spirituality, which is grounded in a deep relationship with Jesus Christ. on this basis, the missionary apostolates of SMAs are undertaken in a spirit of collaboration and dialogue, continually highlight the link between faith and justice, and aim to promote the integrity of creation in all its aspects. Open to the Spirit of Christ, the Society remains open to undertake “new and bold initiatives” in obedience to the command of Christ, who has commissioned us to “go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News to all creation”(mk 16:15).

The apostolate of the Society of African Missions is of its nature specifically missionary. We are not “extra clergy” but missionaries engaged in the Church’s mission ad gentes. Called “to bear witness to the Risen Christ among the nations” (Redemptoris Missio, no 66), we reach out, not only across geographical barriers, but across social and cultural barriers, to those who are most abandoned and marginalised, to the victims of war and violence, to refugees in Africa and outside it, to women and children, and to all those who await the Gospel of hope.

SMA missionaries live and work in solidarity with our African brothers and sisters struggling for justice and peace in the midst of political turmoil and social disintegration: members are prepared to dedicate ourselves with courage to stand by the people in places like Liberia, Ivory Coast, Congo and other troubled regions of the continent of Africa.

The Society of African Missions [SMA]
Jubilee 1856 – 2006

In 2006 the Society of African Missions (SMA) will reach an historic milestone in its existence as a Missionary Society. Founded on December 8th 1856 in Lyons in France, the SMA has a unique opportunity in our lifetime to both look back with gratitude for the 150 years of solidarity with Africa and to look forward with renewed hope and dedication to continue its work of mission.

Looking back on the life of the Founder, Bishop de Marion Bréssilac (1813-1859), one could easily conclude that the Society’s coming into existence was a chance or accidental happening. At first a diocesan priest in France, the Founder had very early in his priesthood volunteered to work as a missionary in the East and was assigned to India. This he did for 12 years. Had he not run into a variety of difficulties there, it is conceivable that he would not have resigned as he did in 1854, and in all likelihood would have spent all his active days there. That events transpired as they did was instrumental in his founding a new Society, with the approval of Rome, for the evangelisation of Africa. Thus 2006 gives all in the SMA, and all connected with it, the opportunity to give thanks to God:

• For what has been achieved in Africa, under His grace, in the course of 150 years;
• For the dedication of generations of SMA’s and loyal bands of lay co-workers in partnership;
• For where the Society is today with an ageing membership in the older Provinces but with emerging new Units in Africa itself, in Asia and in Poland.

Indeed the focus of our celebration will be very much towards the future. Undoubtedly it will be a moment of opportunity and grace from God for all connected with the SMA – members and lay supporters – to renew our commitment to nurture the growth of the reign of God, especially in Africa.

It will be an occasion for more people not only to learn of the SMA and its work, but also to become active participants as an expression of their baptismal call. We invite you to take a look at the various events planned for 2006, and to take part where possible (keeping in mind especially the national celebration in Knock on May 27th). Let us pray for God’s blessing and guidance for the Jubilee year and beyond.

The Members of the Irish Province are engaged in various activities:

Members in Africa

• in SMA Parishes
• in Administration
• in Formation
• in Education
• in Diocesan Pastoral Action

Members outside Africa

• in Adminsitration
• in Promotion of Mission
• in Society Parishes in Ireland and Britain
• in Pastoral Ministry not directly realted to SMA

Work of the SMA
A large number of SMA members work in urban and rural areas, utilising new pastoral and missionary approaches, both within Africa and outside it. They are engaged in

• primary evangelisation
• running SMA and non-SMA parishes
• chaplaincies
• different ecclesial movements
• inculturation
• development projects for Justice, Peace and Environmental Care.

Some SMA members are engaged in other Apostolic Activities including

• socio-economic projects (with prisonres, street children, etc)
• projects of solidarity with the marginalised, with those infected by HIV-AIDS
• health projects
• agricultural development
• providing material and spiritual assistance to refugees and displaced persons
• promoting reconcilaition among people of different ethnic groups
• the media: audiovisuals, press, radio, television
• the encounter with followers of other religions (Islam, African Traditional Religions), or just being present to them
• welcoming and accompanying Africans in our countries of origin in Europe and America

Some SMA members are called upon to serve in Administration

• in the service of the Generalate, the Provinces, the Districts and the Regions of the Society
• in the promotion of Justice, Peace and Environmental Care at various levels
• in the service of Church Organisations at Diocesan and International levels

SMA members are involved in different kinds of Formation work

• parishes (among the laity, in ecclesial movements)
• seminaries and schools of theology
• secondary schools, colleges and univeristies
• centres of research and promotion
• the new Districts of the SMA

SMA members are involved in areas of Animation and Promotion within and outside Africa

• missionary animation
• vocations ministry
• gathering financial reources for SMA activities and for the needs of Africa

There is a considerable number of elderly SMA members who are retired or if more active are engaged in promotion work and in chaplaincy service.

SMA House, Ranelagh Road, Dublin

The SMA House in Dublin is located at No 82 Ranelagh Road, Dublin 6.

Use of SMA House

• Residence for the House Administration, SMA Promotion staff, SMA lecturers at various institutions, SMA and other priests studying at nearby institutions.
• Promotion and Mission Animation Offices: the Family Vocations Crusade for Dublin and Leinster, Missionary Association Cards distribution.

 

Dublin:
African Missions, 82 Ranelagh Road, Dublin 6.
Tel: 01 4968162 / 01 4968163
Fax: 01 4968164
e-Mail: [email protected]

Irish Antenna Africa-Europe Faith and Justice Network Study Day

Took place on March 9th 2004 at Marino Institute of Education, Griffith Avenue, D9.

Keynote speaker: Michael McCabe SMA, President of AEFJN Executive, Rome
Theme: The Mission of Justice – Leadership and Justice in a globalized world

Other speakers:
Jim Loughran, Amnesty spoke on the Arms Trade –
Conall O’Caoimh, Comhlámh/Dóchas spoke on the topic: Trade not Aid –
Anne Reilly, Debt and Development Coalition: The African Debt Issue

For the text of Fr Michael McCabe’s lecture: … here

INTERMENT AT KAGORO…

To a moving rendition of the Irish hymn “Ag Críost an Síol” a group of Irish missionaries gathered at the SMA cemetery in St. Joseph’s Parish, Kagoro in Nigeria on 08 March 2005. With them was a huge gathering of local Catholics. The occasion was the re-interment of the remains of seven valiant Irish missionaries, three sisters and four priests. All of them had lain buried for periods of between seventy and twenty years at St Piran’s cemetery, Jos located in that city in an area likely to be redeveloped for secular purposes in the near future.

• Fr Florrie O’Driscoll SMA, from Aughadown, Skibereen, Co Cork, was only six years in Jos and was already appointed as Regional Superior when he died in 1935 aged 30 years.
• Fr Anthony O’Dwyer SMA, from Clonlee, Co Galway, was 27 years old when he died in 1937. He attended two SMA priests who were suffering from yellow fever – his classmate, Fr John Marren from Co Sligo who died in his presence and Fr Pat McAnally from Belfast who survived— contracted the disease himself and died a week later.
• Fr Andrew Geraghty SMA, from Rochfordbridge, Co Westmeath, died in 1940 as a result of a fall from a horse, the normal mode of transport for priests at the time in the Jos area. He was aged 29 and was only thirty months on mission.
• Sister Fidelma Reynolds OLA, from Ballykilcline, Co Roscommon, was about to return to Ireland on her first leave after eight years in Nigeria working in healthcare and maternity when typhoid claimed her in 1947. She was aged 37 years.
• Fr Michael Harrison SMA, from Athlone, died in 1974 aged 70 years. He was SMA Regional Superior for a period and also served as Vicar-General of Jos. A renowned builder, many fine churches in Jos city are the fruit of his labours.
• Sr Maura O’Leary OLA, from Inchigeela, Co Cork died in 1975 within six hours of contracting typhoid. She was 57 years of age. She had been Principal Tutor in the Jos School of Midwifery.
• Sr Ita McGuane SSL, from Tubber in Co. Clare was killed in a car crash in August 1978 when she was moving to her new appointment in kano having served for ten years as Principal in St Louis Secondary School, Jos.

The transfer of their remains to the newly-prepared cemetery in Kagoro was celebrated in a Mass presided over by Bishop John Moore SMA of Bauchi Diocese, assisted by Fr. Maurice Henry, SMA Regional Superior, who preached the homily.

In his letter to mark the re-interment, the Apostolic Nuncio to Nigeria, Archbishop Renzo Fratini, wrote: “ I pray that this may be an edifying occasion, and that it may serve to highlight the achievements of the mission to Northern Nigeria, entrusted to the SMA, and to enkindle the spirit of evangelisation in the region in our own day”.

The story of the success of the seed planted by these early Irish missionaries is seen in the twenty-million strong Catholic Church led by fifty mostly indigenous bishops and Archbishops. Also a quarter of the seventy SMA missionaries still in Nigeria at the start of the twenty-first century are Africans, drawn from seven different countries on the continent. The hope of all was adequately prayed for by the Nigerian Provincial Superior of the St Louis Sisters, Sr Patricia Ojo, at the Mass: “May the young African members of the SSL, OLA, and SMA congregations remain steadfast and faithful in their continuing efforts to bring Christ to the peoples of Africa, and the peoples of Africa to Christ”.

Suggestions for Prayers of the Faithful for World Refugee Day 

Some or all of the following could be used:

Introduction:
God our Father on our pilgrimage of life we turn to you in hope and confidence

For the leadership of the Church; that we may continue to be at the service of human mobility and pursue the globalisation of solidarity, caring for those who fall by the way side.
Lord Hear Us.

For those who gave generously in service our Irish Emigrants over the years. As we mark 50 years of service of the Irish Chaplaincy in Britain let us remember the many priests, brothers, sisters and lay people who cared for those who were forced seek a new life in Britain.
Lord Hear Us.

For those who come to our land, may they find a welcome, may they not be exploited and may they find a place to celebrate their unique culture. May the life of Saint Patrick remind us of the blessing and graces that a migrant can bring to our shores.
Lord Hear Us

We give thanks or those who continue to remember and look after elderly relations abroad. May distance not inhibit our duty to care for those we love. We give thanks for the benefits of new technologies that allow us to communicate more effectively and that give us the freedom to travel more frequently to spend time with those we love.
Lord Hear Us.

We remember those who die away from home. We remember those that have died without family or friend to accompany them in their last hours.
Lord Hear Us

We ask that our church communicates the gospel  by recognising and celebrating the rich diversity and giftedness of peoples and cultures among us.
Lord Hear Us

We ask for the courage of the Spirit to speak out on behalf of our brothers and sisters who are exploited and oppressed by unjust structures, violence and warfare, so that their human dignity will be respected and their human rights are protected.
Lord hear us

We pray that those seeking a new life and safety in our country, that they may find welcoming hearts and support among us, as they adapt to the challenges of a new environment and new way of life.
Lord hear us

We pray for our political leaders and legislators, that the transforming power of the Spirit will help them make decisions that create an inclusive and just society for all people.
Lord, hear us

We thank God for the gift of communication and pray that we use this gift to help us embrace diversity and so build bridges of friendship, love and service in our local community.
Lord, hear us

Conclusion:
Spirit of God
Through the witness of our lives,
standing in solidarity with all peoples,
may we spread the warmth of your love,
the light of your wisdom,
and the fire of your justice,
so that all may live I peace and security.  We make these and all our prayers through Jesus Christ our Lord,
Amen

SMA Provincial Assembly 2007

See pictures >>> here

Fr James G (Jim) Lee SMA

THROUGH WAR… AND PEACE….

Jim Lee was ordained 53 years ago and has been in Africa for most of the time since. Now 81 years old he is one of the longest serving SMA missionaries in Africa.

He spent his early missionary career in Nigeria where he spent many years at St Leo’s Teacher Training College, Abeokuta . Since 1976 he has been on assignment in the Archdiocese of Monrovia, Liberia.

“I was strongly influenced by my early contacts with Canon Cahill, the Parish Priest of Dromaroad and a brother of Fr Thomas Sexton Cahill SMA who died in 1942. He encouraged me to become a missionary priest when I expressed interest in priesthood. So I came to SMA”.

Armed with a theology degree from Maryknoll, NY, and a catechetics diploma from Lumen Vitae, Belgium, much of his missionary life was spent teaching. More recently he has been involved in the pastoral and social development areas and for many years he has been Administative Assistant to the Archbishop of Monrovia. This involves being largely responsible for the finances of the Archdiocese though nowadays he has able lay assistance. He continues in that role with the current Apostolic Administator of Monrovia, Fr Andrew Karnley. Every week-end he travels the nine-mile journey to Holy Family Parish, Colwell, as pastor to a community for many years without a priest.

Jim has worked in Liberia under the civilian government of President Tolbert and the military rule of Samuel Doe, Prince Johnson and Charles Taylor. He is now happy to see civilian rule restored under the current Acting President Bryant and is looking forward to full democracy being implemented after the forthcoming elections.

He has been in Liberia throughout the 15 years of civil war. “This was a terrible time for the country and people… For me it was difficult and frightening, but somehow I accepted it and struggled to be of help to the suffering people. I am grateful for lots of help I received from Ireland and from the Irish SMA Province”. He experienced the war conditions at first hand and saw it “having a devastataing effect on the country… Thankfully things are now moving towards normality but the scars of war will take a long time to heal”. He is full of praise for the work of the 15,000-strong UN Peacekeeping Force and especially for the Irish Army contingent who “have been simply wonderful and very kind to the people.

The long years of service to Liberia has not gone without recognition. In 2004, Jim was admitted to the Humane Order of African Redemption by the Government of Liberia with a grade of Knight Grand Band in recognition of his efforts in humanitarian assistance.

What of retirement? “I want to work until I am unable… and I want to die out there”, he says unwilling to whittle down any of the commitment he made to pursue his missionary vocation.

Would you like to join Fr Jim?
Would you like to hear more of the life stories of peoples in Africa?

Why not contact the SMA Vocations Director?

Fr Daniel M (Dan) McCauley SMA

A FULL AND CHALLENGING LIFE….

Dan McCauley is from near Strabane Co Tyrone. A big influence on his decision to join SMA was his uncle, the late Fr Dan McCauley SMA who ministered for many years in Ondo Diocese, Nigeria and who died in 1990.

Dan is a product of Ballinafad College, formerly a minor seminary of the SMA located in Co Mayo, where aspirants to the Society received their secondary education. He studied philosophy and theology at Dromantine, Co Down, and was ordained in 1970 in St Colman’s Cathedral, Newry, by the late Bishop Eugene O’Doherty.

Following ordination, Dan was appointed to Nigeria in 1971 and began his time there by learning the Yoruba language and customs of the people before undertaking work in the Diocese of Ilorin where he spent 23 years. In 1995 the new Vicariate Apostolic of Kontagora was created from part of the Diocese of Ilorin. Dan transferred to the Vicariate and is currently the Vicar General under the Vicar Apostolic, Bishop Tim Carroll SMA. He is resposible for the pastoral administration of the Cathedral and St Michael’s Parish, Kontagora.

After 34 years in Nigeria, Dan is still drawn to the work there. What is the attraction? “One thing is being part of a team that is involved in the development of a new territory as it moves towards the day when it will become a fully-fledged diocese”, he says. “But also, the people… the people are joyful, generous and welcoming despite economic harshness, insecurity and the many other problems they have to face”.

Dan’s busy daily schedule in the cathedral parish “is varied and unpredictable”. The needs of parishioners – prayer, blessings, visiting the sick, wedding preparations, marital problems – take priority. Much time is devoted to meeting catechists and scheduling baptism classes. Development work too is demanding – well-digging projects, transportation, etc. Being at the central parish means frequent visits from diocesan personnel needing accommodation and hospitality. Other activities include the Parish Council, meetings of Small Christian Communities and hosting and attending the Vicariate’s Pastoral Council, Catechetical Committee and Health Committee.

“All in all, a pretty full life… a life that is busy and challenging” he says.

Would you like to join Fr Dan?
Would you like to hear more of the life stories of peoples in Africa?

Why not contact the SMA Vocations Director?

Fr Michael O’Shea SMA

WRITING AND TEACHING…

Fr Mick O’Shea, theologian, writer and missionary, has worked for SMA in Zambia and Benin (Africa) and India and The Philippines (Asia) as well as undertaking studies in Italy and Ireland (Europe).

In 1962 the SMA Vocations Director wouldn’t take no for an answer (when Mick told him he wasn’t interested in becoming a missionary) – so Mick came to SMA that same year!

Immediately after ordination he was sent to Maynooth for further studies in theology. He was later to undertake studies in Spirituality in Rome. There he began research into the life of the Founder of SMA, Bishop de Marion Bresillac. He wrote a study on the Spirituality of the Founder – Mission or Martyrdom?

Mick has undertaken pastoral work in Zambia. Later he taught in the Major Seminary at Mpima where he is currently professor of Church History and also teaches English.

He was also involved in Formation work for SMA in Calavi (Benin) at the International Spiritual Year programme there and in both the Philippines and India he spent some time as Director of Studies.

Formerly a keen canoeist, he likes to keep fit by cycling, jogging and he also loves walking in the forest near his present location in Zambia.

He is currently engaged in writing a biography of Bishop P J Kelly SMA (1895-1991), the former Bishop of Benin City in Nigeria.

“I suppose the ‘African adventure’ appeals to me”, he says.

Interested in giving a hand?
Interested in continuing the work being done by Fr Mick?

Contact the SMA Vocations Director.

Fr Owen Maginn, SMA

STILL GOING STRONG AT 84…

“I didn’t know a lot about SMA when I felt I wanted to be a priest. So I applied to a number of places before deciding on SMA”

“The call to the missions was there at the beginning. I keep going to Africa because there is a sort of a pull there. I like it. I like the people and I get on well with them. And I am happy in the work that I’m doing”.

Fr Owen celebrated his Diamond Jubilee, 60 years, as a priest in 2003. The main celebration was in Zambia. He works in the Diocese of Ndola and for many years was the confidential secretary to the bishop until the bishop’s death early 2004.

At 84 years he still manages to teach the nearby Franciscan Brothers Scripture and Catechetics. He celebrates Mass and preaches in the local Bimba language every Sunday. He even finds time to be with the young people of his parish who hold him in high esteem.

“I begin my day with prayer and Mass on five days and I have Mass in the evenings on the other two days… Because of my age I have slowed down a lot… I work in a very rural area… with the youth on Saturdays and adults on Sundays… It’s a contribution to the local church”.

“There are things that I do that would not be done unless I was there becasue of the shortage of priests. On Saturdays I do the shopping…there is always need for food in the bishop’s house where I live… I also help by doing any other small things I would be called upon to do. There are always little jobs to be done… Then in the evenings I would meet the people, talk to them”.

Interested in giving a hand?
Interested in continuing the work being done by Fr Owen?

Contact the SMA Vocations Director.

Fr Malachy Flanagan SMA

USES ORGANISATIONAL SKILLS…

“I came to know of SMA from Fr Peter Devine SMA who comes from my parish. When I felt I wanted to be a priest he encouraged me to become a missionary with SMA”

“I am drawn to missionary work… I feel attracted to reach out to the most abandoned… to be a messenger and instrument of hope… to build up a local indigenous church… to help people in their struggle against illiteracy and injustice and lack of basic health facilities”.

Fr Malachy has spent most of his missionary life in areas of Primary Evangelisation in the Borgu area of Ilorin Diocese and now in the Vicariate of Kontagora where the bishop is Bishop Tim Carroll SMA. He has therefore been working at the frontline of the missionary apostolate, in areas where the Gospel is yet unknown, telling people for the first time about the love of Jesus Christ.

At present he is engaged in administratve work as the Secretary/Chancellor of the Vicariate. This is mainly routine office work and the day-to-day running of the Vicariate, including the adminsitration of its finances. ” I get very few opportunities for direct pastoral action. However, at week-ends I help with parish work. I am responsible for diocesan building projects and for many water development projects which I supervise regularaly. In the dry, desert conditions around Kontagora the provision of clean drinking water is a necessity. The Vicariate makes a huge contribution to well-digging and water purification systems”. Malachy also finds time as advisor to the diocesan Laity Council.

Interested in giving a hand?
Interested in getting involved in the work being done by Fr Malachy?

Contact the SMA Vocations Director.

Fr Don (Daniel) Burke SMA

MULTI-NATIONAL CAREER…

Don comes from Waterford City but his subsequent career would make him a citizen of the world. After his schooling there he started his career as a clerk working in Cork City where he also took up studies at the School of Commerce and qulaified as a Chartered Secretary. A chance riverine outing with the Legion of Mary brought him into contact with Fr Moran OP a Dominican priest who invited him to consider being a priest. Later he came in contact with Fr Tom Hurst SMA, a jovial retired missionary who impressed Don considerably. These contacts were instrumental in his decision to come to SMA to test his vocation. “The homefront did not appeal to me, I wanted the experience of mission that Fr Hurst had”. In joining the Society Don followed in the footsteps of his older brother, Maurice who was already a member of SMA.

Assigned to Lagos he quickly got involved in the slums of the city working with street children. This led him to set up the Boys Town in Lagos to cater for the youngsters he constantly met on the streets.

Subsequently he was sent to Poland where he was instrumental in setting up the Polish Foundation of SMA. He experienced Poland at first as behind the “Iron Curtain” of the communist regime and saw it emerge as a capitalist country.

He is now back in Africa, in Zambia, where he provides much-needed chaplaincy work in four institutions.

Don has always had a keen interest in the local culture and wherever he has been assigned he has spent time studying the local language.

Interested in giving a hand?
Interested in getting involved in the work being done by Fr Don?

Contact the SMA Vocations Director.

Zimbabwe – a growing humanitarian and governmental crisis

There has been a renewed appeal for prayer and a call to act in solidarity from Catholic bishops in Zimbabwe and the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference for the suffering people of Zimbabwe. Pervasive corruption of the regime led by President Robert Mugabe and the flagrant violations of human rights continue to intensify. According to the Bishops, “the suffering population becomes more insistent, generating more and more pressure through boycotts, strikes, demonstrations and uprisings, the State responds with ever harsher oppression through arrests, detentions, banning orders, beatings and torture. …the situation is extremely volatile.”

As Zimbabwe confronts this growing humanitarian and governmental crisis the Bishops ask for ‘concrete action’ to inspire hope and prayers on behalf of the people of Zimbabwe. They insist that a peaceful resolution of the country’s problems can be worked out through national dialogue, respectful negotiation, and the preparation of a new constitution that would safeguard the rights of the country’s people.

As part of their recent Pastoral Letter the Bishops offered a prayer for their country:

God Our Father,
You have given all peoples one common origin,
And your will is to gather them as one family in yourself.
Give compassion to our leaders, integrity to our citizens, and repentance to us all.
Fill the hearts of all women and men with your love
And the desire to ensure justice for all their brothers and sisters.
By sharing the good things you give us
May we ensure justice and equality for every human being,
An end to all division, and a human society built on love,
Lasting prosperity and peace for all.
We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Reflections

Pope’s Missionary Intention for December 2008

“That especially in mission countries Christians may show with acts of fraternal love that the Child born in the stable at Bethlehem is the luminous Hope of the world. “

Each Month the Pope also has a General Intention that he commends to the faithful for prayers.  For December the Intention is:

That in the face of a spreading of a culture of violence the Church through her apostolic and missionary activity may promote with courage the culture of life.

Reflections

Pope’s Missionary Intention for June 2008

“That the International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec, Canada, may lead to ever deeper understanding of the Eucharist, the heart of the Church and source of evangelisation.”

SMA in Philippines

Celebration in the Philippines 

Good Shepherd Parish, Manila, in the Philippines is run by SMA missionaries. Mission Sunday – 21 October – was a special day for the Parish when Bembolio De Los Santos SMA was ordained to the Diaconate.

He was ordained by Bishop Jesse Eugenio Mercado, Bishop of Paranaque, in a colourful ceremony that was witnessed by his family, SMA members and a host of parishioners.

Bembolio comes from the island of Negros where he was born on 9 February 1974.  He came to SMA and undertook his philosphical and theological studies including a Spiritual Year at SMA House in Silang. He joined the Society in 2003 as a temporary member and took his permanent Oath of membership of SMA on 19 October 2007.  He spent one year on pastoral assignment in Ghana where he had the opportunity to experience SMA missionary work.  He hopes to be ordained to the priesthood in May 2008.

Blackrock Road Parish | Organisations | School | SMA Parishes

Blackrock/Ballintemple Community Centre
St Joseph’s SMA Parish, Blackrock Road, Cork

OLA Sisters celebrate their founder

The SMA and OLA

The Congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles (OLA) was founded by Fr Augustin Planque SMA. Fr Planque was the successor of the SMA founder, Bishop de Marion-Brésillac. As Co-Founder of SMA he made a major contribution to the Society which he led for almost 50 years, 1859-1907.

Left to right: Mgr Andrew V Thanya-anan (Apostolic
Nunciature), Sr Nuala Harty OLA, Sr Eileen Cummins
OLA (Superior General), Sr Mary Crowley OLA (Provincial),
Cllr Catherine Clancy (Deputy Lord Mayor of Cork), Sr
Joan Murray OLA, Fr Fachtna O’Driscoll SMA (Provincial)

“If there aren’t Sisters to train the girls there will be no Christian families” he said. Realising the great need there was for sisters to work alongside the SMA missionaries and to bring their own particular charism to the work of mission in 1876 he founded the OLA.

Augustin Planque SMA died on 21 August 1907. OLA Sisters are commemorating the centenary of his death and launched the celebrations on 20 August.

Ardfoyle Convent was en fête for the opening of this special year of prayer and celebration. Flags of the various countries where Irish OLA Sisters work were displayed. Bishop John Buckley (Cork & Ross) was the main celebrant at the Mass. Irish SMA Provincial, Fr Fachtna O’Driscoll, preached the homily. OLA Superior General, Sr Eileen Cummins was present. The Apostolic Nuncio to Ireland and the Lord Mayor of Cork were represented in the gathering of more than 250 OLA well-wishers.

AFRICA/NIGERIA

13/5/04
Calm charged with tension in Kano northern Nigeria after recent clashes. Fides sources say hundreds were killed in the violence
Kano (Fides Service)- “The situation is still tense although at the moment there is no fighting and the city lives in relative calm” say local Church sources in Kano, northern Nigeria, where Muslim extremists recently attacked Christians (see Fides 12 May 2004). “The police appears to have public order in hand. There were small skirmishes last night, but nothing very serious”.
According to Fides sources at least two Catholic churches were torched including the cathedral and compound and churches of other Christian confessions. Many homes and shops belonging to Christians were sacked and looted. Our sources say that hundreds of people were killed. But Nigerian authorities say 25 persons were killed.
The clashes in Kano follow violence which exploded earlier this month in Plateau state central Nigeria where at least 200 were killed in clashes between Muslim Fulani herdsmen and Christian Tarok farmers (see Fides 6 and 11 May 2004). Christian extremists are said to have massacred many Muslim herdsmen.
In this climate of violence radical Muslims in Kano warned they would take justice in their own hands if the government did not do everything possible to identify and punish those responsible for the crimes in Plateau state. With regard to this new outbreak of violence one Christian leader in Kano said if the situation continues, Christians will move elsewhere to safer areas rather than live in fear. – (Agenzia Fides 13/5/2004)

12/05/04
Clashes in northern Nigeria. “At least one Catholic church has been destroyed by Muslim extremists” Fides receives dramatic report
Kano (Fides Service)-“The situation in Kanu is tense. The curfew in fo! rce until yesterday was lifted this morning but people are still afraid to leave their homes although police and army troop patrol the streets” local church sources in Kano told Fides. Over the last few days Kanu, in northern Nigeria, has been the scene of episodes of violence and Muslims have attacked Christians and Christian places of worship. According to Fides sources at least one Catholic church and adjoining parish centre has been torched by Muslim extremists and “very probably other churches and homes”.
“We know that many people were injured but not the exact number. It is difficult to have a clear picture of what is happening since it is not safe to leave the house. Groups of armed extremists have been seen in three other districts of the city. Yesterday, 11 May, rioters attacked the university destroying several campus buildings ” the local sources told Fides.
Violence in Kano follows on violence in Plateau state central Nigeria earlier this month in which at least 200 were killed in clashes between Muslim Fulani herdsmen and Christian Tarok farmers (see Fides 6 and 11 May 2004). Christian extremists are said to have slaughtered Muslim herdsmen. “ Attacking the Christian community in Kanu Muslims claim they are taking revenge for the violence against Muslims in Plateau” the sources told Fides. Armed with machetes and knives the aggressors stopped cars looking for Christians and made people recite Muslim prayers to prove their identity.
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has called on all Nigerians to remain calm and urged Muslim leaders to calm their people. “I ask you to stop our Muslim brothers because an eye for an eye will and a tooth for a tooth only cause our country drown in blood ” the President told Muslim leaders.
About 10,000 Nigerians have perished in tribal and religious clashes since 1999. – (Agenzia Fides 12/5/2004)

06/5/04
“This is not a war about religion” local Church sources in Nigeria tell Fides with regard to violence in central Nigeria
Lagos (Fides Service)- “We will never tire of repeating that this is not a battle between Christians and Muslims it is a question of ethnic identity and politics ” a local Church source in Nigeria told Fides with regard to reports of fighting in Plateau state, central Nigeria. “We must be prudent with our speech: we must be wary of speaking of genocide, as some people have called it” the sources told Fides.
Abdulkadir Orire Nigerian Minister of Justice has said that at least 200 people were killed in clashes Yelwa. The attackers used automatic weapons and many in Nigeria are wondering where they came from. “Peopel talk of fighting between Muslims and Christians when in fact the reasons for the conflict are political, social and ethnic” the sources told Fides. The fighting is among Muslim Fulani herdsmen who want to take better land occupied by Christian Tarok tribesmen
On 26 February this year at least 48 people including women and children were massacred in a community of the Church of Christ of Nigeria at Yelwa. Plateau State was the scene of violence in 2001 when more than a thousand people perished in clashes between Christian and Muslim tribesmen. In 2002 about a hundred people were killed in ethnic clashes. – (Agenzia Fides 6/5/2004)

27/05/04
Clashes in Plateau state, Nigeria
Reports have been received in Rome of Clashes in Plateau state, Nigeria, in which at least 48 protestant Church of Christ worshippers killed in church:
Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria: 48 worshippers, including women and children, were slaughtered on 26 February at Yelwa, when a church belonging to the Church of Christ of Nigeria was attacked by a gang of armed men who opened fire indiscriminately. This was the most violent in a series of episodes of violence in the past two weeks in Plateau state, central Nigeria. At least 100 people have been killed and thousands have fled their homes. Local sources told Fides that a gang equipped with modern arms has been attacking villages over a vast area, involving at least four districts and that according to eyewitnesses “the gang was not local and the operations appeared to be carefully planned. The attackers all wore the same black overalls and the attacks were obviously co-ordinated”. The army sent reinforcements and set up road blocks in Yelwa.
Plateau State has been the scene of violent clashes in the past. More than 1,000 people were killed in violence between Christians and Muslims in 2001. In 2002 the victims were counted in the hundreds. Rather than religious or ethnic disputes the clashes were over land claims and episodes of cattle stealing. – (Agenzia Fides 27/2/2004)

Useful Links for the Mission-minded

Trafficking:
http://www.ruhama.ie/
http://www.antislavery.org/

HIV/AIDS
http://www.leratong.co.za/
http://www.irishaid.gov.ie/
http://www.openhearthouse.ie/
http://www.hivireland.ie/
http://www.unaids.org/
www.un.org/milleniumgoals

Ecology:
www.columban.com/ecology.htm
http://www.climatecrisis.net/
http://www.sustainable.ie/
http://www.foe.ie/

Children:
http://www.sistersofmercy.ie/
http://www.unicef.ie/
http://www.childrensrights.ie/
http://www.preda.ie/
http://www.ispcc.ie/
http://www.barnados.ie/

Volunteering:
http://www.volunteeringireland.ie/
http://www.volunteer.ie/

Human Rights movement:
http://www.atd-fourthworld.org/
http://www.oct17.org/

Schools Projects:
http://www.amawele.org/

Justice and Peace | Cois Tine

about sma | mission statement | sma objectives | sma life | contact us

sma – our objectives

ministry – core values

motivated by the gospel of christ and faithful to the charism of our founder in the mission entrusted to us, we will give prophetic witness to the compassionate love of god for the world (cf. john 3:16). attentive to the ever-changing signs of the times, and in a spirit of openness and dialogue, we will cooperate with local churches, and with all who share our objectives. we will exercise, chiefly among africans and peoples of african origin (cf. sma constitutions and laws, art. 2), a ministry of service and empowerment.

objectives

1 primary evangelisation and inculturation

• the sma will review its apostolic commitments in the light of the gospel, the sma charism, and the missionary priorities of the local churches.
• in fidelity to our charism, sma members and associates will be willing to proclaim the gospel and establish christian communities in places where the need for missionaries is most urgent. priority will be given to areas of primary evangelisation in all appointments of sma members.
• the sma is ready to cooperate with local churches, especially in africa, in their programmes of inculturation.

2 other apostolic activities

• the sma will continue to be involved in diocesan pastoral programmes in a missionary spirit.
• the sma will propose to members, who are returning to their countries of origin, apostolic activities in line with the sma charism and priorities, both within and outside sma structures.
• the sma will continue to coordinate all efforts to promote the use of the media in the service of its apostolate at every level of the society.

3 the promotion of human values

• in cooperation with other organisations, public and voluntary, notably the african networks (aefjn and afjn ), the sma will continue to involve its members and associates in initiatives on behalf of africans, especially refugees, street children, aids victims and other marginalized groups, both within and outside africa.
• the sma will support the peoples of africa in their efforts to change unjust structures and to create structures in keeping with the dignity and rights of all men and women. in cooperation with other groups, the sma will seek to remedy injustices, which arise within the church or from church practices.

4 inter-religious and ecumenical dialogue

• in spite of the difficulties involved, the sma will strive to promote a better understanding of islam and to cooperate with muslims.
• sma members and associates will acquire a thorough knowledge of the languages, cultures, and traditional religions of the peoples among whom they work, especially in africa, in order to facilitate a better understanding of them and more effective communication with them.
• the sma will strive to promote ecumenical dialogue and cooperation with the various christian churches.

5 collaboration

• in their various ministries, sma members will continue to cooperate at all levels with the local church, other missionary institutes, the laity, and sma lay associates.
• in cooperation with diocesan programmes, the sma will intensify its involvement in the empowerment and training of laypersons for leadership roles in africa.
• the sma will develop general criteria for lay associate members.
• the sma is open to the various forms of lay association (juridical and non-juridical) in all its units.

6 missionary and vocations animation

CONOR LENIHAN TD Minister of State visits SMA, Blackrock Road, Cork

On Tuesday, 11 May 2005, the Society of African Missions was host to a representative gathering of Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles, Franciscan Missionary Sisters of St Joseph, Mercy Sisters, Little Sisters of the Assumption, Holy Rosary Sisters, Bon Secours Sisters, Presentation Sisters and Brothers, Christian Brothers, Good Shepherd Sisters, St Louis Sisters, Augustinian Community, Sacred Heart Missionaries, Society of St Patrick and the Society of St Columban.

The occasion was the visit to SMA House, Blackrock Road, Cork of the Minister of State for Development Cooperation and Human Rights, Mr Conor Lenihan TD. The Minister had come to Cork for a public meeting. He took the opportunity to meet missionaries because of their long-standing commitment to the spiritual, material, medical and educational development of peoples in Africa and elsewhere.

Minister’s Talk
The Minister told the meeting that “the Government has decided to prepare a White Paper on Ireland’s official programme of Overseas Development Assistance (ODA). The White Paper will set out clearly the Government’s policy for the future direction of its official programme of ODA which is managed by Development Cooperation Ireland, a Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs”.

“The record of the Irish Church and Irish clergy of all denominations shows the enormous contribution and the footprints that you have left in Africa and other places around the world”, he said. “If one has to look for an area of moral leadership in Ireland where the Church and churches and churchmen and churchwomen have shown huge leadership, it is in the area of development, particularly in relation to Africa. I was absolutely astounded and perhaps I shouldn’t have been. But everywhere I went in Africa, I found a footprint left by Irish missionaries, priests and nuns and brothers… there is a footprint there that preceded the creation of our own aid programme which stands at €545m this year.

“I’m been my job since September. But in this room there is several hundred years of experience of development, individually and collectively.

“I am here in Cork to speak on Overseas Development Assistance, but it is you missionaries who have led this whole issue in Ireland… The truth of the matter is this. There has been a lot of social commentary about our most recent ascent to affluence. A lot of people have said that in moving from that relatively poor, high emigration, high unemployment society to a society of full employment that there has been some loss in the value system and that we have become individualistic and materialistic. And I have to say that this is outright rubbish. An example I use to show and make this point clear is that, when this country was affected by high emigration and high unemployment and by a culture of failure in the 1980s and when Bob Geldorf led an appeal even in those stressed times in Ireland to give generously to express solidarity, there was a huge response. And when you flick down the years and see the tsunami response from a much different society, of inward migration as distinct from emigration, of full employment, a society of affluence and plenty, yet the value system of generosity hasn’t changed at all in those twenty years. And that is a tribute to yourselves because you have led the way in this regard, you are the people who preached and talked about this issue about world poverty and poverty at home as well… You have led the way in this area and that is why I am here tonight to acknowledge that contribution and to listen to what you have to say.

“Ireland now is in a position of affluence… and we are leaders in development. We are the ninth largest per capita contributor to overseas aid. That is only the contribution that the State makes, not to talk of what you and Irish NGOs do on the world scene. So we are leaders in this area. There are only five countries who have achieved the 0.7% of GNP and we are in the chasing pack of four or five countries which can actually attain it before the 2015 deadline set by Kofi Amin and the UN. And we will achieve that. It is my view that we can not only achieve it, but we can exceed it, as countries, for instance, like Norway have done. We can do it and we will do it because we are building on a very strong foundation built by yourselves and your ‘fore-fathers’ so to speak… There is also another issue… Ireland has a tradition of giving. The memory and legacy of famine still lives on in our minds and in our culture… And we were conquered and we were colonised… But because we did liberate ourselves from oppression we can also give something that other counties simply cannot give who have not had these experiences… We do also receive kudos in return for what we do… we get respect on the international front for the role that we play in development and for what we have achieved we gain an influence beyond our weight… For what you have contributed to this I say thank you.”

Questions and Issues
After his contribution the Minister answered questions from the audience covering such issues as:

• G8 and Third World Debt and the necessity for Ireland, which is committed to 100% release from debt, to lobby G8 members to help developing countries overwhelmed by their incapacity to ever meet these debts many of which would seem to be unjust
• The need to have an immigration policy that would be fair and efficient for asylum seekers
• Concern about the delays in the present process that impact negatively on the mental health of applicants
• A recent situation when an immigrant had been in Ireland for three years and had permission to work; but when he applied for a work permit the fourth year to the Department of Labour he received a message “on information received from the Department of Justice your work permit cannot be renewed”
• The lack of trust or the apparent reluctance of the Department in the past in funding projects through missionaries, indeed Irish missionaries, already working in areas of grave need, a situation which some would argue still prevails today

IMRS
In introducing the Minister, Fr Martin O’Farrell SMA, Director of the SMA Development Office, spoke of the cordial relations that have existed for many years now between the Department of Foreign Affairs and missionaries, especially in Africa. The cooperation and encouragement that was received was appreciated.

He then explained the new company recently set up by the Irish Missionary Union called the IMRS. The primary role of the company is to support the development work of Irish missionary organisations and their partners in the development world. The initial emphasis of the company is on the sourcing and allocation of funds for missionary development personnel and projects. One such source is the Ireland Aid under the auspices of the Department of Foreign Affairs. This year Ireland Aid provided €12 million to IMRS and there is a draft proposal to raise the amount to €20 million over the next three years.

SMA Logo | Full List of Rules

SMA International Logo Competition
June 1, 2004 – January 31, 2005

Irish Province Results

In compliance with the Rules of the Competition each SMA Unit is to select three semi-finalists from the designs submitted to the Unit. These are to be forwarded to Rome for the final adjudication.

The Irish Province received 12 designs from nine contributors – one contributor submitted three designs, another two designs. The Irish Jury assessed these submissions and selected the following

Three of the designs were selected as the winners of the Irish Province section and have been forwarded to the International jury in Rome for the final selection.

The three logos adjudged the best for the Irish Province section were:

Irish Unit Prize:
Each of the chosen three semi-finalists from the Irish Unit will receive a copy of Architectures of Nigeria by the renowned Fr Kevin Carroll SMA.

International Design Competition
to design a new Logo for the
Society of African Missions (SMA) – Worldwide
(Celebrating 150 Years of Service in Africa 1856 – 2006)

1. Open Competition:
   The SMA International Logo Competition is open to individual artists of all ages whether professional or amateur and to interested persons, of any age. (Entrants under 18 years of age must have the authorisation and agreement of parent/guardian).
2. The winning design shall reflect the internationality, image and Christian mission of SMA.
   
3. Irish Entries:
   The Competition is being conducted simultaneously in the various units of the Society of African Missions. The following rules are for applicants from Ireland (including Northern Ireland), the Irish Province Unit of SMA.
4. Web-site:
   Preliminary information about SMA can be found on our website: www.sma.ie.
5. One-design per person:
   The first design submitted by each individual shall be the only design considered by the SMA in respect of that individual.
6. Your submission must be accompanied with your full name and contact details (mailing address, telephone number, e-mail address and, in the event that you are a minor, the written consent of your parent/guardian).
7. Closing Date:
   Closing date for entries is 31 January, 2005 and only designs which are received on or prior to 31 January, 2005, will be considered by the SMA.
8. Where to send entries:
   In order to enter in the competition all designs must be submitted either by post to:
   SMA Logo Competition
   African Missions
   Blackrock Road
   Cork
   OR by email to [email protected] [preferred format for e-mail entry: jpeg].
9. The SMA is not responsible for any lost, late, misdirected, damaged, illegible or undelivered mail for whatever reason or for any delayed, illegible, incomplete or garbled email transmissions. The SMA will not return any submissions made to it in connection with this competition.
10. By entering this competition, you acknowledge and agree that the SMA may use the submission made by you for whatever purpose it deems necessary or desirable. Accordingly, you irrevocably and unconditionally grant to the SMA and to its successors, assignees and licensees a license to use in whatever manner the SMA considers appropriate (which shall include, without limitation, publishing, broadcasting, performance, display, exhibition, making available to the public) your submission in any and all media, by any manner or means the SMA deem necessary or desirable. Further, you irrevocably and unconditionally waive any and all moral rights in respect of the use of your submission in the foregoing manner.
    You represent, warrant and undertake to the SMA that you own the necessary rights to all copyright in relation to the submissions made in order to give effect to the foregoing.
11. Judging the Irish winners:
    On or about 28 February, 2005 three semi-finalists will be selected by each SMA unit throughout the world. Each of the semi-finalists shall be entered into the international competition representing their unit.

    Judging the finalists:
    On or about 31 March, 2005 the SMA jury shall select their top ten (10) finalists. Each of the finalist’s and semi-finalist’s submissions may be published on the SMA website, in the SMA publications or by any other means available to the SMA.

    Judging the overall winner:
    The winning design shall be chosen by the jury on or about 1 May, 2005 and shall reflect the internationality, image and Christian mission of the SMA taking into account the originality, creativity and ability of the design to reflect of the image of the SMA.

12. The jury’s decision is final and the SMA shall not entertain any representations made on behalf of any participating individual.
13. The winner will be notified by the SMA by means of mail or email and shall, if required (for no additional consideration) execute such documentation as is required by the SMA to transfer all the rights in the design to the SMA. In the event that the additional documentation is not returned within the timeframe stipulated by the notification, the SMA shall be entitled, without giving notice, to award one of the other finalist’s designs the prize. In the event that an alternate winner is chosen, the requirements placed on the initial winner shall also apply to the alternate winner.
14. In the event that the winner is a minor, (s)he must provide such written consent/agreement of his/her parent/guardian as may be required by the SMA. Notwithstanding this, the winner, and his/her parent/guardian as the case may be, agrees that by entering this competition the SMA and any authorised third parties may use the winner’s name, photograph or any other likeness, biographical information and statements concerning the competition for the purpose of advertising or promotion.
15. SMA shall record, process and hold personal information submitted to us in accordance with applicable privacy laws. By making a submission you hereby consent to our recording, processing and holding of your personal data for the purpose of this competition.
16. Prize:
    The winning designer will receive a return trip to Lyon (France), birthplace of the SMA in 1856, during the SMA 150th Anniversary celebrations in 2006. The prize will include return transport (economy class) to Lyon and accommodation and meals at an SMA location for one week for the winner (and his/her parent/guardian where relevant). All taxes and other expenses are solely the responsibility of the prize-winner.
    The Irish Province Unit will present a prize to each of the three semi-finalists from Ireland.
17. The prizes are not cash redeemable and have a value of €0.01.

International Design Competition
to design a new Logo for the
Society of African Missions (SMA) – Worldwide
(Celebrating 150 Years of Service in Africa 1856 – 2006)

1. Open Competition:
   The SMA International Logo Competition is open to individual artists of all ages whether professional or amateur and to interested persons, of any age. (Entrants under 18 years of age must have the authorisation and agreement of parent/guardian).
2. The winning design shall reflect the internationality, image and Christian mission of SMA.
   
3. Irish Entries:
   The Competition is being conducted simultaneously in the various units of the Society of African Missions. The following rules are for applicants from Ireland (including Northern Ireland), the Irish Province Unit of SMA.
4. Web-site:
   Preliminary information about SMA can be found on our website: www.sma.ie.
5. One-design per person:
   The first design submitted by each individual shall be the only design considered by the SMA in respect of that individual.
6. Your submission must be accompanied with your full name and contact details (mailing address, telephone number, e-mail address and, in the event that you are a minor, the written consent of your parent/guardian).
7. Closing Date:
   Closing date for entries is 31 January, 2005 and only designs which are received on or prior to 31 January, 2005, will be considered by the SMA.
8. Where to send entries:
   In order to enter in the competition all designs must be submitted either by post to:
   SMA Logo Competition
   African Missions
   Blackrock Road
   Cork
   OR by email to [email protected] [preferred format for e-mail entry: jpeg].
9. The SMA is not responsible for any lost, late, misdirected, damaged, illegible or undelivered mail for whatever reason or for any delayed, illegible, incomplete or garbled email transmissions. The SMA will not return any submissions made to it in connection with this competition.
10. By entering this competition, you acknowledge and agree that the SMA may use the submission made by you for whatever purpose it deems necessary or desirable. Accordingly, you irrevocably and unconditionally grant to the SMA and to its successors, assignees and licensees a license to use in whatever manner the SMA considers appropriate (which shall include, without limitation, publishing, broadcasting, performance, display, exhibition, making available to the public) your submission in any and all media, by any manner or means the SMA deem necessary or desirable. Further, you irrevocably and unconditionally waive any and all moral rights in respect of the use of your submission in the foregoing manner.
    You represent, warrant and undertake to the SMA that you own the necessary rights to all copyright in relation to the submissions made in order to give effect to the foregoing.
11. Judging the Irish winners:
    On or about 28 February, 2005 three semi-finalists will be selected by each SMA unit throughout the world. Each of the semi-finalists shall be entered into the international competition representing their unit.

    Judging the finalists:
    On or about 31 March, 2005 the SMA jury shall select their top ten (10) finalists. Each of the finalist’s and semi-finalist’s submissions may be published on the SMA website, in the SMA publications or by any other means available to the SMA.

    Judging the overall winner:
    The winning design shall be chosen by the jury on or about 1 May, 2005 and shall reflect the internationality, image and Christian mission of the SMA taking into account the originality, creativity and ability of the design to reflect of the image of the SMA.

12. The jury’s decision is final and the SMA shall not entertain any representations made on behalf of any participating individual.
13. The winner will be notified by the SMA by means of mail or email and shall, if required (for no additional consideration) execute such documentation as is required by the SMA to transfer all the rights in the design to the SMA. In the event that the additional documentation is not returned within the timeframe stipulated by the notification, the SMA shall be entitled, without giving notice, to award one of the other finalist’s designs the prize. In the event that an alternate winner is chosen, the requirements placed on the initial winner shall also apply to the alternate winner.
14. In the event that the winner is a minor, (s)he must provide such written consent/agreement of his/her parent/guardian as may be required by the SMA. Notwithstanding this, the winner, and his/her parent/guardian as the case may be, agrees that by entering this competition the SMA and any authorised third parties may use the winner’s name, photograph or any other likeness, biographical information and statements concerning the competition for the purpose of advertising or promotion.
15. SMA shall record, process and hold personal information submitted to us in accordance with applicable privacy laws. By making a submission you hereby consent to our recording, processing and holding of your personal data for the purpose of this competition.
16. Prize:
    The winning designer will receive a return trip to Lyon (France), birthplace of the SMA in 1856, during the SMA 150th Anniversary celebrations in 2006. The prize will include return transport (economy class) to Lyon and accommodation and meals at an SMA location for one week for the winner (and his/her parent/guardian where relevant). All taxes and other expenses are solely the responsibility of the prize-winner.
    The Irish Province Unit will present a prize to each of the three semi-finalists from Ireland.
17. The prizes are not cash redeemable and have a value of €0.01.

SMA International Logo Competition
June 1, 2004 – January 31, 2005

Irish Province Results

In compliance with the Rules of the Competition each SMA Unit is to select three semi-finalists from the designs submitted to the Unit. These are to be forwarded to Rome for the final adjudication.

The Irish Province received 12 designs from nine contributors – one contributor submitted three designs, another two designs. The Irish Jury assessed these submissions. Three of the designs were selected as the winners of the Irish Province section and have been forwarded to the International jury in Rome for the final selection.

The three logos adjudged the best for the Irish Province section were:

Irish Unit Prize:
Each of the chosen three semi-finalists from the Irish Unit will receive a copy of Architectures of Nigeria by the renowned Fr Kevin Carroll SMA.

The ten finalists selected by the international jury in Rome may now be viewed at:

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/missions.africaines/nouveaute/concours_logo/concours.htm

The winning entry will be selected in May 2005.

SMA Logo | Full List of Rules | Result

SMA International Logo Competition
June 1, 2004 – January 31, 2005

The Society of African Missions (SMA), an international Catholic missionary organization, celebrates more than a century of service in Africa. As part of our celebrations for our (upcoming) 150th Anniversary in 2006, and in keeping with our tradition of respect for the arts, SMA announces a worldwide competition to select a new LOGO. We invite artists and all interested persons to submit original designs that communicate in vibrant visual imagery, the unique identity and exciting mission of SMA today!

Entries must be submitted through the SMA Unit nearest to you.
SMA Units are: all locations where SMA have Provinces, Districts or Foundation

Ireland (including NI) France-Lyon France-Strasbourg The Netherlands
Italy Britain Spain Poland
USA Canada Argentina The Philippines
India Africa

Closing Date for Entries:
31 January 2005.

Stage 1:
End of February 2005: From all the Irish entries three semi-finalists will be chosen. These designs will be posted on our website.

To see these designs… here

Stage 2:
End of March 2005: The Irish semi-finalists, along with the semi-finalists from the other SMA units, will be sent to a jury of SMA judges at our international headquarters in Rome.

Prizes
Overall Prize:
The grand-prize winning design will be chosen by the jury in May 2005. The new logo will be introduced officially at SMA’s 150th anniversary ceremonies in June 2006 in Lyon, France, the place where SMA was founded in 1856. The winning artist will be invited to attend those ceremonies as a guest of honour.

Irish Unit Prize:
Each of the chosen three semi-finalists from the Irish Unit will receive a copy of Architectures of Nigeria by the renowned Fr Kevin Carroll SMA.

Get to know us! Learn about our faith-filled history, our commitment to African arts and culture, and our exciting work as missionaries in Africa and around the globe. Let our story inspire you to tell it to the world through a dynamic new logo that captures the essence of SMA.

For complete contest rules, click HERE. For samples of existing LOGOs, click HERE.

Submit inquiries and designs to: [email protected]
or by mail to: LOGO Competition, African Missions, Blackrock Road, Cork.

• People have lived in the region for centuries.
• From 1820, the shape of modern Liberia began when freed slaves from America (to become known as Americo-Liberians) settled in this part of West Africa’s coast.
• Liberia was declared an independent republic in 1847.
• 1880-1980 the country experienced ebb and flow of conflict and quiet, as the settler government met more or less opposition from the indigenes.
• 1980: the growing tensions and animosities between the Americo-Liberian ruling dynasty and the Liberian indigenous peoples, exploded in a coup d’etat, led by a relatively uneducated army sergeant, Samuel Doe. The elected prersident (William Tolbert) and nearly all his cabinet were killed in public execution. The seeds for the present decimation and horror had been sown.
• 1985: Samuel Doe was “elected” in an overly sham election. But opposition forces were determined to topple him.
• Late 1989: Liberia was overrun by Charles Taylor who initiated a campaign of unspeakable atrocity. Civilian casualties were enormous; refugees poured into Ivory Coast, Guinea and Sierra Leone. Liberia was beginning to be devsated and reduced to ruins.
• October 1992: Taylor was in control of more than 90% of the country when he launched an infamous 4-month artillery barrage of the capital, Monrovia.
• Mid-1994: The protagonists were hammering out one of the now legendary-many-but-short-lived-peace accords. This led to Taylor becoming President in 1995.
• Monrovia was razed again in April 1996. In late 1996, the Economic Union of West African States sent a peacekeeping force (known as ECOMOG) to initiate another peace.
• In 1997, after a campaign of overt intimidation, Taylor won a landslide vistory in the elections for Presidency.
• From 1999 Guinea and Ivory Coast, supporting respective rebel groups, became embroiled in the efforts to topple Taylor, who was supporting the destablisation of these countries ( as well as Sierra Leone). Another round of vicious fighting, with innocent civilians caught everywhere in the midst of it, was in motion.
• 2001: the UN imposed trade, arms, and travel restrictions on Taylor and his government (springing mainly from the trading of arms and diamonds). Through 2002 and into 2003, the fighting continued whilst the UN continuously extended the sanctions imposed.
• June 2003: Taylor was indicted by the UN-backed war crimes tribunal in Sierra Leone. By August, his position as president was untenable. He resigned, and sought, and was granted, asylum in Nigeria.
• September 2003: Thousands of UN peace-keeping troops began to arrive.
• October 14th. 2003: Charles Gyude Bryant was sworn in as Liberia’s Head of State using the title “Chairman” with a promise of a fresh start and an end to 14 years of conflict.

Visit of Lesotho Ambassador to SMA, Blackrock Road, Cork

Provincial Superior, Fr Fachtna O’Driscoll SMA, with Ambassador Ramaila	H E ‘Mannete ‘Malethole Ramaili Ambassador of the Kingdom of Lesotho to Ireland speaking to the SMA
(From Left): Fr Fachtna O’Driscoll SMA, Ms Claire Corcoran (Tourism Attache, Lesotho Embassy), H E Ambassador ‘Mannete ‘Malethole and Fr Martin O’Farrell SMA (Development Officer)

Homily preached by Fr Kieran O’Reilly SMA, Superior General,
at the Mass to launch the 150th Celebration of the
Founding of the Society of African Missions,
at St. Joseph’s Parish, Wilton
Sunday, March 19th 2006

FAITHFUL TO OUR MISSIONARY CALLING

Your Grace, Archbishop Sean Brady, Archbishop of Armagh, Primate of All Ireland
Your Excellency, Archbishop Lazzarotto, Apostolic Nuncio to Ireland,
Bishop John Buckley, Bishop of Cork and Ross,
Bishop John Magee, Bishop of Cloyne
Bishop Lewis Ziegler, Bishop of Gbarnga, Liberia.

Lord Mayor, Alderman Deirdre Clune
Minister Mícheál Martin
Members of the Civil Authorities.

Members of the Society of African Missions,
Members of other Mission Societies and Congregations,
Sisters of our Lady of Apostles.
Sisters of other Mission Institutes.
Families, Friends and supporters of the Society of African Missions.

I am very happy to be here in St Joseph’s Parish Church, Wilton, to celebrate this special occasion with you. Today, the Irish Province of the Society of African Missions opens its celebrations to mark the 150th anniversary of the Founding of the Society.

Origins
The Society has its origins in France, at Lyons, in the middle of the 19th century. It was founded by a Missionary Bishop, Bishop Melchior de Marion Bresillac who had been the first Bishop of the Diocese of Coimbatore in South India. He had worked in India for thirteen years and on returning to Europe he had, at the request of the Roman authorities, founded a Missionary Society dedicated to work among the most abandoned in Africa.

His place of missionary endeavour was to be along the West Coast of Africa – in today’s terms a territory that stretched from Sierra Leone to the Niger River in Nigeria. He was made Vicar Apostolic of this territory that fronted the Bight of Benin.

Four guiding principles for his work
Before leaving for India, in 1842, at the age of 28 he made a retreat and wrote down the following resolutions in his diary, setting out in four short sentences the future direction of his life and the inspirational ideals that have played a significant part in the life of our Society.

1. To be a missionary with all my heart
2. To neglect nothing that will advance the work of God
3. To seize every opportunity of preaching the word of God
4. Lastly, and it is for this above all that I implore Your blessing, to use every available means, all my strength, all my mind, towards the training of a native clergy.

These remained his missionary objectives throughout his life… and are part of the identity of the Society of African Missions to this day.

Early years of the SMA
The first years of the Society’s life were marked by tragedy and set backs. Not least of these, was the death of Bishop de Bresillac, at Freetown, a short time after his arrival there, in 1859. This tragic event was to be repeated on many occasions over the following years. Young missionaries, not long arrived on the West Coast of Africa, succumbed to the difficult climatic conditions and the diseases prevalent at that time.

The young Society without its energetic and dynamic Founder survived, through God’s grace, and under the guidance of Fr Augustin Planque, successor to Bishop de Bresillac, who courageously carried the work forward. It was Fr. Planque who recognised the importance of the need of Sisters to work also in that difficult and demanding environment to assist with the women in the area of evangelisation. It was he who founded the Congregation of our Lady of Apostles who have worked in West Africa for over 120 years. I would like to pay special tribute to them for their work and commitment to the work of Evangelisation and for their generous support and collaboration with our Society. I am happy to see many of them here to day as we celebrate together the missionary life of our Society.

When the Society began its life, it was a fact that all missionaries travelled, one might say on the “coat tails” of the different colonial powers of the day. The two colonial powers that exercised the greatest influence in West Africa, at this time, were the French and British Empires. As the work of the first missionaries expanded and spread along the West Coast it was imperative to have English speaking missionaries to evangelise the territories under British colonial rule. With this in mind, the Society first came to Ireland in the 1870’s.

Ireland in the mid to late 18th Century.
It is well to recall that the situation in Ireland in the late 1870’s early 1880’s was very unsettled, agrarian unrest was widespread. In 1879, Michael Davit founded the Land League the political situation remained uncertain. Under Parnell, the struggle for Home Rule was entering a new phase. The main task for the Catholic Church was to rebuild after the granting of Catholic Emancipation and the end of the Penal Laws and to plan for the pastoral care of the millions who had been forced to leave Ireland following the Great Famine.

First Contacts
The first contacts between Ireland and the SMA took place in South Africa and were made through Fr James O’Haire, who was acquainted with some of the early SMA missionaries in South Africa. Through Fr O’Haire’s contacts with Bishop Delaney, the first SMA presence in Ireland was here in Cork on the north side of the city, in Mayfield. After a brief stay there the Society moved in the early 1880’s to Blackrock Road and opened there an Apostolic school and a Church. Moving here to Wilton in the late 1880’s when the Society purchased this property. From these two houses – hundreds of missionaries have passed through having prepared themselves for work in Africa.

Many of those whose memory we hold dear are from your families, they were your friends and neighbours, they are buried here and in the many cemeteries dotted throughout Africa. Many are buried in the adjoining cemetery but many are also buried in the small cemeteries along the West Coast of Africa, in Asaba, Ekpoma, Oke Are, Ibadan Lagos – Nigeria: Ouidah in the Benin Republic, Kumasi in Ghana, Monrovia in Liberia, In East Africa in Francisdale in Zambia, Nairobi in Kenya, and also in North Africa in Egypt.

Builders of the Irish Province
While this day focuses on the celebration of the work of the Society over 150 years it is good to recall the lives of those who have built the Irish Province of the SMA, in particular, men like Fr. Joseph Zimmermann, from Switzerland, who was instrumental in building up the Irish Province, over a twenty eight year period. He also contributed in no small way to a better understanding, in the Irish Church of the time, on the need for missionaries to the lands where the Gospel had not yet been preached.

The early benefactors like Count Blake and Mr Himsworth – one of the first to respond to appeals for financial help, and who contributed generously to the building of our house in Blackrock Road. Their support and the generous support of our many benefactors has enabled the Irish Province to grow and to contribute significantly to the growth of the wider Society of African Missions, the Church in Africa and the spread of the Kingdom of God. The early efforts culminated in the establishment of the Irish Province of SMA on 15th May 1912.

Africa
Africa, at the turn of the 20th century was still a mysterious continent. The coast had been explored but much of the interior was unknown. The coming of explorers, adventurers and the colonial powers was beginning to have a significant effect on the peoples and cultures of Africa that had remained largely isolated for centuries.

This was the world to which the young Irish Missionaries of the late 1890’s and early 1900’s left family and friends here in Ireland, knowing that they, more than likely, would not return again. The early years of the Society saw a continual flow of young men from Ireland willing to accept the missionary calling and follow in the footsteps of our Founder and the early missionaries.

Members of the Society Priests and Brothers
Ordinations to the Missionary Priesthood

Phase 1. Ordained Lyons, Egypt and Cork there were 123 – 1878-1926

Phase 2. From Dromantine – 587 Members – 1926-1971

Phase 3. From Maynooth – 73 Members – 1971 – 1999

Brothers
Over these years, the number of Brothers who served in our Province numbered up to 35, among them the first two members of the Society in Ireland to die in Africa. Brother Alphonsus Nolan who died in 17th October 1880, of tuberculosis aggravated by dysentery and Brother Jerome Killen who died in Lagos on 5th December 1880.

(In the Society’s house of formation in Dromantine, in County Down over 587 priests were ordained for the missionary priesthood in a period or 45 years (1926-1971). In all, Seven Hundred and eighty priests have been ordained for the missionary priesthood in the Irish Province.)

Phase 4. Our own time.
The Society has entered into a new phase of presence in Ireland. In the Irish Province today the number of candidates coming forward has diminished and all but dried up. This is not just a phenomenon experienced by our Mission Institute but also by other Mission Institutes. The Society still invites young men to come and join us but many factors in our present cultural climate do not facilitate and encourage young people to respond to the call to Mission. However, we will continue to invite and trust that the Spirit will still lead young men to join the Society. We must listen and discern what the Spirit is saying to us through this reality. It is a time of soul searching in the light of the great missionary tradition that we have known in Ireland.

Growth of the International Society
As the Society grew in Ireland there was a corresponding growth in France and Holland. Territories were assigned to the different Provinces: the Irish Province was assigned Western and Northern Nigeria and in 1906 Liberia. This year we celebrate the centenary of our Society’s missionary involvement in Liberia and I am indeed very happy to have Bishop Lewis Ziegler from the Diocese of Gbarnga, in Liberia here with us.

The Nature and Purpose of our Society
From the beginning, the focus and direction of our Society has concentrated on Africa. This has been our central interest over the past 150 years. This focus is the basis for our planning and organisation for the future. We remain faithful and committed to the vision of our Founder, to work among the most abandoned in Africa. Our focus on Africa at this time is important as the challenges and needs of mission in Africa are more demanding than ever. Solidarity with Africa in Africa and outside Africa is our engagement now.

In our work of mission, as evangelisers, we do not only engage in proclaiming the Gospel, or converting individuals to Christ but also, in the words of Evangelii Nuntiandi, The missionary Encyclical of Pope Paul VI

“bringing the Good News into all the strata of humanity, and through its influence transforming humanity from within and making it new” – (EN, 24).

It is a process which embraces, again in the words of Evangelii Nuntiandi,

“both the personal and collective consciences of people, the activities in which they engage, and the lives and concrete milieux which are theirs” – (EN, 19).

This is a dramatic development in the understanding of Mission.

The Missionary Encyclical of John Paul II, Redemptoris Missio expresses it in this way

“The Kingdom of God is all embrasive, bringing the good news into all the strata of humanity, and through its influence transforming humanity from within and making it new.” – RM, 13.

This is a significant development in understanding what missionaries are about in our time and it is very different from when our Society was founded and the early missionaries departed from our shores to preach the Gospel.

The context of mission is more challenging and demanding than it has ever been. Issues of Justice, Peace and the Integrity of the created world in which we live are now at the centre of the Mission agenda. It is a difficult and often unrewarding task in our times to uphold such issues, but to do so is firmly rooted in the conviction that Jesus Christ, in his saving mission, has given dignity and worth to each and every human being. This is the fundamental cornerstone on which we engage in mission today.

As a missionary Society we have been part of that movement in the Church that specifically oriented its identity and work to going to the Nations following the injunction of Jesus at the end of Matthew’s Gospel:

“Go, therefore make disciples of all Nations” – Matthew 28.19

An important task in our time is, I believe, that of building communities that are “salt and light” to the world (Matt 5:13-16). The disciple is to witness to the Gospel with the aim of transforming the world, a witnessing based on the experience of their encounter with the Risen Lord. They are to be “the fragrance of Jesus Christ” 11 Cor 2:14

Builders of a better world after the vision of the Prophet Isaiah from the first reading in today’s liturgy of the Word:

“Building a better world where war and destruction will be no more:
He will wield authority over the nations
And adjudicate between many peoples
These will hammer their swords into ploughshares
Their spears into sickles
Nation will not lift sword against nation
There will be no more training for war”. – Isaiah 2:4

Africa Today
Africa continues to experience rapid change leading, to among other consequences, a great rich/poor divide, a rapid movement into large conurbations where millions are now in search of a life for themselves and their families. These are the “new frontiers” of mission as defined by John Paul II in his missionary encyclical, “Redemptoris Missio”. This is the world of mission in Africa today. There remains also the geographical locations of mission, remote areas of Primary Evangelisation, where our missionaries’ presence is valued and welcomed…. where they work with the local people to guarantee education facilities for the future generations through establishing schools etc.

I believe that Our Missionary commitment calls us to stretch to the limit our charism of missionary service, after the example of our courageous missionaries – drawing strength from their labours and inspiration from their courage. The pastoral challenges include serious medical and health issues, the need to engage with the serious deficiencies of the education system in many of the countries where we work and to plan and collaborate with the local Church on all issues effecting the life of our people and communities.

Who are the Agents of the Missionary Enterprise of the Society today?
I have spoken about the number of Priests and Brothers from Ireland who have contributed significantly to the SMA. Today, our Society is engaged in a great journey with the Churches, who though us, received the gift of faith, where we have served as missionaries, over the last one hundred and fifty years. We now invite young men from Africa to join us for Mission to other parts of Africa.

We also have members coming from India, Poland, the Philippines, and Argentina and they now live in international missionary communities, in Africa. My recent visits to the Central African Republic, Tanzania and Kenya highlighted for me the new “identity” of our young missionaries. The greater percentage of our young missionaries, let us say those under 40 years of age, numbering nearly 90% of missionaries under 40 in the Society, now come from these new Units of the Society. It is an exciting time for our Society and other mission Institutes like ourselves.

Core of our Work
The challenges facing those engaged in mission are many but the centre of Mission remains for all generations of missionaries and that is the person of Jesus Christ, as the one who has come from the Father to bring a unique message of love to the world. Witnessing to the person of Jesus and establishing communities based on his vision of harmony and respect communities that are “light and salt”.

The world of the early church was divided on many levels, Paul in the Letter to the Galatians describes religious divisions and states that for those who are “in Christ” there is another reality:

“Since all of you are in Christ, there can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither slave nor freeman, there can be neither male nor female.” – Galatians 3:28

This is the reality that Missionaries are called to live in a dramatic way in the world in which they witness to Christ. They are confronted in their life and ministry by many of the divisions that exist in our world: The differences between ethnic identities, the social divisions that create all kinds of tensions that lead to dissension and discord.

The witnessing communities established by the Missionaries of tomorrow are called to cross boundaries and cross over to the “other person” to establish the values of the Kingdom. It is not an easy task. Many factors cultural, historical and social, challenge the vision of a world that can live in harmony.

Paul insists upon the unity of the Christian community (the body of Christ). We have been given a new identity in Christ, an identity that supersedes all others. That is one of the great challenges for Christian mission to bear witness to that reality. Any form of segregation in the community, ethnic, racial or social, is, for Paul, a denial of the Gospel, it is a counter witness to the Gospel.

One of the main tasks of Mission in our time is about creating witnessing communities as presented in the Gospel of Matthew that will be seen as radically witnessing to what the Gospel means : “as light on a hilltop and as salt that savours food” in a world that is broken and divided. Showing that in Christ a new world is possible, a Kingdom of Truth and love is possible.

That is the great missionary task, then, is about creating communities marked by a radical unity, flowing from their new identity in Christ.

I ask you to pray at this celebration today that this missionary challenge will become a reality in our time.

Conclusion
Looking to the future

The Society, from her foundation has endeavoured to live the vision of our Founder to go to the “most abandoned” with the good News of Salvation. The work of our Society continues in Africa and also here in Ireland where the vision and the passion for Mission of our Founder is still our guiding light.

The words from the Book of Proverbs comes to mind as we take stock of these past years:

“Many are the plans of the human heart
But the purpose of Yahweh – that stands firm.” – Proverbs 19:21

From the very beginning, the Society faced many challenges in discerning how best to communicate the message brought by Jesus Christ, we are still engaged in that search – I believe it never ends. The mystery of how to present the reality of Christ is not exhausted.

The “purpose of Yahweh” is still being fulfilled with the missionaries of our time. Today, the missionaries of our Society come from 24 countries, committed to Africa and the Spread of the Gospel. Quiet a change from the early days when three countries provided the candidates.

The presence of our SMA African missionaries to other Africans is the fruit of that fateful journey undertaken by our Founder when he set out from Europe in March 1859.) It is a journey that continues and is truly fulfilling the “purpose of Yahweh”.

To you, our friends gathered here today, I thank you for your faithful participation in our Missionary task over these years. The generosity and support of the Irish people has been, and continues to be, extraordinary. Without your support it is not possible, not only for the Irish Province, but also the entire Society of African Missions to carry out the task it has in spreading the Good News of Salvation.

It is a day of thanksgiving for all but also a special day of rededication to the future and participating in what the Book of Proverbs calls, the “Purpose of Yahweh”, we – missionaries, family, friends and supporters of the Society are humbled that we have been called to participate in this “purpose”.

Mission continues, for our Society we remain committed to acting in Solidarity with Africa.

I commend to you today our missionaries working in sixteen countries in Africa and in different places on the other continents.

Remembering the words of St. John’s Gospel, as Jesus prayed for his disciples, so at this Eucharist we pray for them:

“Consecrate them in the truth;
Your word is truth.
As you sent me into the world,
And for their sake I consecrate myself,
So that they too may be consecrated in truth” – John 17:17-19

Kieran O’Reilly SMA
SMA, Rome

Remembrance of Deceased SMA Missionaries

Another phase in the 150th Jubilee Celebration of SMA was a day of prayer for deceased SMA missionaries. All deceased members of the Society were honoured and remembered.

Mass was concelebrated at St Joseph’s SMA Parish Church, Wilton, Cork on Saturday, 10 June 2006 and was followed by a special commemorative ceremony in the adjoining SMA Community Cemetery.

More than 600 relatives and friends of deceased SMA missionaries from all over Ireland attended.

Bishop Patrick Harrington SMA, Bishop of Lodwar (Kenya) and former Superior General of the Society was the main celebrant and he was assisted in the sanctuary by Bishop Noel O’Regan SMA of Ndola Diocese(Zambia), Fr Fachtna O’Driscoll SMA, Provincial Superior, and former Provincial Superiors, Fathers Con Murphy SMA and John Quinlan SMA. Numerous SMA priests joined in the concelebration as did Fr McGuinness OFMCap who was home from Papua New Guinea.

Fr Fachtna O’Driscoll preached the homily. The text of the homily can be seen here…

In a preliminary to the Mass representative objects were presented – African cloth by Fr Andy O’Sullivan SMA, African carved crucifix by Fr Fionnbarra O Cuilleanain SMA, picture of the SMA Founder by Fr Joe Maguire SMA and mission box by Fr Tomas Walsh SMA.

Readings at the Mass were read by Sexton Cahill and Breda Keyes. The Prayers of the Faithful were recited by Sr Deanna Donohoe OLA and Sr Mairead Hickey OLA.
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Jubilee Celebrations | Helping SMA

Remembrance of Deceased SMA Missionaries

Another phase in the 150th Jubilee Celebration of SMA was a day of prayer for deceased SMA missionaries. All deceased members of the Society were honoured and remembered. Mass was concelebrated at St Joseph’s SMA Parish Church, Wilton, Cork on Saturday, 10 June 2006 and was followed by a special commemorative ceremony in the adjoining SMA Community Cemetery.

More than 600 relatives and friends of deceased SMA missionaries from all over Ireland attended.

Bishop Patrick Harrington SMA, Bishop of Lodwar (Kenya) and former Superior General of the Society was the main celebrant and he was assisted in the sanctuary by Bishop Noel O’Regan SMA of Ndola Diocese(Zambia), Fr Fachtna O’Driscoll SMA, Provincial Superior, and former Provincial Superiors, Fathers Con Murphy SMA and John Quinlan SMA. Numerous SMA priests joined in the concelebration as did Fr McGuinness OFMCap who was home from Papua New Guinea.

Fr Fachtna O’Driscoll preached the homily. The text of the homily can be seen here…

In a preliminary to the Mass representative objects were presented – African cloth by Fr Andy O’Sullivan SMA, African carved crucifix by Fr Fionnbarra O Cuilleanain SMA, picture of the SMA Founder by Fr Joe Maguire SMA and mission box by Fr Tomas Walsh SMA.

Readings at the Mass were read by Sexton Cahill and Breda Keyes. The Prayers of the Faithful were recited by Sr Deanna Donohoe OLA and Sr Mairead Hickey OLA.

150th JUBILEE CELEBRATION OF THE SMA
at WILTON, CORK CITY

ADDRESS GIVEN BY ARCHBISHOP SEAN BRADY
SUNDAY 19 MARCH 2006

I feel very honoured to have been invited by Father Fachtna O’Driscoll and the SMA Irish Provincial Team to come to Cork today to be Principal Celebrant at the special con-celebrated Mass today. I thank you for that honour. Today’s Mass marked the formal launch of your Jubilee celebrations, a jubilee to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the foundation of the Society at Lyon in France. I congratulate you on reaching this historic milestone. It is a milestone that provides an excellent opportunity to pause and reflect and give thanks –

• To give thanks to God for what has been achieved over the last 150 years.
• To recognise and applaud and salute the noble generosity and heroic enthusiasm of generations of SMA missionaries, who left all not for profit or for gain but to tell people in Africa that God is love.
• To acknowledge the outstanding loyalty of very dedicated cohorts of lay co-workers.

The Jubilee also provides an occasion to assess the prospects for the future, and to see the potential for consolidation, giving careful attention to the signs of the times and the inspirations of the Holy Spirit.

I also congratulate you on the really impressive Programme of Events which you have planned for the year. I wish it great success. I know it will bring many blessings as you study and pray and go on pilgrimage to the various shrines and sanctuaries that are precious to SMA history. I am quite sure that the year will bring many fruits and graces.

Personally I have nothing but the very best of memories of my associations with the SMA. Your Vocations Promotions people came to St. Patrick’s College, Cavan during my time there in the fifties. In very spirited and enthusiastic presentations, they put before us a clear and attractive picture of the missionary, reminding us of how Patrick himself had come as a missionary to Ireland. Later, as a young priest, I had the good fortune to go to Dromantine on various short courses e.g, Parish Renewal; Marriage Encounter type weekends; and also, of course, courses for young priests. I remember being there in the midst of a mighty frost and snow with temperatures way below zero but the warm welcome which the SMA gave made up for it all. Another thing that has always struck me is the very strong desire, on the part of the SMA, to help the local church in any way they could here in Ireland.

Later on, during my time on the staff of the Irish College in Rome I had occasion to renew once again my acquaintances with many SMA people and it was always very pleasant and happy. Father Pat Harrington was your Superior General then and Father Kieran, the present Superior General, was immersed in his post-graduate studies then. I then came to know Father Michael McCabe from my own native county of Cavan.

Since coming to Armagh eleven years ago, I have come to know Dromantine and appreciate the treasure that it is. I call it the ante camera of paradise. I thank you for the decision taken some years ago to invest substantial resources in Dromantine and I salute how well that has been achieved. I salute also the efforts of Father Eamonn Finnegan in that matter and all those who helped him.

I heard recently a proposal that the Catholic Church in Ireland should designate the next decade as the decade dedicated to the new evangelisation of adult formation and were that to happen, I am sure Dromantine would have an invaluable role to play. In agriculture, farmers often talk of re-seeding fields that have become tired and yield less than their true potential. The Church in Ireland is in need of a certain amount of re-seeding at the moment and we need all the help we can to achieve that.

Last Friday we welcomed to Armagh a group of pilgrims from a town in northern Italy called San Colombano al Lambro. The town is named after St Columbanus of course who stopped there on his way to Bobbio. Isn’t it marvellous to think that, 1,500 years later, there are people willing and able to make a pilgrimage of gratitude to Ireland for the gift that the great Irish missionary brought to them so long ago.

I am delighted to learn that the small seeds sown by Bishop Marion de Brésillac 150 years ago have grown into a huge tree with so many branches with roots in Africa and America, Asia and Europe. Today we thank God for the 944 members working mainly in Africa of course, but also in the Americas, Asia and Oceania. We salute the courageous decision taken some years ago to accept members from Africa and Asia and we rejoice in the people who have joined the Society from the eleven African countries as well as from India and the Philippines.

I am delighted to know that there are currently 236 members of the Irish Province. We are proud that the Province has given four (4) Superior Generals to the Society and that twenty-one (21) have been called to serve the Church in Africa as successors to the apostles. We all take pride in this contribution to the marvellous story of the SMA.

“Sons of Mgr Bresillac go forward – Africa has great need of you“. Those stirring words of the late Pope John Paul II to you in 1983 are still relevant and inspiring today.

Prospere Procedite indeed. May the SMA celebrations here in Ireland this year remind all of us of Ireland’s proud missionary record. May the glorious example of countless SMA missionaries, the real heroes, dedicating their lives to the glory of God, inspire Irish people to appreciate the faith that motivated such self-sacrifice and may we all live that faith to the full.

Thank you.

ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

IN THE PRESENT ECCLESIASTICAL PROVINCE OF BENIN CITY

l. LOKOJA (1884-1893)

It was in 1882 that Monsignor Jean-Baptiste Chausse SMA, the Prefect-Apostolic of the Catholic Church in Lagos, and Father Theodore Holley SMA, of Abeokuta fame, sailed up the River Niger to assess the possibility of bringing knowledge of Christ to the people who lived east and north of Yoruba land. The report they sent to their Superior General, Fr Augustin Planque SMA, in Lyon, must have impressed him because just two years later Rome setup the Prefecture of the Upper Niger, covering all that territory in modern Nigeria, north of Lokoja, an important trading centre at the confluence of the two biggest rivers in West Africa, the Niger and the Benue. The Evangelisation of that vast territory was assigned to the Society of African Missions (SMA).

In November 1884 SMA Fathers Jules Poirier, Filippo Fiorentini and Pierre Piolat arrived by boat in Lokoja, where they set up their temporary headquarters from which they hoped to evangelise the towns and villages north of the two rivers. Father Poirier was the first Prefect-Apostolic. He had some missionary experience in Topo in the Lagos area and he had hoped to develop Lokoja in the same way as he had done in Topo by establishing a Christian community and then establishing a farm to solve the food problems, before spreading out to the neighbouring villages.

But things did not work out that way. In Lokoja the people were mainly Moslems and in no way disposed to the Christian faith. Besides, their resources were very limited both in money and personnel. The missionaries were few and the few that did come were struck down by ill-health and even death. Fathers Fiorentini and Piolat died in 1885 and 1886, respectively. Three others were assigned to the prefecture in 1885 – Carlo Zappa, Johann Baptist Voit and Andrew Dornan. Fr Dornan died in less than a year at the tender age of twenty-eight. By the end of 1886 only three of the first six of the missionaries survived. Fr Poirier had succeeded in getting four OLA (Our Lady of Apostles) Sisters to come to Lokoja but two of these also became victims of the fevers that swept West Africa at that time. So in 1891, just seven years after the SMA arrived there, two Rev Fathers, two Rev Sisters and twelve redeemed slaves left Lokoja for Asaba, where Carlo Zappa had established St Joseph’s Catholic Mission in 1888.

II. ASABA (1888-1938)

It was largely in response to the insistent entreaties of one Sir James Marshall, an official of the Royal Niger Company with its Headquarters at Asaba, that Fr Poirier decided to send Fr Zappa to Asaba in 1888. On Pentecost Sunday James Marshall and his equally devout assistant, Judge O’Kane, returned from Mass at Onitsha on the eastern bank of the Niger. They were pleasantly surprised to meet Fr. Zappa waiting for them. Sir James immediately led Father to the site which he had purchased for them – the site which has remained the Head-quarters of the Catholic Church in Asaba to this present day.

Even in Asaba the early missionaries did not find it easy. The response was slow. Because of the high-handed activities of the Royal Niger Company, white men were unpopular and in many minds the missionaries were associated with them. However, the Fathers and the OLA Sisters impressed the barriers. The care for the sick shown by the teaching of catechism, were established but were not well attended. Then there was the physical factor. Sickness among the missionaries was widespread. Mosquitoes were everywhere. At that time there was no quinine or medicine to treat malaria. By 1898, just 10 years after their arrival in Asaba, of the 21 SMAs who arrived there, 7 had died, 7 had to return home and only 7 survived. Despite the problems, Fr Zappa was determined to press on and young priests and sisters continued to come from Europe. By 1900 there were fifteen priests in the Prefecture and Fr Zappa made maximum use of them. Since the departure of Fr Poirier for Europe in 1893 he was now in charge of the Prefecture. He set off, on foot, to the nearby towns, west and north of Asaba, and soon he had mission stations in Issele-Uku, Ibusa, Illah, Ogwuashi-Uku, Okpanam and Onicha-Olona. By 1896 he had established a mission in Agenebode, in the Afenmai District. And in 1897 there were three OLA Sisters in that same Agenebode. This town, on the banks of the Niger, was to become the centre from which the faith would spread throughout Afenmai. In 1904 Fr Eugene Strub, of Asaba fame, wrote home stating that “little by little, obstacles that were thought to be insurmountable were overcome. Progress once started never halted. “

In 1906 Msgr Zappa re-opened Lokoja and from there many outstations were established – Okene, Kabba, Oka and even Zaria. Zappa had his sights set on Ishan country for some time and Fr Clement Bannwarth opened a residential station in Ubiaja in 1908 while Fr Joseph Corbeau of immortal Ishan fame opened Okoni, close to Uromi, in l912.

It was later that he turned his attention to the southern banks of the Niger – this time on the creeks of the Niger Delta. Forcados was opened as a centre by Fr Georges Oilier in 1913 and Fr Luigi Cavagnera established the mission in Warri in 1917. Msgr Zappa died in Asaba in 1917. By his extraordinary zeal and tireless energy, by his diplomacy in dealing with the Royal Niger Company, the local chiefs and the people he loved so well, he was able to leave behind him a well-established, vibrant Church in at least three-quarters of the vast area entrusted to him.

Bishop Thomas Roderick, SMA. (1918-1933)

Bishop Thomas Broderick, SMA continued the policies of his predecessor. He ordained the first Nigerian priest in the person of Fr Paul Emechete in Asaba on 6th January, 1920. Later in 1926 he transferred the Seminary, established by Msgr Zappa in Ivianokpodi in the Agenebode area in 1907, to Asaba. Among the young seminarians were Pedro Martins, Anselm Ojefua, Stephen Umurie, Anthony Sanusi and Joseph Erameh. Bishop Broderick established a Training Centre for catechists in Ibusa in 1927 and in the adjoining compound

he established St Thomas’ Teacher’s Training College in 1928. This was a very significant move because it meant the Catholic Church was fully committed to education and the establishment of schools throughout Mid-West Nigeria, as it was then known. It was the first Secondary school throughout the Region and the rapid but solid expansion of the Catholic Faith was due in no small measure to the products of St Thomas’ that were soon to be found in schools in every town and village. So, when Bishop Broderick died in 1933, the Church had a well established form of evangelisation in the training of catechists and teachers.

Bishop Leo H. Taylor, SMA. (1934-1939)

In comparison with his predecessors (Msgr Zappa and Bishop Broderick) and his successor (Bishop P J Kelly), the Episcopacy of Bishop Taylor in the Vicariate of Western Nigeria, as it was officially called since 1911, was comparatively short. He returned to Lagos in 1939 as he had been appointed Archbishop of the Lagos jurisdiction. During his tenure of office in Asaba Bishop Taylor continued with the proven policies of his predecessors. However, greater emphasis was now being laid on the schools as tools of evangelisation. During his Episcopacy the numbers attending the Catholic primary schools increased from 6,300 in 1932 to 12,375 in 1939. The increase in the number of primary schools necessitated an increase in the number of trained teachers. So the enrolment in St Thomas’s, Ibusa increased from 16 in 1928 to 60 in 1939.

However, the increased attention given to education did not diminish the attention to normal pastoral care and the Bishop could be seen going along on his bicycle, travelling from station to station to administer the Sacrament of Confirmation. The most significant feature of his Episcopacy was the transfer of the Head-quarters of the Vicariate from Asaba to Benin City in 1938. Bishop Taylor did this because he felt that it was more appropriate and more convenient for administrative purposes to have the headquarters of the Vicariate close to the civil headquarters which was Benin City at that time.

III. BENIN CITY (1940-1973)

The first resident priest in Benin was Fr. William Lumley, SMA, later Msgr Lumley of Jos fame. He took up residence in 1928, Previous to that Benin was an outstation of Sapele. Bishop Patrick Joseph Kelly SMA was appointed Bishop as the successor to Bishop Taylor in 1940. His Episcopacy was a long one of thirty-three years, and a very fruitful one. There was progress on all fronts. Catechists were his top priority. He trained the catechists personally in his own compound. During the Confirmation visits he insisted on examining the candidates – hundreds of them – himself. He built up the indigenous Church. In 1940 there were three indigenous priests; in 1973 there were 50 and hundreds of seminarians and Sisters. Likewise the number of Catholic Schools continued to multiply throughout the Diocese. (The Vicariate of Asaba-Benin became the Diocese of Benin City in 1950). He established the first Secondary School, Immaculate Conception College, Benin and St Patrick’s, Asaba in the mid-Forties and he was the Proprietor of up to 40 secondary schools in 1972. But Bishop Kelly was above all a man of prayer. He was an SMA to the core and it was fitting that he should spend the later years of his long life at our Provincial Mother House in Cork City, Ireland. He died there on 18th August, 1991, at the age of 97.

MODERN TIMES

When Bishop Kelly retired in 1973 the Vicariate of Asaba-Benin which he inherited in 1940 had become the Diocese of Benin City (1950). Subsequently, Lokoja (1955), Warri (1964), Issele-Uku (1973), the Prefecture of Bomadi (1973), Auchi (2002) and Uromi (2006) were created. In 1994 the Ecclesiastical Province of Benin City was created with Archbishop Patrick E Ekpu as its Metropolitan. On the installation of His Grace, Bishop Anthony Gbuji preached the homily. Among other things he said: “We owe immense gratitude to the missionaries of the Society of African Missions and to the Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles. They planted and watered with untold sacrifices and courage the seed abundantly blessed by God which we now reap with great joy. To those of them now in our midst we express deep gratitude and may God grant eternal rest to those who have slept in the Lord.”

Today the SMA presence in the Province is confined to the SMA parish, Cable Point, Asaba and SMA House, Uromi, the former Tyrocinium, opened in 1957, with Fr. Matthew Walsh as Regional Superior.

Fr James Higgins SMA
St Patrick’s Parish
Cable Point, Asaba.
15th August, 2006

General Assembly 2007

A Wet Day for Papal Audience in Rome

A wet St Peter’s Square	Conventional sheltering
Fr Thaddeus Ogato improvising	More improvisation
I wonder if its still raining?	Frs J MGuillaume and C Cuenin keep dry
The Pope takes shelter too	Papal blessing in the rain

Re-election of Fr Kieran O’Reilly SMA
as Superior General of SMA on 28 April 2007

Delegates meet in chapel for period of discernment prior to the election of Superior General	Delegates meet in chapel for period of discernment prior to the election of Superior General
	Votes are cast during the election of Superior General
	White Smoke rises – the election has been successful
Mass in thanksgiving for the election – the Superior General is main concelebrant	Time for sharing a celebratory meal and for speeches

General Assembly 2007… More Pictures

	A working group in session during the General Assembly
	Time to pray is essential during the General Assembly
	Time for much needed recreation brings some delegates to the tennis court
	Reporting and writing and computers are elements of the General Assembly as Fr François is discovering
	Fathers Francis Patrikson, John Dunne and Mike Adrie exchange ideas during the tea-break

19th SMA General Assembly
in Pictures

16 April – 12 May 2007

Frs Jean-Pierre Frey (Strasbourg) and Damian Bresnahan (Ireland) at GA07

Delegates Frs CJ Antony (India), Daniel Cardot (France) & Michael Adrie (Ghana)

Fr Tom Higgins SMA

Funeral Homily – 3 February 2005

(Preached by Fr Fachtna O’Driscoll SMA, Provincial Superior)

Readings:
Wisdom 3: 1-9
Romans 12: 3-13
John 12: 23-28

1st February ushers in the Season of Spring. We notice a lengthening of the light at both ends of the day. That theme of light is carried on into the second day of the month, when we celebrate a mini-festival with lighted candles as we contemplate the Presentation of the child Jesus in the temple. 1st February is also the Feastday of St Brigid, secondary patron of Ireland. Tom Higgins’ theology and spirituality would have little truck with modern day, feminist inspired connections being made between a pagan goddess and a Christian saint, but that he should die on this particular day is not without some significance. Brigid consecrated her whole life to God, as a virgin; so did Tom. Brigid is renowned for her hospitality, almsgiving and care of the sick. These are themes running through the life of Fr Tom; at one point, as giver; at another, as receiver. He died peacefully early on Tuesday morning, in Blackrock Road, after a protracted illness.

Our first reading this afternoon is that reading from the Book of Wisdom that is regularly chosen for funeral liturgies. The souls of the virtuous are in the hands of God. It is appropriate for Tom’s funeral liturgy. In the reading, the afflictions of this life are seen as slight in contrast to the blessings that will surely follow in the life to come. God has put the virtuous to the test, like gold in the furnace, and they have not been found wanting. They who trust in him will understand the truth, those who are faithful will live with him in love; for grace and mercy await those he has chosen. Tom lived his life with great fidelity to the Lord; our faith convinces us that he has moved into new life and there has met mercy itself.

In the gospel, we are reminded that the grain of wheat must die if it is to lead to a rich harvest. New life is possible only when the old has died. Nature itself is a brilliant teacher in this regard. For the Christian, of course, we are not talking of just any kind of new life. We are talking about nothing less than new life in God’s very being. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is the guarantee of the hope we claim as Christians that one day we too will rise with him into everlasting life. This was the faith that inspired Tom Higgins to dedicate his life for over 60 years in missionary priesthood with the SMA. How lovely it was that we were able to celebrate with him the Diamond Jubilee of his ordination to priesthood, just six weeks ago. Tom’s was a life rich in blessing, but not without its pain also.

A native of Sligo town, Tom was born on July 8th, 1918 into a family of three boys and three girls. He completed his Primary education with the Marist Brothers in Sligo before going on to secondary school in Ballinafad and Wilton. From here he moved on to Cloughballymore, where he cherished the spiritual atmosphere and the great family spirit existing between the Staff and the students. He graduated from University College, Galway in 1941. His first mission appointment after ordination in 1944 was to Monrovia, Liberia. It is fitting that the present Archbishop of Monrovia, Michael Francis, who would have been ten years of age when Tom first reached those shores, had just arrived in our house for convalescence just a matter of days before Tom died.

Tom had a very significant missionary career in Liberia. He began as a teacher, was later a pastor, and later still an administrator. Tom seemed to possess many of the gifts outlined by St Paul in his letter to Romans in that passage we read here this afternoon – teacher, preacher, administrator. In each ministry he gave of his gifts freely; and he was never less than a thorough gentleman. He was very highly regarded by all his colleagues as he served as Regional Superior from 1953-64. In this particular ministry he became noted for the quality of his hospitality, something which St Paul reminds us we need to make our special care. He also had huge compassion for his confreres. During these years in Liberia, finances were never too plentiful and the church was finding it extremely difficult to make ends meet from the ordinary resources of the mission. Tom worked with the creative spirit of another confrere to establish a rubber plantation at Kakata to raise funds for the mission. The pioneering work in this regard was to survive up to the recent tragic war.

Unfortunately, ill-health, in the form of a very debilitating disease of both his eyes, was to force him to leave his beloved Liberia in 1970. There is no doubt that this experience was a defining one in Tom’s life. I am reminded of the comment of Thoreau – “as a young person we dream of building a bridge to the moon and sometime in mid-life we pick up the materials we’ve gathered and build a woodshed.”

Tom was to work for another nineteen years in pastoral ministry in the diocese of Hexham and Newcastle in Northern England. Poor eye-sight was to continue to plague him, and he was to develop other health complications including cancer. So he returned to work in this parish of Wilton for five years, before moving into full retirement in the Wilton community in 1994, where he lived contentedly until requiring a higher level of nursing care at the Blackrock Road community since 2002.

At the beginning of this homily reflection I focussed on the image of light. Light and sight are inextricably linked. Tom’s seeing of the physical world changed around 1970. I think it would be true to say that the way he viewed faith and the Church also changed around that time. Tom would say, of course, that it was the church that had changed; his view had remained constant throughout. However one judges that debate it is very true that Tom found it painfully difficult to come to terms with many of the changes, liturgical and otherwise, brought about by the Vatican Council and subsequently. He was never afraid to argue his point with great conviction. He did more than argue; he aligned himself with some of the traditional movements within the church, such as the movement for the restoration of the Latin Mass, and was a devoted supporter and participant until increasing frailty made it simply impossible for him to continue.

Throughout this period Tom always maintained his dignity. He did not cede his point easily but he always tried to dialogue with courtesy and respect. He remained, as always, a real gentleman. That’s why the second reading this afternoon, taken from the Mass for the feastday of St Brigid, rings true. St Paul tells us, “Do not let your love be a pretence, but sincerely prefer good to evil. Love each other as much as brothers should, and have a profound respect for each other.” Tom showed his love for his brothers by trying to get us to move back from what he regarded as the wrong way, and he did so with profound respect. He certainly worked for the Lord with untiring effort and great earnestness of spirit. And he certainly did not give up when trials came.

In the same reading each of us is urged not to exaggerate our real importance and to judge ourselves soberly by the standard of faith that has been given to us. Tom had no doubt that his cause was an important one: but he never exaggerated his personal importance and had a sober judgement of himself.

Our faith asserts that Tom is now participating in the heavenly liturgy, where arguments of style and language are no longer relevant. He is at peace in body, mind and spirit. Our prayer is that he will enjoy the fullness of God’s eternal peace.

Ar dheis lamh De go raibh a anam dilis.

Fr Tom Egan SMA

Funeral Homily – 5 May 2006

(Preached by Fr Fachtna O’Driscoll SMA, Provincial Superior at SMA Parish Church, Wilton, Cork)

Readings: Macc 12: 43-45
2 Peter 3: 8-14
Mt 11: 25-30

In his heyday, Fr Tom Egan was renowned for the eloquence of his after-dinner speeches or his words of gratitude at an SMA Promoters’ meeting. It was a pleasure to be treated to Tom’s choice of complimentary and affirmative phrases that were rarely understated. However, in his latter years, particularly since he joined the community at Blackrock Road, his was a quiet but contented presence. It is perhaps fitting then that he died on the Feast of two of Jesus’ less prominent apostles, Saints Philip and James. Tom died on Wednesday morning last at the South Infirmary Hospital after a relatively short illness. We gather here this afternoon to celebrate this funeral liturgy and pray for the repose of his soul.

This is the fifth occasion already this year that the Irish Province of the SMA is celebrating a funeral liturgy for one of our colleagues. Each funeral has its own individual stamp but all are reminders to us that life is not of our choosing and is outside our control. Our task is to accept the life that is given to us and at the end surrender it back to the God from where it all began. For Tom that life breath was first breathed over 80 years ago. We are truly thankful to God today for the richness of his 80 years. Our sadness at parting is no less real for the fact that Tom enjoyed a long life. His sisters and brother, nieces and nephews and extended family will miss his presence as will the members of the SMA. It was touching, over these last weeks particularly, to see the affection in which he was held by his extended family. But we are blessed that our Christian faith allows us to place his passing in a context that looks beyond this life. Jesus’ promise that we will enjoy life in God into eternity enables us to acknowledge the human loss but to recognise that our brother has now simply moved into a new phase of existence.

In our first reading this afternoon we read about the Maccabbeen clan. If there was one characteristic above all others that marked them out it was their total dedication to Yahweh, total dedication to Yahweh’s people and unswerving perseverance right to the end, in spite of suffering or danger. In the Book of Maccabees we find the first thought-through Old Testament theology of resurrection. Judas Maccabeus, by his collection for the sacrificial sin offering, attested to his belief in the resurrection. This was some years before Jesus came to confirm that those who die in the Lord are indeed raised to life with him. As the reading puts it, “for if he had not expected the fallen to rise again it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead”. Our faith guarantees that it is far from superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead. We do so in the sure faith knowledge that as Tom died with Christ in baptism, he will also imitate him in his resurrection.

It seems to me, from knowing a little of the life and character of Tom Egan, that our 2nd reading today, taken from the second letter of St Peter summarises the spirituality on which Tom based his whole life. In the Lord’s time-scale one day is equal to a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. In terms of Tom’s life, one day is equal to 80 years and 80 years is just like one day. Operating out of that perspective, then, it becomes incumbent on us to “live holy and saintly lives while we await the Day of God to come”. As St Peter puts it, “do your best to live lives without spot or stain so that he will find you at peace”. There is no doubt that Tom tried to do exactly this throughout his life, sometimes, perhaps, to a fault.

Our gospel passage reminds us that we have no claim on divine revelation. Whatever is revealed of the mystery of God is pure gift. “I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children”. Human intelligence – intellectual knowledge – is no gateway to understanding the mystery of the divine. Only the stance of solid faith opens us to the possibility of receiving whatever is gifted to us of the mystery of God. And this mystery reveals the extraordinary promise that when we come to the Lord with our burdens he will give us rest. How often must Tom have come with his worldly burdens before the gentle and humble heart of the Lord and found there that the burden shared had then become light.

Tom Egan was born in 1925 in Cloonacool, Tubbercurry, Co Sligo, under the shadow of the Ox mountains. He was the eldest in a family of two boys and three girls. He did his early secondary school studies at the diocesan minor seminary of St Nathy’s, Ballaghdereen. He completed these studies here in St Joseph’s, Wilton. From 1944 –’47 he completed a Bachelor’s Degree in philosophy and education between the universities of Cork and Galway. After four years of theology studies in Dromantine he was ordained priest in June 1951 at the Dominican church in Newry and then assigned to the missionary posting of Monrovia Vicariate, Liberia where he was to spend the next 13 years.

Tom did not always enjoy robust health so he must have found the harsh tropical climate of West Africa severe on his constitution. Nevertheless he persevered at the task and became a well established member of the team. The greater part of the thirteen years was spent as a teacher in St Patrick’s High School in the city of Monrovia. His good organisational and secretarial skills were also put to good use. Bishop Collins was glad to avail of these skills and he also recognised Tom’s gift for diplomacy. He sent him for some basic training to sharpen his diplomatic skills and Tom was to put such skills to excellent use not only in Liberia but very much so later in the promotion of SMA mission among our supporters here in Ireland.

It is this aspect of his career as a missionary that is best known. From 1964 to 1998, apart from a short stint at the Spiritual Year programme at Kilcolgan in Galway, Tom dedicated his life totally to the promotion of the Society among our benefactors. He spent three years of this programme attached to the house in Blackrock Road, where among his duties was preaching in churches throughout the West, a precursor to the Mission Awareness ministry of today. But it was his attachment and relationship to the SMA house in Wellington Road, Dublin that was to leave the major mark on his life. Here he gave almost thirty years establishing and cementing the Family Vocations Movement in the Leinster region. In fact, he became so identified with this house that one can scarcely think of the building without connecting it to Tom’s presence therein. It is a mark of how he was regarded in Dublin that a special memorial Mass will be celebrated in Rathmines church next week to enable his many friends to gather to pray for the repose of his soul. No doubt there will be great stories told and memories shared after that Mass.

The address ‘Wellington Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin’ conjures up images of opulence. But Tom’s living quarters in the SMA house were spartan in the extreme. Certainly no one could lay a charge against him of ostentatious living and expect that it would stick. His bedroom could barely fit a bed and table and from here Tom carried out much of his secretarial work. A colleague from those years recalled for me yesterday how even in times of sickness Tom would lie on the bed with his portable typewriter on his chest and type letters of esteem, condolence or comfort to whomsoever had a need at that time.

The key to his ability to generate so much support for SMA and esteem for its work includes the following salad of ingredients: sheer repetitive hard work; meticulous attention to detail; regular and sustained contact with benefactors; unashamed use of his wonderful innate gift of charm; interest shown in all happenings within the wider family, especially around exam times; attendance at hospitals and funerals; judicious and lengthy use of the technology invented by Mr Alexander Graham Bell. Holding all these ingredients together was an unfailing courtesy and respect shown at all times. We often speak of our benefactors being part of the extended family of SMA. There is no doubt that the members of the Family Vocations Movement in Leinster became a real extended family to Tom. Alexander Graham Bell is quoted as saying “the most successful men in the end are those whose success is the result of steady accretion”. Fr Tom Egan was certainly a living proof of the truth of that statement.

For many years Tom was the dean of the promotion team within the Province. He was respected and admired by his colleagues. This is where his eloquence and diplomacy were shown to good effect also. He had a quaint mannerism of beginning every statement with the preface ‘the point about it is’. Nothing seemed to give him more pleasure than to construct an ode of praise to a colleague or benefactor. A small word would never be employed where a big one could supply. They say that good ideas need landing gear as well as wings. It is probably true to say that Tom’s ‘landing gear’ was not quite as highly developed as his ‘wings’.

Tom has now landed very firmly in closer union with the Father. Many of those to whom he ministered here on earth will surely have been there to welcome him. Our prayer is that whatever purification may still be necessary will be quickly attended to. His life’s work has been accomplished and he can now rest in peace.

Ar dheis De go raibh a anam.

Fr Thomas Lindon SMA

Funeral Homily 28/12/2004

(Preached by Fr Fachtna O’Driscoll SMA, Provincial Superior)

Readings:
Isaiah 52: 7-10
1 John 1: 1-4
Matt 11: 25-30

There is something very poignant and sad about dying on Christmas Day. And, yet, there is something very uplifting in it also. To die in the hope of eternal life on the very day when we celebrate the coming down to earth as man of the very Son of God, the one in whom all our hopes of eternal life rest, the one who himself incarnated hope, is somehow a beautiful rounding off to a life lived in this unquenchable hope, and dedicated to spreading this same message of hope to the very ends of the earth. Fr Tommy Lindon passed away very peacefully at about 7pm on Christmas Day. His death concludes one stage of his existence. His death also brings to a closure a time of suffering and unease when the quality of his life was far from what one would wish. For a man of brilliant intellect these last few years must have been shockingly disfigured. And, yet, not least because of the loving care he received in St Theresa’s, he was gently released to meet his God when the time was right.

At death our Christian faith is a great solace. For Tommy’s family, his confreres in the SMA, and his many friends there is the assurance of faith that his life is changed, not ended. We have the assurance in our Gospel passage today, that Jesus provides rest, a rest that is eternal, for those who labour and are overburdened. There is no doubt that Tommy’s life has been laboured and overburdened these last few years. We give God thanks today that his labour is finally ended and he rests in peace. I particularly chose this gospel passage for Tommy’s funeral for that reason but for another reason too. We are told, “I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children”. Tommy was a very clever man, a man of vast learning; but I do not disparage his learning in any way when I suggest that it was not his learning that revealed to him this message of hope. In fact, it was because he refused to allow his learning to present a barrier to accepting this simple message of faith and hope that allowed him to live this reality in his own life and dedicate his life to communicating it to others. This gospel passage affirms that salvation is never earned, it is pure gift. The donor, not the recipient, is the focus here. A child can accept the message more readily than an adult because there are fewer walls of incredulity and scepticism to penetrate.

Tommy Lindon was born on 22^{nd June 1933 and from an early age discerned a call to missionary priesthood. Our second reading today, from the Prophet Isaiah, tells us “how beautiful on the mountains are the feet of one who brings good news, who heralds peace, brings happiness, proclaims salvation…….. for the Lord is consoling his people”. Tommy must have been impressed with such a vision because he chose to study for missionary priesthood in the SMA schools of Ballinafad and Wilton. Marked out as a bright student from the beginning it was no surprise that he was chosen to pursue further studies in Rome, after ordination in 1957. Because of young age he and some colleagues had their ordination to priesthood postponed for some months, which meant that unfortunately they were not ordained with their classmates to celebrate the centenary of the SMA in 1956.}

^{Even a quick glance at his CV in the booklet lets us see that he had an enormous variety of ministries throughout his life. Tommy spent eight very enjoyable years in pastoral ministry in the diocese of Ibadan, Nigeria from 1980-’88, but much of his life was given over to teaching and academic pursuits. It would, however, be a mistake to think that Tommy’s knowledge of the Lord remained on the intellectual level. He proclaimed a God who had intimately touched his own life. As that beautiful passage from St John that we read here puts it, something which has existed since the beginning, that we have heard, and we have seen with our own eyes; that we have watched and touched with our hands; the Word, who is life – this is our subject. That life was made visible; we saw it and we are giving testimony, telling you of the eternal life which was with the Father and has been made visible to us”. Tommy strove throughout his life to convey something of the experience of meeting that God, not just an intellectual knowledge of a God out there.}

^{Tommy had a very unique and individual sense of humour, a sharp wit that saw fun in events where others might be slower to see it quite in the same way. [I think Billy was very accurate last night when he described his sense of humour as whimsical. In fact, just this morning in my office I was led to make an interesting connection. I have on my desk one of these diaries that you tear away a page for each day with a little gem of wisdom printed for each day. For today, the gem of wisdom says: The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes. Somehow or other I think Tommy learned that lesson very early in life and never took anything or anybody for granted.]}

^{And humour is one of the three H’s that links Holiness to Humility. This humour manifested itself in that crackling smile when his face opened in glee and his body shook with a sustained chuckle. Whether he was in Rome, in Ibadan, in Dromantine, in Cambridge, on the Provincial Council, in London, in Liberia, in Sierra Leone, in Zambia or back here in St Theresa’s that same humour shone forth, bringing life and mirth to others. Tommy enjoyed a sing-song and a party get-together, and could always be relied on for a humorous party piece. In fact, it is nice to remember that his wit was one of the last faculties to leave him. Sr Rosalie recounts how some years ago when she was accompanying Tommy to hospital, being driven by Fr Paddy Barry, Tommy’s wit expressed itself out of the blue. Passing along the opposite quay to the Opera House Sr Rosalie wondered aloud what might be on at the theatre at that particular time; quick as a flash a hitherto silent Tommy replied from the back-seat, “the roof”. Tommy also enjoyed a game of tennis and during his years in Ibadan he was a very faithful participant in the weekly tennis game at the Regional house.}

^{Tommy’s career was both various and interesting. He had the opportunity to watch the scene at the very heart of the church when he was a priest student in Paris, and gained a Doctorate in Theology in Rome; as a teacher of theology during the changes brought about by the Vatican Council he witnessed and participated in many of these changes; he served in Nigeria at a time when that country was establishing itself as an independent country just emerging from decades of colonial control; he served in Liberia during its darkest days of civil war, and was forced to move with the seminary students and staff into the neighbouring country of Sierra Leone in order to continue the programme of training; he served on the Provincial Council of this Province during a period when the beginnings of the decline of vocations to the priesthood was becoming perceptible, and I think he was the initiator of the programmes of on-going formation by organising the early summer-schools at our Maynooth house for those on holiday from Africa. He followed up his stint on the Provincial Council by taking a Masters Degree in African studies. This, allied to his Doctorate, prepared him well to focus his future teaching career on Mission Studies. So, a wide and rich experience was his and he gave of his best in the different ministries.}

^{In these latter years when ill-health decreed that he could no longer serve on mission he returned to Ireland, first to care for his own sick sister, and then to be cared for himself at Blackrock Road. Here, while it is true that he received much, he never ceased being a giver either. Tommy was always a gentleman right to the end. He was easy to care about and to care for. He gifted others by allowing them to care for him without demur.}

^{They say the mind grows rich from what it receives, the heart from what it gives. Tommy’s mind undoubtedly received a vast amount in all those years of reading and study. But his heart also grew significantly because he was a generous giver.}

^{So now it is time to pray him home to the God who is the ultimate giver. We can be assured that God will not be found wanting to provide a place at the heavenly banquet for this gentle missionary priest, confrere, brother, uncle, relative and friend.}

^{Ar dheis lamh De go raibh a anam dilis.}

Fr Seán Kelly SMA

Funeral Homily – 28 April 2005

(Preached by Fr John Horgan SMA, Vice-Provincial Superior)

The unexpected death of Fr Seán last Sunday evening at his house in Lecarrow, Co Roscommon was a shock to his family, especially to his sister Theresa who was visiting with him for the weekend. It was a shock to his SMA family; to his parish family; to his large circle friends and acquaintances. It left us stunned, in complete darkness with all the lights gone out. We depended on our faith and God’s word to help us in our struggle with the trauma.

In today’s gospel Jesus asks to remain in his love; he assures us we will remain in his love by keeping his commandments. The love of Jesus for us is so great that he was willing to die for us. A missionary vocation is a life long commitment to helping others to be aware of that love; bringing to them the God News that God loves them.

As a young man Fr Seán committed himself to witness to that love of God for us by joining the African Missions the SMA. After completing his secular education to third level, his theological and spiritual formation he was ordained a priest of the Society of African Missions on the 21st December 1960 to go and preach the good news in Africa. When he died last Sunday he was in the 45th year of his priesthood.

Most of the first third of Fr Seán’s life as a missionary priest was spent in the archdiocese of Jos in Nigeria in education and pastoral work first as a teacher and later as a secondary school principal. He was immersed in the many and varied activities of a young vibrant, expanding church. The situation was very similar to the early Church of the first reading. Growth and expansion bring their own problems; problems demand meetings to find solutions.

So in the first reading we find the Church leaders at such a meeting, the Council of Jerusalem. They listen to Barnabas and Paul describing all the signs and wonders God had worked through them among the pagans as the young church expanded to embrace new converts not only from among the Jews but from among pagans as well.

On holidays many were enthralled as Fr Seán told of the wonders of life on the missions because he witnessed in his mission work the blessings and marvels of God.

Because Fr Seán’s health was a not robust he was given an appointment in Ireland in 1976. Indeed the next section of his life totalling 11 years was devoted to different assignments in the Promotion of the SMA in Ireland. Here again he used his talent for story telling as he recruited young men to be future SMAs, as he promoted the SMA magazine, the African Missionary or as he collected mission boxes, preaching in parishes, giving people an awareness of mission.

In 1987 he was assigned to the SMA Community here at Wilton to be the bursar and a member of the formation team. Our SMA students spent their first year in Wilton in those days. During this period he also assisted in the parish here in Wilton. I have been told that the Cork comedian, Billa Connell never missed the 6pm Saturday evening Mass when Fr Seán was the celebrant.

In 2000 after 13 years of work in Wilton, Fr Seán undertook ministry in his native diocese of Elphin. There, in the parish of Knockcroghery, he ministered happily for the past five years.

This brief summary of his life does not do justice to the colour and quality of the man. He related naturally to people and made lasting friendships easily. He always made a point of knowing the personal names of people; he never forgot them. He was loyal to his family, to the SMA and to his friends. He loved company, had a good sense of humour; was a great entertainer; he could tell stories with the best and his tales were tall but never tedious.

These social gifts helped him in the different appointments he held during his life. They helped him in his dealings with young people whether in the classroom, in vocations groups or parish groups; they helped him in promoting the SMA mission; they help him in parish work. He had qualities, which endeared him to people.

Fr Seán was a man of faith, a prayerful person, and a priest committed to his vocation. He was a man of courage and integrity in everything he did and said. He made no show of his holiness or closeness to God. But he was holy and close to God.

For me closeness to God is often visible in the way people accept the sufferings and crosses of life. Fr Seán had his share of these crosses. He had to forego his preference for a life of mission in Africa and accept a life of mission in Ireland because of his health.

In the last months of 2003 two of his sisters and a brother-in-law died within a period of six weeks. This was an emotionally tough time for Fr Seán as he coped with such family losses. Last year 2004 was a year of physical suffering and loss for Fr Seán. He spent three periods in Galway University Hospital. In February 2004 he had treatment for gallstones. In May 2004 he had treatment for stones in the kidney and in October he had prostate surgery. He bore all of this suffering without a murmur of complaint. And after a very short period of recuperation at our SMA house in Claregalway he resumed work in his parish.

In the second reading St Paul says his life is being poured out as a libation or offering. And as that life nears its end Paul feels gratitude and joy that he has run the good race; that he has kept the faith and that a great award awaits him. During the last two years as Fr Seán coped with his own health problems and the deaths of his sisters and brother-in-law he must have felt like St Paul that his own life was being poured out as a libation. God was asking him to sacrifice more and more.

Fr Seán has run the good race; he has kept the faith.
We pray Lord, that Fr Seán will meet with his deceased parents, brothers, sisters and all he ministered to in the kingdom where your missionaries receive the hundred-fold you promised to those who would leave everything even their very selves so that they might be your witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and even to the farthest bounds of the earth

Ar dheis Dé go raibh do anim dílis, a Sheáin.

Fr Robert Molloy SMA

Funeral Homily – 11 April 2005

(Preached by Fr Fachtna O’Driscoll SMA, Provincial Superior)

Readings:
Wisdom 7: 7-11
2 Peter 3: 8-14
John 6: 35-40

The beautifully solemn and dignified funeral ceremony of the late Pope John Paul II on Friday last was a reminder to all of us of the dignity of life, the dignity of death and the hope that Christians carry that death is not the end of dignity but the beginning of a new stage of greater dignity where life is lived in the greater fullness of God’s presence. Bob Molloy lived 92 years of life with great dignity. He died, as he lived, peacefully and quietly on the very morning that the leader of his church was buried, a church he served faithfully, diligently and with an admirable dignity all his life.

Mircea Eliade, the anthropologist, once said: “No community should botch its deaths!” What he means is that those who die should not be left go from our midst without us recognising what they have done for us. If so, the loss is ours. In the SMA we try to take care not to botch our deaths. Our elders carry the story of the community. Few have carried the story of the Irish Province of the Society of African Missions as well as Fr Bob Molloy. In a letter of congratulations for his Golden Jubilee in 1986, the then Superior General, Patrick Harrington, described Bob as “probably the best known, most respected and loved SMA among the Irish confreres”. Few would argue with that assessment. Tom Humphries wrote an article some time ago on the great Dublin player and manager, Kevin Heffernan, where he said: character is fate: all the rest is scenery. I believe that would apply equally well to Bob Molloy. He was a character, almost an institution, who impacted and influenced the lives of hundreds of SMAs in his almost 70 years of priesthood.

Our opening reading this afternoon esteems the value of Wisdom. Few in our Society had that gift of wisdom to the level of Bob Molloy. He was bright, intelligent, well read. But he was more than knowledgeable, he was wise. He carried his knowledge with a deep humility and modesty, almost to the point of self-abnegation. He never tried to impress his vast learning on others. One is reminded of the old Eskimo woman who when asked why the songs of her tribe were so short responded, “because we know so much”. Bob’s knowledge was not any ordinary knowledge. It was knowledge about God and the things of God. It was, ultimately, knowledge of God which cannot be learned in any book but only on one’s knees. Bob was a theologian: Faith seeking understanding. He sought first for his own sake. And then he sought to impart it to others. He did so in a very gentle manner.

In our second reading St Peter reminds us that God’s time is chronicled according to a different standard to ours. All we know is that he is patient with us. The Lord’s call may come suddenly, something like a thief in the night. Bob’s call was sudden but hardly like a thief because this day has been awaited now for some time. What is required of us is to live holy and saintly lives until the Lord does come. “Do your best to live lives without spot or stain so that he will find you at peace”. I think most people would characterise Bob’s life as holy and saintly. But we need to remind ourselves again that a holy and saintly life does not earn salvation. Salvation is never earned; it is God’s free gift. Bob too will receive it as free gift.

This is borne out again in our gospel today from John’s famous teaching on the Eucharist. “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I shall not turn him away.” This text would have been very familiar to Bob. He would most likely have taught it in scripture class and dogma class. But he learned it also through his own prayer and life experience. “It is my Father’s will that whoever sees the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and that I shall raise him up on the last day”. That was Bob’s personal belief and as an African missionary priest he must have longed to carry this belief to the peoples of Africa. Perhaps he did an even greater thing by dedicating his life to teaching those who would bring this message to Africa.

Born in Ballinrobe, Co Mayo in 1913, Bob was the last born of six boys and three girls. He schooled first at the local Christian Brothers. Witnessing a horrific accident to a young man impressed on Bob the uncertainty of life and so he decided to dedicate his life to priesthood. A happy congruence of economic hardship and positive impressions of a local SMA missionary, George McCormack, launched him in the direction of SMA. He began his studies in Wilton, which he found difficult as the staff was not always very congenial and his own shy manner made it difficult for him to mix easily with the many city students present there. He moved on to Clough and Dromantine, where he integrated more easily. His own reflections on these times, indeed on his entire career with the SMA, make for fascinating reading. They are candid and, as one might expect, extremely insightful. One interesting point he made was that he considered the formation was too focussed on formal prayer and routine to the detriment of enabling student priests to form an intimate, affective relationship with Christ that might sustain them through life. “Too little pondering of Christ in the heart” was his assessment of that formation culture.

After ordination in 1937 he was assigned to take further studies in Canon Law in Rome. This surprised him as he did not consider himself to be an exceptional student in Dromantine days. Cardinal Ratzinger spoke eloquently on Friday last of John Paul’s self-sacrifice in accepting the post of auxiliary bishop of Krakow at a time when he was most happy in the academic environment of the university. Bob’s self-sacrifice was in the other direction. He had been looking forward in 1937 to an appointment on mission to West Africa. He had even purchased a trunk for the travel. But when the appointment to Rome came he accepted it with immediate obedience. As he said, “nothing left now but to drink deep the canonical spring”. His ready acceptance of this appointment was to mean that he never did experience a missionary appointment to Africa. This must have been a huge disappointment but he accepted it with commendable resignation. Two short trips to Africa in the 1960s, where he was hugely impressed by the welcome he received from all the men, compensated somewhat for this loss.

His time in Rome was not an easy period. Studies were demanding and then the onset of war meant food etc became scarce. The entry of Mussolini into the war further compounded problems. Though gaining a Doctorate in Canon Law in 1940 he was asked, because of the restrictions on movement during the war, to remain on in Rome where he gained a second Doctorate, this time in Divinity, in 1942. The account of his train trip through war torn Europe up into Lisbon from where he subsequently took a seaplane to Ireland is another fascinating episode in his life. He arrived home in 1942, in poor health and generally strained. He was next appointed to the teaching staff in Dromantine.

Bob was to spend the next 27 years as a professor of various subjects in Dromantine. His health never recovered sufficiently to recommend a career in the tropics. But he was to impact the lives of more than 300 SMA priests plus countless others who left the seminary through his ever nimble and alert mind, infectious laughter and gentle humour. A piece to mark his Silver Jubilee of Ordination has this to say of his teaching style: “Though learned, he is not pedantic; and he enlivens the weightiest material by his powers of apt illustration, explosive wit and humour, and rare felicity of expression”. During this period, also, Bob was to make a huge contribution to the local church in Northern Ireland, as he acted as consultant to local bishops on theological and especially canonical matters.

In 1969, with the gradual closure of Dromantine as the seminary and the movement of the students to Maynooth, Bob was appointment to Blackrock Road as part of the secretariat in the Provincial’s department, with special responsibility to edit the Bulletin. This was the brainchild of the 1968 Assembly, which saw the need for renewal and updating of missionaries who had little chance to read the literature on the new theological currents consequent on the renewal of the 2^{nd Vatican Council. Over 13 years Bob was to produce 36 volumes of this Bulletin. He was unambiguous in his commitment to God’s Word and Mission, with a passion for truth and integrity. It was hugely appreciated by the men on the field – and by the students of the time too, I can assure you! Bob was a true wordsmith, producing up-to-date, relevant material in the most readable and easily digestible manner.}

^{In 1983 he began his retirement. He was to enjoy another 20 years of contented living among his confreres until increasing fragility necessitated his move to St Teresa’s for more regular nursing care. His presence here too was appreciated and he was held in great affection.}

^{Bob was humble, modest and self-effacing, at a great cost to himself. He was never overly self-assertive and his sensitive nature could be pained by domineering personalities with strong opinions who had little patience with those of a more tender temperament. But he will long live in the memory of all those who learned from his lectures and his writings. He was something special.}

^{Ni bheidh a leithead aris ann.}

^{Ar dheis lamh De go raibh a anam dilis.}

Fr Richard [Rickie] Devine SMA

Funeral Homily – Keash – 14/6/2005