Valuing the stories of missionaries

BG Franklin D. Merrill passes out gift to Kachin villagers in mid-March 1944 as Fr James Stuart (in hat) looks on. Inset Fr James Stuart

Recently my attention was drawn to an article by Dr Carmel Gallagher, which was published in the Irish Times and on the Association of Catholic Priests website. Given the amount of negative publicity given to the Catholic Church, some of it deserved, it was refreshing and heartening to read a positive assessment of the contribution made by Irish Missionaries from the mid-20^th century. She laments the fact that these stories are often overlooked and so the valuable lessons that could be learned from the experience and perspective of missionaries is being missed to the detriment, she suggests, of contemporary Irish Society and the Catholic Church.  

Dr Carmel reflects on how the experience of entering a culture not your own fostered in missionaries an ability to work closely with and learn from local people. Often these people were poor, vulnerable and without a voice. The missionaries, she states, “brought a strong social justice focus, a holistic approach, and theological openness” that was rooted in gospel values. These were linked to a capacity to change and adapt with new challenges, experiences and insights. Often working in difficult situations, she reflects on the fortitude, heroism and selflessness shown by missionaries but also on the joy that was part of their spirituality, a spirituality that was nurtured by their relationship with communities of poor people.  

One of my Kiwi companions noted that what was said in this article about Irish missionaries could equally apply to those from New Zealand. 

It is our practice at morning mass here to tell a little of the stories of the Columbans whose anniversaries fall on that day. The accounts of their lives given in the book of our dead called “Those who Journeyed with Us”, are generally brief. But at times a sense comes though of many of the features of missionary life that Dr Carmel identified.

Among the anniversaries remembered this past week was that of James Stuart (August 11) who was awarded medals by both the British and the Americans for the work he did saving the lives of refugees and airmen during WWII in Burma. On one occasion Stuart led a group of 241 refugees – mostly women, children and old men – on a 21-day trek through unfamiliar forests and swamps, braving incessant rain, starvation, and the Japanese army, never far away. On another occasion, together with Fr Denis McAlindon, he recruited porters and elephants to escort refugees to a landing strip from where they could be flown to India. On his return from trips to India, he was constantly in fear of arrest because of his work protecting refugees.

There was the story of Bede Cleary (August 13) who was assigned to Japan in 1952 and spent the next 53 years on mission there, happy, enthusiastic and committed.  On the same day we remembered John O’Leary who went to China in 1924 but by 1927 was dead aged just 33. There is a note about the grief that his death brought to Bishop Galvin and his colleagues in China.

Patrick McMahon, remembered on August 14 was one of many Columbans, who during the war years 1939 -1945, served as army chaplains. Paddy went out under fire in an ambulance to rescue a Canadian soldier. On the return journey, the ambulance was hit. All on board were killed. On August 16 we remembered James Kielt, who worked for many years in formation and administration. He became the Superior General of the Columbans in 1962. After his term in office, he rejoined the rank and file of Columbans, as is the norm in our society, doing retreat work in the USA and pastoral work in Manila.  

Fr Pat O’Shea works and lives in Lower Hutt, Aotearoa/New Zealand