Columban missionary Fr Michael Sinnott set up the Hangop Kabataan (The Children’s Shelter) foundation for children with special needs in the Philippines in 1998. In October 2009 he was kidnapped by six extremists and held for 31 days.
Climate activist Dr Lorna Gold commends student journalists for their willingness to write about climate change ahead of the first climate strike at Dalgan Park, Co. Meath.
“He was a very human man who sought to live out his Christian vocation as a monk in a radical way. He walked a tightrope between being an outsider and yet having to operate within power structures – a balancing act which he did not always manage to negotiate successfully.”
“Today, Columban missionaries are at the forefront of teaching about reconciliation and justice, caring for the earth, our common home, and pointing out how the poorest peoples of the world suffer most from the throwaway culture of greed and waste.”
“The Columban tradition has been one that embraces a unified mission of preaching the name of Jesus, caring for the poor and addressing the root causes of poverty and damage to God’s creation.”
“It is so shameful that this horrific death took place here in Ireland of a young vibrant young woman out walking and with a very bright future ahead of her. We ask for forgiveness from the Filipino people.”
The Far East magazine is holding a competition for young journalists which invites students (aged 15-18 inclusive) to write an article or make a video report on the topic: ‘Migrants Are Our Neighbours’.
The Columbans were “our heroes and we looked up to them, we admired their courage, and the way in which they risked everything for the Gospel of Christ" - Archbishop Michael Neary of Tuam.
Prize will be presented to Irish Columban missionary on behalf of the Preda Foundation on 4 May in the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt in Germany.
All seven had the opportunity to flee, but chose to remain with their flock – it is for this reason that they are considered martyrs by the Church.
One hundred years ago, on 10 October 1916, the Bishops of Ireland gave their blessing to a new venture known as the Maynooth Mission to China. It became known as the Society of St Columban on 29 June 1918.
Fr Dan Fitzgerald was one of the oldest surviving Columbans and a direct link to the founders of the Society. He worked at one stage as secretary to Bishop Edward Galvin in China.
Missionary priests who left over celibacy tell their stories in television documentary which was directed by the wife of one of the 13 ex priests interviewed.
Fr Dan Fitzgerald returned home to Nenagh in 1989 after serving in the Philippines during World War II and later in the diocese of Hanyang in China.
Tropical cyclone claims the lives of 42 people and damages parishes and schools and other infrastructure.
Fr Dan Fitzgerald, who will celebrate the 75th anniversary of his ordination in December, served six years in China with Bishop Edward Galvin.
