This year 2019, we honor the Columban Missionaries who are celebrating their Diamond, Golden and Silver jubilees. May God grant them blessings of good health, peace and joy in their life of service.
DIAMOND JUBILARIAN
Fr. Kevin McHugh, from Antrim, Northern Ireland, has been in the Philippines since 1960. He spent many years in Mindanao, much of that time in parishes in Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur. He learned to speak Cebuano and Meranao. In recent years, he has been working in Malate Parish, Manila and has learned to speak Tagalog as well. He has devoted much of his energy and time in making the liturgical participation come alive in the Christian communities.
GOLDEN JUBILARIANS
Fr. Damien McKenna was born in Armagh, Northern Ireland. He has been a missionary in the Philippines since 1969 and has been assigned to different parishes in Mindanao for the past 50 years. He is also a philanthropist who has provided children with academic scholarships. He is currently living in Pagadian.
Fr. Dominic Nolan, from Melbourne, Australia, has been working in the Philippines most of the time since his ordination to priesthood in 1969. He was assigned to parishes in the Diocese of Iba, Zambales. His ministries include raising mission awareness, giving lectures on Scripture, life and prayer. He is a co-founder of the Center for Ecozoic Living and Learning (CELL), a place where permaculture, sustainable living and zero waste disposal are being demonstrated and practiced.
SILVER JUBILARIANS
Fr. Enrique Escobar, from Chiclayo, Peru, first came to the Philippines as an Associate Priest of the Columban Society and was assigned in Malate parish while learning two languages, English and Tagalog, at the same time. In 2001, he became a Columban Priest. Presently, he is assigned to the Church of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, Barra, Opol, Cagayan de Oro. Prior to his assignment in Mindanao, he studied Cebuano in Davao.
Fr. Paul Glynn, from Cork, Ireland, first arrived in the Philippines as a seminarian during his First Mission Assignment (FMA) in 1990 and was assigned in Morong, Rizal. After his ordination in 1994, he returned to the Philippines and for many years had lived among Muslims in Mindanao spending most of that time working for better relations between Christians and Muslims. In 2016, he became the Regional Director of the Columban Society in the Philippines. He speaks fluent Cebuano, Meranao and Tagalog.
We thank and praise God for these Golden Jubilarians who were once assigned in the Philippines for many years and are now in Ireland:
¬ Fr Donal Hogan
¬ Fr Sean McDonagh
¬ Fr Joseph McDonnell
¬ Fr Colin McLean
¬ Fr Bernard Mulkerins
¬ Fr Peter O’Neill