St. Columban Missionary Society
The Missionary Society of St. Columban ( Latin: Societas S. Columbani pro missionibus ad Exteros ; English Missionary Society of St. Columban ; Order abbreviation : SSCME ) is a missionary, Roman-Catholic society of apostolic life of diocesan priests . The Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of St. Columban is the associated community of sisters. Both communities are named after Saint Columban of Luxeuil .
history
The community was founded in the period from 1916 to 1918 under the name Maynooth Mission to China , then from 1917 under its current name in Galway , Ireland by the diocesan priests John Blowick and Edward Galvin , with the aim of the China mission. This process was unique up to then, as such objectives were realized by religious orders up to this point . In 1920 the first group of 11 community missionaries reached Shanghai and joined Galvin who was in Hanyang . In the years that followed, the community's activities expanded to include other countries as community priests in England , the United States , Australia, and New Zealand served in their respective Irish diaspores, promoting support for the community's goals. There were also attempts to gain a foothold in Argentina, but this was abandoned after a few years.
Soon after the start of the China Mission, John Blowick and Frances Moloney founded a community of sisters with the Missionary Sisters of St. Columban in 1924 . On June 5, 1925, the communities were recognized by the Holy See .
After initially only missionary activities were planned in China, the missionary activities expanded to the Philippines (1929), Korea (1933), Burma (1936) and finally Japan (1948).
When mainland China was closed to missionary work in the 1950s , from 1951 people turned to Latin America and worked in Peru and Chile , and later also in Fiji . Over the next few decades, members of the fellowship were posted to Pakistan , Taiwan , Brazil , Jamaica and Belize (since 1986). Because there was a lack of new members of the Order, several missions had to be terminated in the meantime, namely those in Jamaica, Brazil and Belize (1996).
In 2008 the Generalate was relocated from Dublin , where it had been based since it was founded ninety years ago, to Hong Kong . This step was taken to better meet the needs of the mission today. Brendan O'Sullivan has been the Order's Superior General since 2000 .
The Mission Society Today
According to the Annuario Pontificio of 2017, the community now has 429 members (including 390 priests) who operate in 28 branches. In English-speaking countries the missionaries are commonly called "Columban fathers".
literature
- William E. Barrett : The Red Lacquered Gate. The story of Bishop Galvin, co-founder of the Columban Fathers . Sheed & Ward, New York 1967.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ History of the Society , accessed May 31, 2019.
- ↑ Union of International Associations (ed.): World guide to religious and spiritual organizations . Edition 1996. Saur, Munich, p. 152.
- ↑ a b Article: The Generalate of Missionaries of Saint Columban Moves from Dublin to Hong Kong May 14, 2008 Ordered online on May 14, 2008
- ↑ The Christian Herald , Belize City, May 2018 edition, p. 4.
- ↑ Annuario Pontificio, 2017 edition, p. 1456.