Media priest and martyr

Today is the feast of a remarkable media-man whose martyrdom is even more remarkable, St Maximilian Kolbe OFMConv, born in Poland in 1894 and who died on this date in Auschwitz, the Nazi concentration camp in Poland.

An account of his martyrdom:

One day, a man in Father Kolbe's block had escaped. All of the men from thatblock were brought out into the hot sun and made to stand all day with no foodor drink. At the end of the day, the man that had escaped had not yet beenfound.

CommandantFritsch, the guard who was in charge of this group, told the men that ten woulddie in place of the the one that had escaped. The guard called out the names.One man, Polish Sergeant Francis Gajowniczek, begged to be spared because,worried about his family on the outside who would not survive without him whenhe finally got out.

Father Kolbe silently stepped forward and stood before Commandant Fritsch.

The commandant asked, "What does this Polish pig want?"

Father Kolbe pointed to the polish sergeant, saying, "I am a Catholic priestfrom Poland; I would like to take his place, because he has a wife andchildren."

The commandant stood silent for a moment, then allowed the sergeant to takehis place among the other men while Father Kolbe took his place. He was thensent to the starvation chamber. The secretary and interpreter for this bunkerwas so impressed by Father Kolbe's heroic actions that he kept an exact recordof his last days, more detailed than the job required.

Eachday the guards would remove the bodies of those who had died. The sounds ofscreaming and crying were not heard from the starvation bunker. Instead, thesounds of Father Kolbe leading the Rosary and singing hymns to the Immaculatawith the other prisoners in the bunker could be heard. While the guards wereaway, the secretary would go into the bunker to speak with and console theprisoners. When Father Kolbe could no longer speak from his hunger and lack ofenergy, he would whisper his prayers.

After two weeks, the cell had to be cleared out for more prisoners. Only fourprisoners were left, Father Kolbe was one of them. They injected a lethal doseof cabolic acid into each prisoner. Father Kolbe, the last prisoner left to bekilled, raised his arm to the guard. On August 14, 1941, the eve of the feast ofthe Assumption of Our Lady into Heaven, Father Kolbe was martyred. The next day, his body was cremated.

The saint was also a pioneer in the use of the mass media, expecially the press and radio, the latter then in its infancy. From the same website, St. Max, priest, martyr, saint:

Father Kolbe planned to start a printing house where information could be massproduced and sent to millions of people. However, he had only half of thenecessary funds. He trusted the Immaculata to help, praying that she wouldsupply them with the needed funds to complete the work and print theirpublications. During his prayer before a statue of the Blessed Mother, henoticed an envelope. On the envelope, it said, "For you, Immaculata." Inside,the exact amount needed to complete the project.

Father Kolbe and the other priests developed a monthly magazine with acirculation of over 1 million, and a daily newspaper with a circulation of230,000, as well as countless catechetical and devotional tracts. The friarsused the latest printing and administrative technologies to print and distributetheir publications.

Father Kolbe also started a radio station and planned to build a motionpicture studio. All of this was used to teach and spread the Catholic faith and to teach the whole world about the Church.

Saint Maximilian, who founded publishing houses in both Poland and Japan, where he worked for some years in the 1930s, is the patron saint of media communications. No doubt, he would be using the internet in the service of the Gospel and of Mary Immaculate if he were alive today.

There is a national shrine to the saint in Marytown, Illinois, USA.

Should 'commentators' at Mass get the death penalty?

Though I sometimes have a quick temper, most people find me reasonably gentle. Since childhood I’ve been strongly opposed to the use of the death penalty. However, I’m sometimes tempted to make an exception – for ‘commentators’ at Mass. I don’t know if other countries are as plagued with them as we are here in the Philippines. Before I go any further, I have to say that some of my best friends are and have been ‘commentators’.

During the funeral Mass of the late President Cory Aquino in Manila Cathedral I could hear a commentator – they usually seem to be women – telling people when to sit and when to stand. The vast majority of those present were adults and Catholics, many of them holding some of the highest positions in the land. One prominent Protestant, closely associated with Cory, was there, former President Fidel Ramos, who frequently attends Mass on such occasions and who, as president, was a most gracious host to Pope John Paul II in January 1995 when World Youth Day was held in Manila.


Commentators are normally kind and committed Catholics but, without being aware of it, they show disrespect to people by treating them as if they were pre-schoolers. We have had the new Mass for 40 years now, for goodness sake. I have often enough been upset by officious commentators who, before the priest can say ‘Let us proclaim the mystery of faith’, tell people to stand. (Here in the Philippines we stand after the Consecration. I would much prefer if everyone remained kneeling until the end of the Eucharistic Prayer.) I find that particularly ill-mannered, though ‘commentators’ are never intentionally so.

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) clearly defines the role of the commentator at Mass (105, b): The commentator, who provides the faithful, when appropriate, with brief explanations and commentaries with the purpose of introducing them to the celebration and preparing them to understand it better. The commentator's remarks must be meticulously prepared and clear though brief. In performing this function the commentator stands in an appropriate place facing the faithful, but not at the ambo.

No mention of telling people when to sit and stand nor is the presence of a commentator a requirement.

I’m not in charge of a parish and sometimes find myself celebrating Mass in a church or chapel where I am a visitor and have to live with things that really irritate me. One frequent introduction by commentators – again well-intentioned – is ‘Let us stand to welcome our celebrant Father Sean Coyle’. We don’t assemble to welcome the priest but to worship God by celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

I often hear them say, or worse still, hear the reader say ‘Let us stand to honour the Gospel’. Again, well meant and pious but not a part of the Mass and not the role of either the commentator or reader to say.

Photos taken in St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney, 19 July 2008, when Pope Benedict consecrated the new altar and celebrated Mass with the bishops of Australia with seminarians and novices participating.

Saint Cory Aquino?

Listening to and watching Father Catalino Arevalo SJ giving the homily at the funeral Mass of Cory Aquino yesterday I realized that he was speaking about a person whom he really knew, as he had been her spiritual adviser and that of the Aquino family for many years. It was clear that he saw her as a person who followed Jesus Christ closely and willingly, especially in her suffering.
Yet he never referred to her as a saint. Sometimes homilies at funerals become eulogies that paint individuals as saintly when everyone knows that they weren't. Father Arevalo wasn't 'canonizing' Cory but showing us how she had tried to live the Christian life in her private life and, especially, in her public life, how she saw herself as one called to truly serve the people of the Philippines. If I recall, he spoke of her 'vocation' to be a public servant. He was really reminding all of us what we are called to be.

There is so much cynicism about politicians, much of it deserved, and there is a stench of corruption in the Philippines today that is even worse than it was during the Marcos years. Mrs Aquino brought a rare integrity to public life.

Father Arevalo recalled a meeting between Cory and the late Cardinal Stephen Kim of Seoul, Korea, a revered figure who died earlier this year and who is featured in the current Misyon:

Fr. Arevalo recalled the meeting between President Aquino and South Korea’s
Stephen Cardinal Kim and Manila Archbishop Jaime L. Cardinal Sin which lasted for 45 minutes.

“When we on our way back, Cardinal Kim said ‘I know why the Lord trusted her
with power at this most difficult time because she is pure of heart,” Fr.
Arevalo said quoting the Korean prelate.

He said Cardinal Kim said “He has no desire for power even now she
reluctantly took it on.”

“She truly moves me by the purity of her spirit. God has given a great gift
to your people,” Fr. Arevalo quoted Korean Cardinal Kim. (Melo M. Acuna).

In today's Philippine Daily Inquirer Ma. Ceres P. Doyo writes her Human Face column under the title 'Sainthood for Cory'. She put into words some of my own thoughts as I listened to Father Arevalo. She mentions one former president - of Tanzania, not the Philippines - whose cause for canonization is being pushed by the bishops of his country, Julius Nyerere. Like Cory, he left behind a mixed political legacy but his simplicity and integrity were very clear.

There are other 20th century politicians whose cause for beatification has been introduced, Alcide De Gasperi of Italy and Robert Schuman of France who, along with Konrad Adenauer of Germany established the European Economic Community of six nations which has grown into the 25-nation European Union. Schuman had a very personal connection with three of the original six members: he was born a German citizen in Luxwmoburg and alter became prime minister of France. he greatlyadmired St Columban. After World War II they never wanted to see war again in Europe. Each was driven by his Catholic faith, as Cory and Julius Nyerere were. Indeed there were others.

St Thomas More, the English martyr, is the patron saint of politicians, statesmen and lawyers.

This is not really the time to be asking whether or not Cory Aquino should ever be formally recognised as a saint. The Church very wisely asks us to wait at least five years. But there is no doubt whatever that Cory Aquino's illness and death have brought to our attention a true person of faith, a person who lived her faith in Jesus Christ both in her private life and in her public life and who endured great suffering in both.

Every Filipino and everyone living in the Philippines with eyes to see and ears to hear can adapt and make Cardinal Kim's words their own: 'She truly moved me by the purity of her spirit. God has given a great gift to our people'.

Transfiguration death anniversaries

At the grave of Corporal Laurence Dowd, Royal Irish Regiment

Killed in action, Ypres/Ieper, Belgium, 6 August 1917

Larry Dowd was the brother of my maternal grandmother, from near Tara, County Meath, Ireland. He was 37 when he died. I located his grave in September 2001, when this photo was taken, the first relative to visit it.

Hiroshima, Japan, after the dropping of the first atmoic bomb, 6 August 1945

Hiroshima had a population of about 225,000 before the bombing. It is estimated that 66,000 died and 69,000 were injured. Many of the latter subsequently died from radiation.

Peace Park, Nagasaki, where the second atomic bomb was dropped on 9 August 1945

Nagasaki had 195,000 people before the bombing of whom an estimated 39,000 died and 25,000 were injured.

Pope Paul VI, died 6 August 1978

Pope Paul was the first pope to visit the Philippines, in November 1970, and took a very personal interest in the development of the Church in Mindanao.

May all of these rest in peace.

Homily at funeral of Columban Father Willie Spicer

Columban Father Willie Spicer, 1949-2009

A faithful missionary priest in Japan and Ireland

Today is the feast of St John Vianney, the patron of priests who died exactly 150 years ago. Recently we began the Year for Priests that Pope Benedict declared in his honour, a year when we are all called to pray for our priests and when priests themselves are called to be saints.

A week ago Father Willie Spicer, a Columban who died suddenly at the age of 59, was buried. I didn’t know him very well as he was in his first year in the seminary when I was in my last. He spent many years in Japan after his ordination in 1974 and I met him for the first time in decades two years ago when I was at home. At the time of his death he was the coordinator of our mission awareness programme in Ireland, a demanding job that involved visiting different parishes almost every weekend and the schools in those parishes on weekdays.

Fr Michael Scully, who gave the homily in Father Willie’s home town of Westport, County Mayo, was ordained almost 20 years before Father Willie. His homily highlights for me a number of precious and sacred things in the life of a priest: his vocation, friendship between priests and the mission of a priest to bring the hope of the resurrection into the lives of people. I

have often found that a funeral is a time when persons are very open to the word of God. Japan is a country where there are very few Catholics, fewer than one in 200 of the population, and where the conversion of an individual to the Catholic faith is a great cause for rejoicing. A funeral Mass which Father Willie celebrated was a moment of faith for a Japanese artist who had never heard of the resurrection.

Another Columban priest in Japan, Fr Joe Broderick, ordained two years after me, whom I hadn’t met for many years, told me when we finally did that he still used in funeral homilies words he heard me speak at my mother’s funeral in 1970. I can’t recall what I said and didn’t even recall that Father Joe had been there. We never know how the word of God will reverberate and how something that one person cannot recall becomes central to the life of another.

When I first read Father Scully’s homily I was moved to tears and felt so grateful to God for having called me to be a priest.

May Father Willie and all our deceased Columbans, and the priests who have influenced are lives who have now gone ahead, rest in peace and enjoy this Year of Priests in the eternity of heaven with St John Vianney.

I have highlighted some parts of the homily.

Homily at Willie Spicer’s funeral Mass – July 28 2009 at Westport Church

Fr Michael Scully

We are gathered here today to do homage to the memory of Father Willie Spicer whose sudden death has come as a shock to us all. And I take this opportunity to express my sincere sympathy to all Willie’s family – to his brothers Jim and Aidan and their families and his younger brother Brian – as well as to all his relatives and friends, and to all of you who have come far and near to be here. I want to also express my deepest sympathy to Dick Healy and his family. The Healy family were close friends of Willie, and his passing must have been especially poignant for them on what was to be a happy occasion of celebration. Willie was in Limerick to attend Dick Healy’s 70th birthday.

We are all here, each of us with our personal thoughts and memories. Depending on how close we were to Willie, and how well we knew him, our thoughts and feelings at the present moment probably cover a wide spectrum of memories and emotions. Willie’s brother Aidan shared a very special memory with me this morning at breakfast. He told me that Willie once told him that Cloonagh was the place where Willie ‘got his vocation’ – where he got his call to mission. This memory is so precious to Aidan that he took some of his children out there this morning after a visit to the family grave at Aghavale Cemetery. [Aidan told me that Cloonagh is situated between Aghavale Cemetery and Croagh Patrick].

I will not be so foolish as to try to determine what the thoughts and feelings of others may be. I can only speak for myself.

I have lost a friend – a close friend - a trusted friend – a friend to whom I would entrust my life unconditionally. Last Friday evening when I heard that Willie Spicer had died suddenly, I experienced a deep feeling of personal loss. It is hard to imagine life without him. Not that we met frequently in recent times – after all, he was in Ireland and I was in Japan until recently – but even at that distance we both knew that in time of need, one was there for the other.

On hearing of his death last Friday, the thought came to me, if I were asked to preach the homily at Willie’s Funeral Mass, what would I say? What would be appropriate on this sad occasion? While mulling over this for a while – I let my thoughts wander back over the years, especially over the last eight or nine years that Willie was in Japan.

Over that period of eight or nine years Willie and I enjoyed a game of golf together on a regular basis even though we lived quite far apart. Willie was pastor at the Church in Chigasaki City in the Diocese of Yokohama; I was assigned to a Church in the Archdiocese of Tokyo about 80 miles away from where Willie lived. Sometimes before our game of golf I would stay overnight at Willie’s house.

On one of those occasions I noticed a painting which I had not seen before on the wall of his living-room. So, I asked him where he got the painting. ‘There is a story behind that’ was his answer. I would like to tell that story as Willie told it too me. These are his words: ‘About a year ago I did a funeral Mass here in Chigasaki Church. And, as usual, during the homily I emphasized that death was not the end of everything; and then went on to talk of Christian hope in the resurrection of the dead’. At this point, Willie paused and turned towards me: ‘I think it is meaningless’ he said, ‘to preach a homily at a wake or funeral Mass if we don’t make some mention of the resurrection of Christ and our own hope in the resurrection. Isn’t that what our Christian faith is all about? It’s because of that faith that we are on mission!’

Those words of Willie were for my benefit, but, needless to say, I was in complete agreement with what he said. However, Willie’s story did not end there. ‘You know’, he said ‘after that funeral Mass an elderly man approached me and said to me “Today was the first time I ever heard a talk like the talk you gave at the Mass. Until now, I had never heard of the resurrection of the dead – and somehow, it makes a lot of sense to me. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to hear that homily. If I had a chance I’d like to study the Catholic faith. Do you know if there’s a Catholic Church close to where I live?” and Willie continued, ‘That was about a year ago – something that I did not know at that time was that that man was an artist who lived about a hundred miles away. That painting came from him to me as an expression of thanks – thanks for my homily at the funeral Mass, but also as an expression of profound gratitude for the fact that he was studying the Catholic faith, and in hoping to be baptized in the not too distant future in a church close to where he lives’.

I have told this story because I believe that if Willie Spicer had a chance to speak to us today, he would say to us: ‘It’s all right to feel sad and to grieve on this occasion. I would feel the same way if I were in your place. But, don’t be carried away by sadness and grief. Today’s sadness and grief cannot compare with the joy and the happiness and the glory that will be ours if we but believe that the God who loves us, loves us so much that He gave His only Son for us’.

In this Mass as we move on to the Liturgy of the Eucharist – that’s the Liturgy of Thanksgiving, let us thank God for the gift that Willie Spicer was to each one of us, and for the many graces and blessings God has given to so many people through Willie’s dedication to the various missions entrusted to him.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis, may his faithful soul be at the right hand of God.

50th birthday of a 'St John Vianney' bishop

St John Baptist Mary Vianney, 1786-1859

Congratulations to Bishop Gerardo A. Alminaza, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Jaro, Philippines, who turns 50 today and who also celebrates the first anniversary of his consecration as a bishop in Bacolod Cathedral. Bishop Gerry, as he is known to his many friends, feels especially graced by God in that he was born on the 100th anniversary of the death of St John Baptist Mary Vianney, the patron saint of priests in whose honour Pope Benedict has declared a Year of Priests.

The bishop grew up in a Columban parish in Negros Occidental and has always been a great friend of the Columbans.

We featured Bishop Alminaza in the November-December 2008 issue of Misyon.

Ad multos annos, may you have many more years, Bishop Gerry!

Cathedral of San Sebastian, Bacolod City, Philippines

Cory Aquino, RIP

Maria Corazon 'Cory' Cojuangco Aquino

25 January 1933 – 1 August 2009

President Aquino of the Republic of the Philippines

25 February 1986 - 30 June 1982

With the late Bishop Antonio Y. Fortich of Bacolod

Cory Aquino was a woman who lived her Catholic faith with integrity as a wife, widow, mother, president and citizen. Our eternal flame, our Cory, as the Philippine Daily Inquirer describes her in today's editorial, brought truth and decency back into public life in the Philippines. Sadly, those qualities have largely disappeared again.

As we say in Irish, Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h-anam uasal, 'May her noble soul be at the right hand of God'.