Who are the Columbans?
The Columbans are a missionary society (not a religious order) of priests who work in cooperation with Columban Sisters, associate priests and lay people in 15 countries: Australia/New Zealand, Brazil, Britain, Chile, China, Fiji, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Taiwan and the United States.
The Constitutions and Directory of the Society states:
St
Columban’s Mission Society is an exclusively missionary Society sent by
the Church "to the nations", to proclaim and witness to the good news
in Jesus Christ of the full Christian liberation and reconciliation of
all peoples.
Crossing boundaries of country, language and culture, the Society has as its specific objectives:
- to establish the Church among peoples to whom the gospel has not been preached;
- to help Churches mature until they are able to evangelise their own and other peoples;
- to promote dialogue between Christians and those of other religious traditions;
- to facilitate interchange between local Churches, especially those from which the Columbans come and those to which they are sent;
- to foster in all Churches an awareness of their mission.
The Columbans specifically approach their work from a standpoint of solidarity with the poor and the integrity of creation. This is an option taken because the poor are unjustly marginalised. Basically solidarity with the poor means that, regardless of the particular context of the work which the Columbans do, they recognise the moral challenge of worldwide and local poverty. This recognition of the impact of poverty means that all the work the Columbans may undertake is evaluated in terms of what effect it has on the poor. It means supporting the struggle of the poor for real participation and against injustice. Ultimately it is to strive to be poor in the Spirit, to be, like Jesus, thirsting for God’s justice. As missionaries, Columbans are called to be deeply involved in the lives of others and in the service of the Kingdom. They resonate with the words of Jesus, ‘He has sent me to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, and to the blind new sight, to set the downtrodden free and to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour’. (Lk 4:18)
Within this framework, the Columbans often find themselves in situations where the people can be suffering great injustices. They believe that the Church in our time must challenge the scandals of structural poverty (poverty caused by the way governments and institutions function) and spiralling violence and that such challenges are basic to what the gospel demands of Christians. The Columbans see this concern for justice, peace and creation as central to their special work.
