Mar 19, 2026
Our own Fr Alan Neville MSC has been in touch from Rumbek, South Sudan, with a special message for our mission friends and benefactors here in the Irish Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart.
Last summer, our mission friends here helped us to raise funds to support Fr Alan and the team at the Catholic University of South Sudan in Rumbek in their untiring efforts to support education, particularly for young women, in the region. In a country that has suffered so greatly, young people, especially young women, need to work extremely hard for their education, yet the benefits will help to build a brighter and stronger future for the next generation in Rumbek and beyond.
“This is a message of thanks to everybody who has been so generous in supporting the Mission Support Centre appeal last year for the Catholic University here,” says Fr Alan. “As you can see in the background, we are currently digging the foundations for a new teacher education block. Education here has a long way to go, there have been many decades of under-investment during the time of the Sudan government, and now the people are working very hard to build up primary and secondary education, and here we are working too to train secondary school teachers so they can go back to their communities and they can really lift up the young people they have there to help them to build their country.”
We join our voices with Fr Alan’s in thanking you all for your generosity and your solidarity, and we look forward to hearing more from the university as the progress continues.
Read more about Fr Alan’s ministry in South Sudan
Mar 11, 2026
While we are now well into spring, time, distance, and technical difficulties mean that we have just received these wonderful Christmas pictures from our MSC brothers in Ecuador, and they are a joy to see at any time of year!
MSCs have been ministering in Ecuador for almost 30 years, since 1998. Currently, Fr Marcelo Campoverde and Fr Jose Baak are working across two mission areas in the parishes of San Francisco de Asís and San Juan Evangelista, ministering to more than 30,000 people across over 50 communities. These indigenous communities are extremely poor and live in very isolated rural locations, and our MSCs work to support them through many and varied challenges including malnutrition (especially in children), poor educational and employment opportunities, and the difficulties of living in remote areas with harsh desert climate.
In recent years, our mission friends and benefactors here in the Irish Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart have been greatly compassionate in their support of our mission in Ecuador, raising funds for a new parish kitchen, repairs to the church, pastoral centre, and parish house, and food baskets for hungry families.
“I send warm greetings from Ecuador,” writes Fr Marcelo, who himself comes from an indigenous background. “It may have been a long time, but I wanted to share with you all some of the activities we’ve had during Christmas, as you are such generous supporters of our parish.”
“Now we are in another beautiful season, and I wish you a blessed Lent.”
All images were kindly sent from our Ecuador mission by Fr Marcelo Campoverde MSC.
Mar 5, 2026
It’s always a joy to share updates from the MSC Centre for the Poor in the Philippines, where sustainability and hope are at the heart of everything they do.
One of the current programmes running at the centre focuses on urban gardening, growing vegetables to supplement a nutritious diet in people’s home in a city environment. “With limited space and increasing awareness about sustainability, health, and food security, more people are turning balconies, rooftops, backyards, and even windowsills into productive green spaces,” the Centre shared on a post on their Facebook page.
The outreach programme promotes the growth of fresh, healthy food for a sustainable source of nutrition, while also saving money, encouraging physical and mental wellbeing, and building a sense of community in busy urban spaces.
“Urban vegetable gardening proves that you don’t need a large plot of land to grow your own food. Whether you have a single pot on a fire escape or a thriving rooftop garden, every little bit counts. It’s a step toward more sustainable living, better nutrition, and stronger communities—all while adding a little green to the gray of city life,” says the CFTP community, encouraging all those interested to contact them for further information and support.
Urban gardening at the MSC Centre for the Poor in the Philippines. (Image: via @CenterFTPoorMSC on Facebook.)
The community at the MSC Centre for the Poor welcomed the new year with a “meaningful and grace-filled” retreat focusing on Spirituality of the Heart, with particular emphasis on meditation. The programme was led by Fr Richie Gomez MSC, “creating a space of shared reflection, silence, and attentive listening”.
The team at the MSC Centre for the Poor in the Philippines began 2026 with a wellness retreat led by Fr Richie Gomez MSC. (Image via @CenterFTPoorMSC on Facebook.)
Over the course of three days, participants reflected on the heart “as a sacred place of encounter, healing, and commitment,” a reminder that “true spirituality begins within and flows outward into our mission, relationships, and daily service.”
“Through moments of stillness, reflection, and guided meditation, participants were encouraged to listen attentively to the movements of the heart,” said a post on the Centre’s Facebook page. “We were reminded that true spirituality is not merely about doing more, but about being present—allowing God’s love to gently transform our thoughts, emotions, and actions.”
“When we pray, reflect, and listen as one, our hearts become more attuned to wisdom, clarity, and peace,” posted the MSC Centre for the Poor.
January ended with a planning session for the year ahead, with Fr Richie Gomez and Mam Joy Bungabong leading the community in a discussion about different programmes and initiatives to take place throughout the year ahead. “With renewed clarity and shared direction, we look forward to a year filled with meaningful service, strengthened collaboration, and a deeper commitment to our mission for the poor and the communities we accompany,” shared the Centre’s Facebook page.
We have no doubt that the year ahead will be a fruitful and enriching one for all involved, with every blessing to the CFTP community in the Philippines for a positive and powerful 2026!
Images via the Facebook page for the Center for the Poor – MSC.
Feb 26, 2026
This month, we’re looking back at an issue of the MSC Message from 20 years ago, in 2006.
Blessings from the Sacred Heart Church
The newsletter welcomed newly appointed parish priest at the time, our very own Fr John Fitzgerald MSC, who has come full circle and is now parish priest at the Sacred Heart again, 20 years later! He was pictured with another familiar face here on the Western Road, former Missions Office Director Fr Michael O’Connell MSC, as they placed a box of benefactors’ petitions on the altar for the 2006 Novena to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.
Direct from the MSC Mission Fields
In a page dedicated to stories from the MSC Mission Fields, we read about MSCs Fr Vinnie Screene and Fr Adrian McHugh, who were ministering in Venezuela and South Africa respectively.
“Fr. Vinnie Screene, msc – a native of Skehanagh, Co. Galway – is seen here with volunteer helpers in one of our Soup Kitchens in Maracaibo, Venezuela.”
“Whilst on holiday in Ireland recently Fr. Vinnie told us that one of his big tasks on his return to Maracaibo would be assisting poor families with the cost of school books. MSCs regard education as the foundation to enable poor people to better themselves. Distribution of food parcels to sustain poor families is a regular part of missionary work.”
Fr Adrian McHugh, from Swinford, Co. Mayo, was pictured with a group of very vulnerable children receiving warm blankets in Musina, South Africa.
“Whilst South Africa is known for its blistering heat, the temperature can drop well below zero during the winter. The cold added to poor diet and nutrition along with bad housing creates great hardship especially for children and old people. At St. Martin’s School vegetables and maize are cooked in large pots in the yard to provide a nutritious meal for children. Fr. Adrian is now planning a Drop-In Centre for AIDS sufferers and their families.
AIDS is a huge problem. Africa has 10% of the world’s population but 90% of AIDS sufferers.”
Prayers & Reflections
Finally, the MSC Message also featured some particularly lovely prayers and reflections that stand the test of time, and are equally powerful today.
One, from William Penn, speaks of the value of kindness: “I expect to pass through life once. If therefore there is any kindness I can do to any fellow human being, let me do to any fellow human being, let me do it now, as I shall not pass this way again.”
Another, from St Therese of Lisieux, is especially beautiful for this time of year, as we welcome Spring:
“Happiness – people search for it
in vain: it’s not on earthly ground;
With me, it’s quite the opposite –
it’s in my heart that joy is found.
This joy – don’t think it comes and
goes:
Coming to me, it came to stay.
Delighting like a fresh spring rose
it smiles upon me every day.”
Twenty years on, tradition – and the heart of our mission – is still going strong. We’re looking forward to our 2026 Novenas to the Sacred Heart and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart later in the year, while our ministry in Venezuela and South Africa continues, with our MSCs on each mission ministering to the changing needs of local communities in today’s society.
Feb 17, 2026
As we settle into the new year, we’re sharing news of one of our latest mission projects, which will fund solar panels for a very poor mission station in Cameroon.
Solar panels will provide safe, reliable electricity for this very remote parish in the Equatorial forest in Bengbis, Cameroon
The parish of Our Lady of the Assumption was founded in Bengbis, Cameroon, in 1937. It is the third oldest parish in the Diocese of Sangmelima, and is extremely isolated, situated in the heart of the Equatorial forest. Its population is made up of four groups: the Yekombo, the Yetchang, the Maka, and the Pygmies in the Dja canton.
In this extremely rural community, the electrical system is powered by a generator that is not sufficient to meet the needs of the entire area. This means that the town constantly struggles with low voltage that is insufficient to reliably power lighting, the community’s large appliances, and the operation of the local well, which provides drinking water. Most notably, the parish medical centre is affected dreadfully by these lapses in power, which is highly detrimental to its vital work in serving local regions. “When the power fails because of a lack of generator fuel or sustainable power, critical services in the clinic suffer,” writes parish priest Fr Gadam Dieudonné Valentin MSC. In addition, the location of the parish means that it is so far from nearby towns, a regular and sustainable supply of fuel can never be assured, adding to the unreliability of the electricity supply.
“Faced with this critical and urgent situation, it is wise, sustainable, and imperative, to resort to alternative means of electrification, such as solar panels,” writes Fr Gadam. Coming in a cost of just under €10,000, these solar panels will provide a reliable and sustainable supply of electricity to the area. This is vital to the efficient running of the medical centre and the provision of good quality drinking water to the local community, as well as the general facilitation of a dependable and functional electrical supply for the region.
Solar panels will be invaluable for this very remote community, ensuring the provision of safe, clean drinking water and keeping a steady supply of electricity to the local medical centre
Thanks to the loyal support of our mission friends and benefactors here in the Irish Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, we are glad to be able to help our MSC brothers in the Cameroon with funding for the solar panels, which will be hugely benefit the quality of life of communities in the region. As always, we thank you for your continued friendship, which means so much to so many, all over the world.
Jan 30, 2026
