Nov 24, 2022
Warmest congratulations to Fr Giacomo Gelardi MSC, who was ordained to the priesthood on Saturday, November 19th, 2022. The ordination ceremony was led by Bishop Fintan Gavin of Cork and Ross, who travelled to Italy for the great occasion, with the Mass taking place in Fr Giacomo’s home town of Urbino, Italy, at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart, a new beautiful church which was consecrated in September of last year.
Bishop Fintan concelebrated the ordination Mass with local Archbishop Mgr Giovanni Tanni, along with local diocesan clergy and members of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart from Ireland, Italy, Spain, and the General Administration in Rome. Irish Provincial Superior Fr Carl Tranter and Formator Fr Joe McGee were accompanied by MSCs Fr Michael O’Connell, Fr Tom Mulcahy, Fr John Finn, and Fr Con O’Connell, while MSC brothers Domenico Rosa and Jaime Rosique, who originally completed their novitiate programme with Giacomo in Myross Wood, West Cork, also travelled to Urbino to serve at the ordination ceremony as Deacons.
A host of friends travelled from Dublin and York to be with Fr Giacomo at this special time, along with Fr Pat Fogarty and parishioners from the parish of Carrigaline, Co. Cork, where Giacomo served as a Deacon in recent years. Everybody involved was delighted to join the celebrations with Fr Giacomo, his mother, Francesca, his father, Michele, his brother Luca and sister Maria, plus extended family members, friends, and parishioners.
“This was a beautiful celebration, presided by Bishop Fintan in Italian,” writes Irish Provincial Superior Fr Carl Tranter MSC. “We extend our heartfelt congratulations to Fr Giacomo and blessings on his priestly ministry as he commences a life of missionary service as an MSC.”
On the morning following his ordination, Fr Giacomo celebrated his first Mass at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart on the Feast of Christ the King. He will now return to Cork for the Christmas season, and will prepare to travel to the MSC Province of the Pacific Islands in January. Here, Fr Giacomo will embark upon a period of mission in Fiji, where he will work in our MSC parish in Suva, and at the Chevalier Training Centre, our trade school in Namosi.
We join our voices and prayers with Fr Carl’s in congratulating the newly ordained Fr Giacomo Gelardi MSC, with every blessing as he begins this new chapter as a Missionary of the Sacred Heart.
Please click here to watch a recording of Fr Giacomo’s ordination ceremony
at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart.
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Jun 2, 2022
At the end of May, the MSC community of Bayagnan Island in Surigao City came together to give their blessing to the new homes constructed by the MSC Typhoon Odette Housing Project, and to pray for the families who will live in them.
Hundreds of thousands of families were displaced from their homes last December, when Typhoon Odette hit the Philippines to devastating effect. The strongest storm of the year, the super-typhoon killed hundreds, injured many more, and laid waste to hundreds of thousands of homes, many of which were completely destroyed.
In March, the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in the Philippines began distribution of housing materials to five districts across Bayagnan Island, and with true community spirit, everyone involved contributed to making the project a great success. The materials provided have allowed for the repair and construction of safe, secure residences for over 330 households who had been left homeless by the typhoon.
The end of May saw MSCs from the Surigao District, together with Msgr. Edito Alcala DCS, lead a beautiful blessing ceremony for all of the families involved in the housing project.
“This housing project was established to help the families who were greatly devastated by Typhoon Odette in 2021,” read a placard mounted at the blessing ceremony. “It is made possible through the support of MSC mission partners, friends, and Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC) all over the world.”
Earlier in the year, Irish Provincial Superior Fr Carl Tranter MSC received a letter from Fr Richie Gomez MSC, community leader at the MSC Centre for the Poor in the Philippines, with deep gratitude for the support of our mission friends in the Irish Province at a time of real and urgent need. “I would like to thank you for your untiring support to the Philippine Province,” he wrote. “We are your extended arms, feet, mind, and heart in reaching the poor, and now with our typhoon survivors.”
Following weeks and months of grief and suffering, and an enormous struggle to rebuild lives that had been shattered by the effects of the typhoon, it is a true blessing to see the hope, joy, and spirit of togetherness and unity that shone through on this special day. We offer up our prayers with those of our MSC brothers in the Philippines, and we wish every blessing of the Sacred Heart upon them, and upon all of the families beginning a fresh new chapter in their new homes.
Images via the Facebook page for the MSC Mission Office Philippines, Inc.
Please click here to watch a video of the blessing of the MSC Typhoon Odette Housing Project,
via the MSC Mission Office Facebook page.
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR MSC MINISTRY IN THE PHILIPPINES
Feb 3, 2022
The beginning of 2022 has brought great joy for the MSC community in the Venezuelan Region, with Miguel Ibarra MSC renewing his vows on Saturday, January 29th, and Yordy Blanco MSC making his First Profession on Wednesday, February 2nd.
Vow renewal of Miguel Ibarra MSC
Miguel Ibarra MSC, a member of the Irish Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in the Missionary Community of Venezuela, made his First Profession in February 2021 and renewed his temporary vows in Caracas on January 29th, 2022. Due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, the celebration was a small, private one, attended by some family members, but nonetheless special for it. A beautiful Mass was celebrated by Fr Tom O’Brien MSC and Fr John Jennings MSC, while Miguel’s vows were received by Fr Yonys Mendoza MSC.
After spending some time at home with his family, Miguel is due to return shortly to São Paulo, Brazil, to continue his theology studies in the MSC Scholasticate.
First Profession of Yordy Blanco MSC
Miguel will soon be joined at the MSC Scholasticate in São Paulo by Yordy Blanco, a fellow member of the Irish Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in the Missionary Community of Venezuela, who took his First Profession vows in Brazil on Wednesday, February 2nd (the Feast of the Presentation and the 2022 World Day of Consecrated Life). Yordy completed his noviciate year in Itajubá in Brazil, and made his First Profession alongside his fellow novices, Diego Zambrano, Guicherme Bernal, Mateus Borodiak, Pedro Henrique, and Valmir Silva. These six young men are members of the Provinces of Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba and Sao Paulo, the Section of Ecuador, and the Missionary Community of Venezuela. The Mass was presided by Fr Humberto Henriques MSC, Assistant General, and the vows were received by the Provincials of the three Brazilian Provinces. (If you would like to watch the full First Profession ceremony, please click here.)
“We extend our heartfelt congratulations to Yordy and wish him and all his fellow novices a beautiful celebration,” wrote Irish Provincial Leader Fr Carl Tranter MSC, ahead of the profession ceremony. “May their lives as MSCs be filled with joy and fulfilment. Congratulations also to the MSC community in Venezuela as they welcome Yordy to their small but powerful group of missionaries.”
“I extend our special thanks to the São Paulo Province for welcoming Yordy into their common Brazilian Noviciate,” continued Fr Carl, “and especially to Fr Getulio Saggin MSC, Novice Master, for his kind, gentle and close accompaniment of the novices throughout the year.”
We add our prayers to Fr Carl’s as we wish both Yordy and Miguel every blessing for the next step of their missionary journeys ahead.
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Jan 20, 2022
Fr Richie Gomez MSC, community leader at the MSC Centre for the Poor, located in Butuan, updates us on the current situation in the Philippines in the aftermath of Typhoon Odette, which struck on December 16th, 2021. In a letter to Irish Provincial Superior Fr Carl Tranter MSC, Fr Richie writes of the deep gratitude of the Filipino MSC community for the support of our mission friends in the Irish Province. “I would like to thank you for your untiring support to the Philippine Province,” he writes. “We are your extended arms, feet, mind, and heart in reaching the poor, and now with our typhoon survivors.”
The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart – Social Initiative and Collaborative Action Project (MSC-SICAP) is a group of missionary volunteers “with a charismatic heart,” working as a dedicated disaster response and management team under the umbrella of the MSC Centre of the Poor and led by Fr Richie, the centre’s director.
In response to the devastating impact of Typhoon Odette, Fr Richie has gathered a group of community-based volunteers, including doctors, engineers, teachers, business people, artists, students, and many more. “When it made landfall, winds of up to 210 km per hour were uprooting coconut trees, ripping down electricity poles, and hurling slabs of corrugated tin and wood through the air,” reports the MSC-SICAP group. This group initiated an immediate active response to provide a basic relief kit of necessities including food, water, medicine, and hygiene products, to victims from both the mainland and islands of Surigao. “The group aims to amalgamate passionate and compassionate volunteers in the region, whose hearts are dedicated and committed in the service of humanitarian movements,” writes Fr Richie.
MSC Strategic Disaster Response Plan
The MSC-SICAP group, working with the MSC Centre for the Poor, have developed a strategic disaster response plan, detailing three recovery stages:
Stage 1: Bangon-Igsoon (In the immediate aftermath of the typhoon)
This stage has focused on answering the immediate and urgent needs of survivors, with the distribution of essentials such as food, water, medical aid, and clothes. All of these necessities have been issued directly to victims of the typhoon at designated distribution points, with a target reach of 10,000 households.
Stage 1 also includes the installation of water filtration stations in Siargao Island, which is currently suffering from a dangerous cholera outbreak. These water filtration stations cost 100,000 Philippine pesos, an equivalent of approximately €1,700.
Stage 2: Bahay-Buhay (Approximately one month after the typhoon)
Stage 2 involves helping to build simple houses for families who cannot afford to repair or rebuild homes that have been destroyed by the storm. The target goal is to build 500 houses, benefitting people from the communities of Siargao, Nonoc, Bayagnan, Dinagat, Loreto, and the Islands.
Stage 3: Heal-Surigao (Taking time to heal the island)
During Stage 3, MSCs around the islands will pray with local communities for cleansing and renewal of the land. This stage will also incorporate the arts as a vehicle for healing children and the wider community, through music, dance, storytelling, and more. Through the creative process, it is hoped that children and their families will be able to better process the impact of the typhoon and look with renewed hope towards the future.
“Faith based, love driven.”
The motto for the response plan is “Faith based, love driven”, as MSCs throughout affected areas work together with local communities to rebuild a ravaged land. The MSC-SICAP group are working to “react, respond, and rescue” the victims of natural disasters such as Typhoon Odette, providing fundamental needs, from the physical to the spiritual, and bringing the light of hope into the hearts of survivors.
As they continue in the implementation of their response plan, the MSC-SICAP group write of the impact of Typhoon Odette, and the power of faith and unity in the hope of renewal:
“‘Expect the unexpected’ – a classic line that could somehow happen to anybody at any moment in any place, just like the typhoon, Odette, that wrecked Surigao. It was once a haven of nature’s bounty, with exciting hullabaloo coming from different nationalities. Now, nothing but silence! December 16th 2021 was an unforgettable traumatic moment for every Surigaonon and tourists in the area, along with other areas where the typhoon made landfall. It was a nightmare…
Strong winds of 165 km/h near the centre, with gusts of up to 205 km/h and central pressure of 950 hPa, swept away houses, buildings, trees, and street posts, leaving the entire place destroyed. The roaring storm sounded horrid, bouncing back into each corner, frightening the children, the elders, and the weak, a miserable experience of anxiety and fear. The unthinkable orchestration of chaos, fear, hunger, and hopelessness has savaged and saddened our Surigaonon brethren.
Emotionally, the circumstances have been intensified because it was near Christmas season when the typhoon hit – supposedly a season of merry making and thanksgiving, to celebrate the most awaited Simbang Gabi, but this year, it turned out differently. Many have suffered and been broken, dreams have been shattered, smiles have been torn, and hearts have been wounded. That echoing feeling of devastation resonates in the whole island of Mindanao and to the heart of the world.
They need our HELP! They need our PRAYERS! They need US!
We, the Missionary of the Sacred Heart- Social Initiative and Collaborative Action Project (MSC-SICAP) volunteers, have initiated a massive calamity response from the very start, beginning with providing basic needs to over 5,000 families in several parts of Surigao. The operation runs under our own strategic organising and management system to accelerate the distribution of relief goods with the help of our partners. Hundreds of volunteers convene 24/7 at the district house of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in Butuan City, and together we are working hand-in-hand to address the urgent necessities continuously.
Fr Richie Gomez is the captain of the project and keeps our vessel afloat amidst exhaustion and sleepless nights, for the sake of the wailing sacred land of Surigao that seeks our comfort. We will stand right beside them until they will rise back.
For us, this is an awakening journey and a profound reminder of what our hearts are made of – compassion and kindness. Together, we will rebuild the hopes and dreams of our fellow Surigaonons’ brothers and sisters, and with the provisions of God’s divine grace we shall rejoice back the victory of our loving and united place, Caraga.”
Jan 12, 2022
As relief efforts continue in the Philippines following the devastating impact of Typhoon Odette in December 2021, MSC Mission response programmes are ongoing.
On January 11th, the MSC Mission Office in the Philippines reported that relief outreach to date has been far-reaching, with 3,791 relief packs, 575 sacks of rice, and 730 gallons of water distributed since the typhoon hit in mid-December, killing over 400 and rendering hundreds of thousands of people homeless.
The Facebook page for the MSC Mission Office in the Philippines shared a collection of photographs of the relief distribution programme based in Guilutongan Island, Cordova, which is one of the most affected communities in Cebu. These images give just some indication of the sheer scale of the damage done by Typhoon Odette as it tore through the country, leaving close to 600,000 people without homes.
Writing from an evacuation centre on Christmas Eve, community leader Fr Richie Gomez MSC told Irish Provincial Superior Fr Carl Tranter MSC how grateful he was for the “overwhelming support” that our Filipino MSC brothers have received from the Irish Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. We ask that your continue to keep our MSC brothers and the people of the Philippines in your prayers as they continue to navigate this landscape of loss and destruction.
Images via the MSC Mission Office Philippines, Inc. Facebook page.
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