Jan 4, 2022
MSCs in the Philippines have been working throughout the Christmas season to bring emergency aid to survivors of Typhoon Odette, which hit the country with devastating consequences on December 16th, 2021.
Super Typhoon Rai, known locally as Odette, was the largest storm of 2021, with 6.2 million people affected in ten regions across the country. 580,000 people were displaced by the storm, and the death toll, as of December 30th, was at 397, with many more injuries. Over 712,000 homes have been badly damaged or destroyed by the storm, while an estimated 80,000 hectares of crops and agricultural land have been ravaged by powerful winds and torrential rain.
Our MSC Centre for the Poor, located in Butuan, has been carrying out relief efforts over the Christmas period. Headed by community leader Fr Richie Gomez MSC, the volunteer team have been working to bring vital emergency aid to families and communities in the south of the country.
As of December 30th, it was reported that some 580,000 people had been displaced by the storm, with 356,000 people dependent on the services of evacuation centres, while a further 227,000 were staying with family or friends. Writing from an evacuation centre on Christmas Eve, where he and a group of volunteers were handing out meals to the indigenous Badjao community, who had been “washed out” of their homes on the shoreline, Fr Richie 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.
“It is quite emotional, on my part, celebrating Christmas Eve in evacuation centres, when Jesus became the bread of life, the Emmanuel, for all of us,” wrote Fr Richie.
“I thank God for this great privilege… He has used me on a Christmas Eve to feed hundreds of evacuees with mushroom burgers made by our scholars at the Centre for the Poor.”
“Thank you for your overwhelming support!”
Our MSC brothers and Sacred Heart sisters are working tirelessly to provide essential support to the survivors of the typhoon as clean-up operations continue. We ask that you please keep our Sacred Heart family, and the communities they serve, in your prayers at this time of great need.
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Dec 21, 2021
Super Typhoon Rai, known locally as Odette, hit the Philippines on December 16th, and has proved to be the largest storm of the year to date. Over 300,000 people were evacuated from their homes in anticipation of the typhoon, with 10,000 villages predicated to lie in its path.
Homes, businesses, farms, and livelihoods have been torn to shreds by powerful rain, and winds reaching up to 260 kph/160 mph, with gusts of up to 300 kph/185 mph. While millions have been affected, the full extent of the damage caused by Typhoon Odette is not yet known, as many lines of communication are still down and the immediate focus is on rescuing and caring for those in urgent need. As of Monday, December 20th, the national police service announced that at least 375 people had been killed, with 500 more injured and 56 missing. Trees and buildings have fallen, many areas are badly flooded, roofs have been ripped from houses, and survivors are in urgent need of food and clean drinking water.
“Please keep the MSC, FDNSC (Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart), MSC Sisters, and all of the people of the Philippines in your prayers,” wrote Fr Carl Tranter MSC, Irish Provincial Superior.
“The central and southern parts of the country have been badly hit by the very powerful typhoon Odette, which has caused massive destruction.
We are aware of significant damage across our parishes and the schools/clinics of our sisters on Mactan island and Cebu in the central Philippines, and in Surigao and Agusan in the south.
We stand in solidarity with our Chevalier family in the Philippines and with all the Filipino people.”
As opportunities for communication are minimal in the wake of the storm, we have yet to understand the full impact of the typhoon on our extended Sacred Heart family in the Philippines. The Irish Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart have sent emergency funds to assist in the immediate aftermath of the storm, as MSC and FDNSC communities undertake the initial clean-up and search and rescue operations. We will continue to provide help as it is needed in the new year, and we ask that you please remember our Sacred Heart family in the Philippines in your prayers in the coming weeks, as they pick up the pieces of lives and livelihoods that have been demolished by this mighty force of nature.
Dec 9, 2021
Wednesday, December 8th marked a day of double celebrations for the Irish Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, and for our extended MSC family around the world, as we celebrated the ordination of Giacomo Gelardi MSC to the Diaconate on the 167th anniversary of the foundation of the Society of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart.
Having made his Perpetual Profession to the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in September of this year, Giacomo was ordained to the Diaconate by Bishop Fintan Gavin, at the Church of Our Lady and St John in Carrigaline, Co. Cork, on the morning of December 8th, 2021. In the immediate wake of Storm Barra, which had put Co. Cork on a red alert status just the day before, Bishop Fintan Gavin began the ceremony by thanking everyone who had travelled to celebrate this very special day with Giacomo, despite all the challenges the weather had thrown in the way.
“I feel particularly honoured to be here today ordaining Giacomo,” said Bishop Fintan. “My own connection to the MSCs goes back to the mid-90s, with Fr Pat Duffy and Jim McCormack, when I worked with them in Killinarden. I was always made to feel part of the community, very much welcome. I came to know Giacomo while teaching in Maynooth, and then, through the Italian Chaplaincy in Dublin, where Giacomo not only participated, but he worked with me on the Confirmation programme and the preparation for marriage over one of the years. Today we pray that the Holy Spirit will be with Giacomo, giving him strength and comfort, and that the spirit will accompany him in his witness and service as a Deacon, on his path to priestly ordination.”
“Giacomo, today we celebrate another very significant moment on your journey to saying yes to God’s plan for your life,” continued Bishop Fintan. “This is a journey that began in your own home with the faith shared by your family and your family community in Urbino; a journey that would take you to World Youth Day in Cologne, that would deepen and mature over the years, through time spent in Verona and York, and discerning eventually a particular call to missionary religious life with the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, which led to your final profession. Today, we celebrate a further deepening of that ‘yes’, as you respond to the invitation to become a Deacon in the Church.”
Irish Provincial Superior Fr Carl Tranter MSC also added his own congratulations to Giacomo on his ordination. “For us Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, this is our foundation day,” he reflected. “It’s a very special feast day for us, and no better or more fitting day to celebrate your ordination to the Diaconate, Giacomo, so we’re particularly delighted. I know all who are gather here today, and all that are joining us over the internet, are with you in spirit, and wholeheartedly congratulate you and wish you well. We wish you well for your ministry of service as Deacon, a ministry that will continue for the rest of your life. Your Diaconate may be transitional, but the ministry to which you’ve been ordained today is a ministry for life; and so our prayers, our support, our love, and our accompaniment are with you for the rest of your journey, for the rest of your life.”
“Today, we are here to celebrate with Giacomo,” Fr Carl continued. “We are here to share his day of joy, but Giacomo, over the days, months, and years ahead, we will continue to be with you, to pray for you, to journey with you and to support you with all of our hearts.”
We join Bishop Fintan and Fr Carl in sending our heartfelt congratulations to the newly ordained Deacon Giacomo Gelardi MSC, and our prayers and blessings are with him as he continues on the path of his missionary journey.
Click here to watch the ordination to the Diaconate of Giacomo Gelardi MSC.
Dec 1, 2021
Please note that the MSC Missions Office will be closed over the Christmas period,
from 4.00pm on December 23rd to 9.00am on January 4th.
With warm wishes to our mission friends everywhere for a happy, healthy, and safe Christmas season.
Dear Friends,
Christmas greetings to you and your loved ones! While we have all endured another year of uncertainty, it is a great blessing to be able to look to the festive season and the coming year with hopeful hearts.
This will be a particularly special Christmas for me, as it will be the last that I celebrate as Director of the MSC Missions Office. As such, this is the last time that I will have the opportunity to send you my Christmas wishes as Director, ahead of Fr John Fitzgerald MSC taking over the role in the new year. The ending of one year and the beginning of the next strikes me as an especially fitting time for change, and it is with fondest regards that I thank you for your friendship throughout the years. It has been a gift beyond measure, and I’m sure that you will welcome Fr John with the same generosity and kindness that I have been so privileged to receive in my time as Director.
Over the past two years, our ongoing mission projects have come under tremendous strain as a result of the challenges introduced by the pandemic, and our missionaries are working tirelessly to combat the effects of COVID-19 in areas where even basic resources like clean water are sorely lacking, while also maintaining ongoing ministry in the provision of education, healthcare, and community support in vulnerable and disadvantaged regions. With each year that passes, we are trying to do more with less, and the past two years have proved particularly challenging, in ways that none of us could have imagined. Thanks to you, our dear mission friends, we can continue to face those challenges head-on; your support provides a real and vital lifeline to countless families who would otherwise be without hope. Together, we are a powerful and wonderful force, a force that can continue to combat the fear, sorrow, and anxiety that plagues our world in current times.
Christmas can be a difficult time for many, and that has, of course, been exacerbated by the pandemic in its second year. Whether you are fortunate enough to be surrounded by the warmth of family this festive season, or whether you may be struggling with your own personal challenges, please know that you are in my prayers this Christmas, and in the prayers of our MSCs everywhere.
As we approach a new year and a new chapter for the MSC Missions Office, my prayers are with you and those you hold dear. May the light of the Lord’s love shine in your heart and in your home this Christmas season, and guide your path throughout the new year and always. May you be blessed with the spirit of Advent, and may God grant you and your loved ones a peaceful, prayerful Christmas and a safe, happy, and healthy New Year.
Wishing you and yours a happy and holy Christmas,
Fr Michael O’Connell MSC
Please click here to read letters from Fr Michael, Fr John, and Irish Provincial Superior Fr Carl Tranter MSC, as we begin a new chapter for the MSC Missions Office in 2022.
Nov 11, 2021
As it is written in Ecclesiastes,
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” (3:1-2)
– and with the dawn of the new year comes a new season for the MSC Missions Office.
The Irish Provincial Leadership Team has announced that Fr Michael O’Connell MSC will be stepping down from the position of Director of the MSC Missions Office in the new year, with Fr John Fitzgerald MSC taking over the role in early 2022.
Fr Carl Tranter MSC
“I am writing today to share the news that, after 22 years as Director of the MSC Missions Office, Fr Michael O’Connell MSC will be standing down from this post in the new year,” writes Irish Provincial Superior Fr Carl Tranter MSC.
“I am glad to be able to tell you that Fr John Fitzgerald MSC will be stepping into the role of Director,” Fr Carl continues. “Having worked in close proximity with the Missions Office for many years now, I know that Fr John will bring with him many gifts and will be a wonderful addition to the team there.”
As we look ahead to the new year, Fr John is already working closely with Fr Michael and the team at the MSC Missions Office in order to make sure that this new chapter will herald a bright new era for our missionary work in the Irish Province and beyond.
Fr Michael O’Connell MSC
“Thank you for your prayers, for your friendship, for your kindness, for your generosity, and for your continued support of our missionaries as they carry out their great work across the world,” writes Fr Michael, in a message to our mission friends. “Your support has been a real gift to me, and as we navigate our new paths, I know that your kindness and generosity of spirit will extend to Fr John in my stead. As I prepare to take my leave, rest assured that you will remain in my heart and my prayers as Fr John and I work together to make sure that this new season will be a peaceful, prayerful, and positive one for all.”
Fr John Fitzgerald MSC
Fr John echoes these sentiments as he says, “At the moment, Fr Michael is journeying with me, and thanks to his dedication, he leaves a rich legacy; our missionary work continues, however, and I have every confidence in your support for the future. You are a marvellous community of mission friends and your generosity is a true reflection of the love of the Heart of Christ. I too, like Fr Michael, pray that this new season will be peaceful, prayerful, and positive for all.”
With heartfelt thanks to Fr Michael for his tremendous contribution over the past two decades,
we also extend a warm welcome to Fr John as he takes up his new role.
United in faith, we will continue to work together to shine the light of God’s love
where it is needed most.
Please click to read the full letters from Fr Carl, Fr Michael, and Fr John.
