Farewell to Ba Parish: Fr John McEvoy Remembers 1990 – 1995.

On the 24th February the Parish of Christ the King Ba will farewell Fr Pat Colgan present Parish Priest and the Columbans in general who served in the parish for almost the past 70 years. The 1st group of Columbans arrived in Fiji on the 22nd Feb. 1952. Fr Charlie O’Mahoney (Australia) was the 1st Columban Priest in Ba. He was replaced by Fr Dermot Hurley in January 1953 and was the 1st Columban PP of Ba. He was assisted by Fr Seamus O’ Connor and Fr P.J. Kelly. In the early 80s the Columban handed the parish back to the Archdiocese. Fr Tom Rouse worked for a few years at that time with Fr Frank Foran before leaving in 1983

Then in 1990 the Columban Regional Council appointed me Parish Priest of Ba. I took over from Fr John Snehadas. We needed Ba Parish as a place of training for our FMA (First Missionary Assignment) students, a parish when we could place our Lay Missionaries from overseas and of course a place we could assign our Columban students for pastoral experience.

I was PP of Ba parish, then called ‘St Peter Chanel Parish Ba” from 1990 until I became Regional Director of the Fiji Region in 1995.

Ba is a huge parish. I recall Archbishop Petero Mataca saying to me before I moved to Ba, that it was really 3 parishes - The Town of Ba itself, The Veidelana – the villages in the highlands and The Baravi - the villages on the coast.

It was a time of great change in the parish. I documented most of the new development taking place through the lens of my camera. Over the next month I will try and bring you picture stories of some of the events and the great people who walked with me during these 5 difficult years. Events like the Centenary Celebrations of the Parish in 1991; Cyclone Kina and the destruction of the Ba Bridge January 1993, The Development of the cane farm; the relocation and the building of St Theresa’s School; the building of the new Church in Sasa; stories from Navula and Votua; the building and opening of the church in Tabuquto. etc and depending where the Spirit will lead.

Today I will start of with a some general pictures of the old church in Ba and there will always plenty of faces to look at, some of whom have gone to their heavenly reward now. I hope the people of Ba will appreciate these pictures and stories.