It was the Eighteenth Sunday in ordinary time and I was invited to celebrate the 9:30 Mass at Holy Rosary Parish in Six Mile, Port Moresby, capital of Papua New Guinea. I was in PNG to give retreats to the members of the Marian Movement of Priests and those of the movement had invited me, with the PP’s consent, to come to Holy Rosary. Learning that I was a Columban, the Parish Priest gave me a great welcome. He is Fr Jun Adeva O. Carm, a Carmelite from Iligan in the Philippines. He told me he was raised in a Columban parish. He was baptized by Fr James Mulroy of Swinford Co Mayo and this was the priest he remembered from his youth. Fr Mulroy was ordained in 1947 and sent to Iligan after ordination. He also remembered Fr Jim Lillis who was ordained during the war and destined for China but eventually sent to the Philippines. He also worked in Iligan before becoming superior of the Columbans in Mindanao. He later was on the Central Administration of the Columbans and then became bursar for Ireland. He is buried in Ireland but Fr Mulroy in the Philippines.
Fr Jun said there were five boys in his family and they lived just opposite the Church of St Michael in Iligan. As is not unusual in the Philippines, his parents adopted three girls. All five of the boys were altar boys and on Saturdays especially, Frs Mulroy or Lillis would set out for an outside chapel and would stop at their door and ask their mother for an altar boy. He often accompanied these Columbans on their journeys.
Fr Jun remembers being confirmed by Bishop Patrick Cronin. Bishop Cronin was ordained in 1937 and sent to the Philippines. He was ordained Prelate Ordinary of Ozamis in 1955 and Iligan came under Ozamis. In 1971 He became Archbishop of Cagayan De Oro. These were some of the Irish missionary figures of Fr Jun’s childhood.
He entered a seminary at 15 but decided this life was not for him. He later became a CPE but said, he eventually found life empty and became a Redemptorist Lay Missionary for four years. He finally decided for priesthood and opted to join the Carmelites because of the contemplative dimension of this order. After ordination he worked in the Philippines but felt the call to mission and has now, in spite of severe diabetes, worked for almost twenty years in the Philippines. Alas, he is the last surviving member of his family as they have all succumbed to diabetes. Through careful monitoring of his health, Fr Jun, now in his mid-seventies, still manages a full day’s work
He recently had the joy of seeing the second local man ordained as a Carmelite. Fr David Aola was ordained in June last. Coincidentally, I have known Fr David for many years. He belongs to the Parish of Our Lady, Queen of Peace in Waigani, also in Moresby. I have several times visited and given retreats to the Marian Movement group in Waigani and first got to know Fr David as a member of this group. We have been in correspondence since he entered and Carmelites and it was a great joy for me to hear of his ordination and to get his first blessing here in Moresby.
Part of the Columban Charism is to set up a local clergy in every country we work in. It was inspiring for me to encounter Fr Jun, a hard-working Parish Priest and contemplative, in this poor but fervent parish of Holy Rosary far from his homeland. It taught me that missionaries also make missionaries!
Fr Donal McIlraith lives and works in Fiji.
Related links
- Read more from the current e-Kaulotu - September 2026
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