Vaya Con Dios, Padre Patricio

February, 2014
Vaya Con Dios,
Padre Patricio
Dear friends,
One of the most difficult times in a missionary's life is
when he has completed his years in the mission and must
return home. The parishioners you have served and the
priests you have worked with all experience a sense of
sadness at the missioner’s "despedida," or departure. Yet,
that time comes to all of us, no matter if we have served
for five, twenty-five or fifty years. In this month’s friends
newsletter, I would like to share with you the farewell and
departure of Fr. Patrick McIntyre, a priest from Derry,
Northern Ireland. Fr. Paddy served with distinction in
the Andes Mountains on the outskirts of Quito, Ecuador.
Here is his story in his own words:
Fr. Paddy visits the elementary school.
Fr. Paddy says goodbye to Santa Cruz de Casitagua Parish, in
Quito, Ecuador.
"Having just finished almost thirty years with the St.
James Society, founded more than fifty years ago by Cardinal Cushing in Boston, these words are ones of gratitude to the Society which gave me, as a diocesan priest of
Salford in England, the opportunity to spend some years
of priesthood in South America.
The original five years extended as you can see. A visit
to Boston in August of 1984 was to lead to my acceptance
into the Society and in January of 1985 I was en route
to South America. I returned to Boston and thence to
Guayaquil in Ecuador where after a few days of getting
Escuela Monseñor Antonio Gonzalez
The altar at the parish church.
to know the brothers the next stage was to Lima and from
there to language school in Cochabamba, Bolivia. There I
spent five months grappling with the language and such
things as the "subjunctive" and "por" and "para." It was
a very rich experience and a chance to meet up with religious and laity from other continents.
Fr. Colin MacInnes was already there, having been sent
to form the new parish of St. Joseph the Worker. In keeping with the charism of the Society it was the opportunity
to work with poor people who had come in the thousands
from other provinces to establish a new life in Quito. I
spent three years at St. Joseph under the tutorship of Colin. The poverty was palpable: there were no roads nor light
nor running water. You can guess the rest. I am in debt to
Fr. Colin for his help in settling into a new culture and a
new language. (He had the advantage of going to seminary
in Spain.)
At that time there were a great number of priests interested in the Society, and with six new members coming to
Ecuador there was the opportunity to open a new parish
in Quito. The task fell to me. It was a repeat of Colin’s
parish - no roads nor water nor light, and perhaps even
marginally poorer than St. Joseph.
Fr. Paddy visits the cooks at the comedor, which provides meals
to the poor of the parish.
Well into the course and Msgr. John Moriarty, director
at the time, informed me that I would work in Ecuador.
It turned out to be a very fortunate choice, although initially I was hoping it would be Bolivia where two friends
from Derry were working. The thought of the equator and
heat and mosquitoes! But it turned out again very favorably that I was sent to the Andes of Ecuador and to the
beautiful capital city of Quito, with no mosquitoes and
a spring like climate all year round at ten thousand feet
above sea level!
Fr. Paddy out and about at the marketplace.
The Sisters keep everything running smoothly at the school!
Parishioners enjoy a nutritious meal at the dining hall.
Fr. Paddy celebrates Mass.
tinue to flourish under the guidance of the Sisters of Divine Providence. Because of the growing population over
the years, the parish was divided several times into newer
parishes. As well as the chapels and school and college,
there are day care centers for children from one to five.
A soup kitchen provides nutritious food from Monday to
Friday for the poor. There is also a medical center with
attendance of doctors and nurses from Monday to Friday.
As the years passed I knew it was time to hand over the
parish, and hopefully to a young Ecuadorian priest. And
that is precisely what has happened. I have every confidence that Padre Santiago will continue to work for the
poor and with the poor.
How my twenty-five years in that parish have flown and it was with great sadness that I decided to leave there and
return to Derry, my hometown on the
Foyle River.
During those years there were chapels
to be built and needless to say a house for
the priest which became a place for other
members who could come and rest from
the heat and humidity of the coast. In the
course of those years a school and college
(high school) have been built with the
generosity of so many people, too many
to be named. The elementary school is
named after the former Archbishop of
Quito: Monseñor Antonio Gonzalez,
and the high school is named San Patricio de la Providencia. Both schools con-
Santa Cruz de Casitagua parish church.
Leaving was a sad event for both priest and people but
it is a tribute to the Society of St. James that not only in
Ecuador but in Peru the dream of Cardinal Cushing continues to live on. We pray that diocesan priests in different parts of the world will answer the call to spend some
years of their diocesan priesthood on the Missions."
Fr. Patrick Universal, Society alumnus who also served
in Ecuador, was able to be at Fr. Paddy's farewell Mass
and celebration. Fr. Pat summarizes the farewell event as
one of "deep emotion, love and faith." Having visited Fr.
Paddy when he first arrived in Ecuador, Fr. Pat remembers what the barrio was like, "No roads, no electric lights,
no running water, no church, no schools, no medical services. Fr. Paddy in his years there helped the people to
obtain all of that. But most of all, he brought them not
only the main parish church, but several outlying chapels that became parishes. It is indeed a work well done,
a labor truly of love. And that love was felt by all of Fr.
Paddy's parishioners, as he bade them farewell, with what
appeared to be a lump in his throat as he boarded the
plane to Ireland."
We thank God in the Society for sending us such great
priests as Fr. Paddy McIntyre. We pray that God will inspire many more to fill the shoes of Fr. Paddy, so they
will be able to continue to walk in his way and carry the
Good News of the Gospel, as Jesus has mandated us to
do so. And yet we realize that the great works Fr. Paddy
was able to accomplish were only possible because of your
continued kindness and generosity to the Missionaries of
the St. James Society. Thank you Fr. Paddy, and thank you
all for your continued support.
Fr. Paddy in prayer.
The high school: Colegio San Patricio de La Providencia.
With every good wish in Christ,
Rev. David Costello
Director
The medical center: "Centro Medico, Charles Borromeo"
For the purposes of wills and bequests, our official name is:
The Missionary Society of St. James the Apostle, Inc • 24 Clark St. • Boston, MA 02109
Tel: (617) 742-4715 • e-mail: [email protected] • website: www.socstjames.com