Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – “I have been a missionary for the last 25 years in Ecuador, a country with a great natural beauty and wonderful people, but at the same time, with many needs. I have worked in a parish, in the formation and administration areas within my Congregations, the Society of the Divine Word and I feel that all this has been a treasure for me, gained experience that is now going to be very useful for me in my new task in Rome,” said Fr. Timothy Lehane, SVD in a dialogue with Agenzia Fides, just days after his installment as Secretary General of the Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith. “It is precisely when you have had a day-to-day experience of the missions that you realize the situation and the actual needs of the missionaries,” Father Lehane explained. “When you have experienced pastoral work firsthand and what a missionary’s life can be like anywhere in the world...you feel a more urgent need to unite yourself with your brother, not only through material aid, but through a more profound help, which comes in the form of prayer and accompaniment.”
Fr. Timothy, who has also served as National Director of the Pontifical Missionary Societies (PMS) in Ecuador during the last 9 years, sees this experience as a great preparation for his work now. “As is typical in beginning a new missionary service, I have my own personal expectations,” Fr. Lehane told Fides. “And yet, I know that the work carried out from the Pontifical Missionary Societies has already journeyed down a long path and now it is my turn to discover it first-hand and observe more closely the needs of each continent and country. I hope to be able to accompany the missionaries and National Directors, so that they can feel the support of the Universal Church in their work. I also think that there is a great need to spread missionary awareness throughout the world, especially amongst the younger churches, who are the hope of mankind. In this sense, I see that there is a real need for missionary animation, because right now in many of these countries, their consciences are awakened and there is a sense of responsibility within the Universal Church. In fact, many of the local churches already have young priests, laity, and religious who have the desire to be missionaries on other continents.”
“And now, we are in the month of October, the month par excellence dedicated to the missions, and World Mission Day is approaching. It is a perfect time to encourage the various local Churches and I think that here, from the central office, we can also help the National Directors to carry out their activity in the collections in their own countries. This active encouragement is very important, as in my experience in Ecuador I have found that even though the people are poor, they are generous and they give all they can. When they realize that there are people poorer than they are, that there is a church with more needs than them, they give all they can and more, because they have a big heart and they want to share what they have with others.”
Fr. Timothy Lehane Barrett, SVD was born in 1955 in Innishannon, in County Cork (Ireland). After studying Agriculture at Multyfarmham (County Wetmeath), he studied Philosophy at Donamon Castle (Roscommon) and Theology at Maynooth (County Kildare). In 1978, he entered in the Congregation of the Divine Word, where he took his perpetual vows in 1985. He was ordained a priest on March 17, 1986. Within the Congregation, he has had various tasks, firstly as a former in 1990-2000, and later as Provincial Superior, from 2004 until now. Fr. Timothy has been a missionary in Ecuador for 25 years, where he served mainly in prison ministry in the city of Quito. Beginning in 1999, he served as National Director of the Pontifical Missionary Societies in Ecuador and coordinating the Third American Missionary Congress CAM 3-Comla 8, which was celebrated in Quito on August 12-17, 2008. As he himself puts it, “it has been the greatest experience I have had, because I have seen a missionary awakening and a great ecclesial communion among the entire people of God.” (RG) (Agenzia Fides 8/10/2008)
