“I am glad my vocation is to proclaim the good news that God is loving us, including me, the last one. I remember in my heart the words of Isaiah: ‘I have called you by name and you are precious in my eyes’.”
Columban Missionary Father Michael Cuddigan, rector of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Chapel in Central, Hong Kong, celebrates his sacerdotal golden jubilee on April 11. He has been serving in the diocese of Hong Kong since 2013. He served for over three decades in the Philippines before being assigned to Hong Kong.
Father Cuddigan hails from Middleton in Cork, Ireland. He is the second of four children. His eldest sister became a Poor Clare Colettine contemplative nun. He has two younger brothers, one a doctor and the other a lawyer by profession. He describes his childhood as “a close-knit family, doing many things together but not involved in any of the town social activities. But I could recall my mother always talking about the hungry children in Africa.”
He credits the formative years at home for his vocation to the priesthood. “The value of frequent visits to the Blessed Sacrament, the Holy Rosary and the Mass were very much part of my growing up. While going through secondary school, two other options were in my mind: to become a radio officer in ships or an engineer! In my final year I decided that I wanted to become a priest. It was my way of expressing gratitude to God for all His love for me.”
He had an uncle who was a priest—a Columban Missionary with same name as his—Michael Cuddigan, who was then serving in Australia. Although he never tried to influence him, Father Cuddigan decided to become a priest like him. He wished to be a missionary priest, but had no clear idea of what it meant to be a missionary. Yet he was clear about one thing: He wanted to serve the foreign missions.
He recalls his seminary days as more of a time of endurance than anything else. “I think it gave me some general formation and increased my awareness of the permanence of priestly commitment. The Columban Fathers have been more than generous facilitating my studies over the years. As I have grown as a person at all levels, I have come across new forms and possibilities of ministries. This has kept the excitement alive in my life.”
He recalls his seminary days as more of a time of endurance than anything else. “I think it gave me some general formation and increased my awareness of the permanence of priestly commitment. The Columban Fathers have been more than generous facilitating my studies over the years. As I have grown as a person at all levels, I have come across new forms and possibilities of ministries. This has kept the excitement alive in my life.”
After his ordination in 1971, he was assigned to parish-based ministry in the Philippines till 1983. During this time he was also the hospital chaplain and was responsible for campus ministry. “In my later years here, there was a growing awareness of my giftedness in the area of spiritual direction and retreat ministry. While enjoying general parish work, spiritual direction gave me a lot of personal fulfillment because it enabled me to use my full creativity as a person. I was slowly being inculturated into the Philippine society, learning a whole new way of life and identity as a person and as a missionary.” He left the Philippines in 1983 for a new assignment in Australia and then New Zealand.
He was reassigned to Mindanao after a gap of 10 years, this time in the vocation ministry and retreats. After spending more than 30 years of his life in the Philippines, Father Cuddigan moved to Hong Kong. While serving as the assistant parish priest of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception, the diocese assigned Father Cuddigan to its involvement in the English religious broadcasting of Radio & TV Hong Kong (RTHK). He was a radio broadcaster untill 2020.
‘Thank God I have no regrets with my decision. As the years passed I continue to be grateful for his call to me and enabling me to say ‘Yes’ to this God of love I knew in my heart. I have been blessed with many great friends who have supported and enabled me in my mission to try new possibilities of ministry and to grow in my own humanity…’
While talking to the Sunday Examiner, Father Cuddigan expressed his joy for the vocation to be a missionary priest in this part of the world, because the Columban Missionary Society was founded for mission in China. “This is indeed a very happy day for me as I celebrate my golden jubilee of ordination. It’s an occasion to ponder and celebrate how good is the mercy and love of God as I experienced it over 50 years ago.”
He recalled, “When I was still in elementary school, I first thought of being a priest in Australia as my uncle, Father Michael was stationed there. The seed was already set in my heart at that time, so to speak you might say. Then I forgot about it and life moved on. In my final year in high school I had a very strong sense of God loving me. I was drawn to offer myself as a priest to him. Earlier I had been thinking of becoming an engineer or a radio officer on a ship.”
He said, “Thank God I have no regrets with my decision. As the years passed I continue to be grateful for his call to me and enabling me to say ‘Yes’ to this God of love I knew in my heart. I have been blessed with many great friends who have supported and enabled me in my mission to try new possibilities of ministry and to grow in my own humanity. In a way my life journey of missionary priesthood has been a dance of life between who I am as a person and of my priesthood. Both interacting and enriching on each other.”
Father Cuddigan recalled that in the second year of his time in the southern Philippines, while walking to the villages he asked himself if this was all that he would be doing for the rest of his life. Life in the tough missions in Mindanao was not easy. Missionaries were kidnapped by militants for ransom. One of the Columban priests had been kidnapped. In those frightening years, he even had a soldier with an Armalite assault rifle living with him for a little while for fear of being kidnapped!
“It was an occasion of recommitment at a deeper level of my being if I was to remain faithful to my calling. God did not let me down. He had many wonderful surprises waiting for me that I had not anticipated,” he mused.
Father Michael went on to work in Australia, Ireland and now in Hong Kong. “During these eight years I have been involved in parish ministry and Christian ecumenical radio broadcasting,” he said.
“I have no regrets”, said Father Cuddigan, adding, “in having chosen to live as a Columban missionary father. I am glad my vocation is to proclaim the good news that God is loving us, including me, the last one. I remember in my heart the words of Isaiah: ‘I have called you by name and you are precious in my eyes’.”
