A viewing is scheduled from 9:45am to 10.45am, at St. Joseph’s Church, Garden Road, Central, on January 28. There will be a Mass of the Resurrection at 11.00am followed by cremation.
HONG KONG (SE): Father Tommy Murphy of the Missionary Society of St. Columban, passed away early on the morning of Friday, January 6, at the Columban house in Kowloon. He had been ill for some time.
Father Murphy was on the society’s general council from 2006 to 2012, during a time when its headquarters was moved from Dublin, Ireland to Hong Kong. Prior to that he also served also as regional director for the Ireland.
Hailing from Castlebar, County Mayo, Ireland, he was born in 1949 and was ordained a priest on Easter Sunday 1974.
Father Murphy’s first mission assignment was to Korea where he studied the Korean language and engaged in parish ministry until 1978. His next assignment was to Taiwan where he learned Mandarin, engaged in parish ministry, and helped to establish a daycare centre for children with special needs. His commitment to strengthening the role of the laity in the Church led him to serve as executive secretary of the Office for the Laity of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conference [FABC] for several years.
In 1993, he was assigned to Ireland where he became the coordinator of the Columban Vocations’ Team. In the years that followed, he also found various ways to support the Church in China from a distance—while reviving his fluency in the Irish language and obtaining a Master’s degree in Celtic Spirituality. In 2001, he was appointed director of the Columban mission in Ireland.
Father Murphy valued daily Mass, personal meditation and prayer meetings, and enjoyed hikes and pilgrimages. In particular, he facilitated various pilgrim groups in coming to a deeper understanding of St. Patrick’s missionary endeavours in Ireland and St. Columban’s missionary journeys across Europe.
Father Murphy valued daily Mass, personal meditation and prayer meetings, and enjoyed hikes and pilgrimages. In particular, he facilitated various pilgrim groups in coming to a deeper understanding of St. Patrick’s missionary endeavours in Ireland and St. Columban’s missionary journeys across Europe
In 2006, he was elected superior general of the Columban Missionaries. A few years later, sensing that the future of the congregation’ mission would be in those countries bordering the Pacific Ocean, he oversaw the transfer of its international headquarters from Dublin to Hong Kong.
After finishing his term as superior general, Father Murphy engaged in various endeavours in mainland China, including spiritual direction and retreat ministry at the National Seminary in Beijing. He also worked with prayer groups in Hong Kong, including the World Community for Christian Meditation-Hong Kong.
Covid-related travel restrictions saw him move to Hong Kong in June 2020. However, neither the pandemic nor a cancer diagnosis in September 2021 prevented him from finding ways to make friends in this city or from staying connected to his family and friends in far-off places.
To his own great surprise, he became an avid user of Zoom in order to engage online with his Columban confreres around the world, join local prayer meetings, direct international retreats, and take courses in theology and ecology. He became a Legion of Mary chaplain, and as an assistant priest at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, he cared for its English-speaking community from June until December 2022.
Moreover, face-to-face encounters with local people in a coffee shop and treks through Hong Kong’s nature reserves remained sources of great enjoyment for him.
Father Murphy’s pilgrim journey through this world came to an end in the presence of his Columban companions in Hong Kong on January 6. His death is mourned by his family—particularly his brothers, Padraig and Michael, the Columban community, and his numerous friends here in Hong Kong and across the world.
However, his life will continue to be celebrated by all who had the privilege to cross his path and experience his deep Christian faith expressed through his kindness, humour, enthusiasm and joy.
May Father Murphy experience the peace of the risen Christ.
A viewing is scheduled from 9:45am to 10.45am, at St. Joseph’s Church, Garden Road, Central, on January 28. There will be a Mass of the Resurrection at 11.00am followed by cremation.
Burial will take place at the home of the Columban Missionaries in Ireland at a later date.
The Columban Fathers request no flowers, please. Instead, donations will be shared among Father Murphy’s favourite charities.
