Fr Raymond Husband Fr Raymond Husband has been appointed the new regional director of the Columba Missionaries in Ireland. He will be assisted by Fr Gerard Neylon who will serve as the vice-rector. They succeed Fr Pat Raleigh and Fr Padraig O’Donovan.
Fr Raleigh wished both priests “the very best in guiding the region over the next three years. “The region will be in good hands,” he said.
Following his election, Fr Husband recalled how 2018 marked the centenary of the foundation of the Columbans. “We had many celebrations throughout the country…it brought home to me how much we the Columbans are held in high regard by the people who attended the various centenary celebrations.”
“We are called to step out in faith, to work in partnership to proclaim the Joy of the Gospel wherever we find ourselves be it home or abroad,” he said.
Fr Husband returned to Ireland from the Philippines in 2017 where he had served since 1990. Fr Neylon came home to Ireland just before Christmas 2016 after serving 18 years in China, 18 years in Taiwan prior to that and another four in South Korea at the very outset of his missionary life.