A Living Stories Project
First Impressions
I am greeted at Oakland airport by Father Dick Haslam omi, the
Provincial secretary and former missionary to the Philippines, Australia, Hong Kong,
England and Ireland. Originally from Belfast, Father Dick has been a fixture of the
Western Province for over 20 years.
It is a beautiful, sunny day. We fly in over the Bay and mountains and the fog has
lifted. The air is clean and crisp. This feels like I imagine California should
feel.
How did the Western Province Begin?
My ignorance, badly in need of remedy, makes me blurt out the opening question.
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The Province was officially constituted in 1953 after a General Chapter, and at a time
when the Oblate missions were expanding. The founding Provincial was Father
Chas Burns omi. Though the very first Oblate missions to the USA were in
Oregon from 1847-1867, the irony of this region is that it is the youngest of the Oblate
provinces.
Staffed by men who have been drawn from the other American provinces, and from places
like Spain and Ireland, the province reflects the California culture of a people who have
only recently settled here. Many of the Oblates were missionaries returning from the
overseas missions who settled in California rather than their Province of origin. Some
came from the Philippines, South Africa, Japan, and one from Brazil.
In stark contrast to Lowell, not many hometown Oblates here I am told.
A Province used to change
That is why, it is explained to me, the province sees the amalgamation as normal and
natural. It is no big deal to men who have lived with many other missionary transitions
and transplantings.
When they first came here in numbers during the 50's, the other provinces sent their
newly ordained men to staff schools, given that parishes were not then available.
The Bishops had more than enough priests for parish work. The Oblates took on three high
schools and over half the men of the province did their stint of teaching. The Oblates
moved out in the 70's. I wonder what stories of that work survive in the collective
memory?
What makes the Oblates of the West unique?
This feels so far away from the world of the East coast, so different in its
landscape, its climate, its history. I make a mental note to explore how much the Western
province is "Californian?" Are these men less bound to the tradition, more
creative and unorthodox, more enthusiastic about innovation. That is only my stereotype of
California, of course, but we shall test it out.
Now read the Daily Journal of Storywise's
visit to the Oblates of the West ...
If, after reading the Journal and
seeing the pictures, you have a story to add or a comment to make, go to the Living Stories Project Discussion and
log an entry under Oblates of the West.
