Sad passing of Derry’s Fr. Seán Ó Cearbhalláin – the last Irish Jesuit missionary in Hong Kong
Fr. Seán Ó Cearbhalláin has been remembered as a ‘man of kindness and teaching’ after the Derry man – the last Irish Jesuit missionary in Hong Kong – passed away in his adopted home.
Fr. Ó Cearbhalláin was originally from Elmwood Street in the Bogside.
He passed aged 87 on August 23 at his Wise Mansion home in Hong Kong’s Mid-Levels neighbourhood ‘surrounded by friends and peers while Fr. Xavier, Superior of the Hong Kong Jesuit community and Fr. Clement, Jesuit and teacher, were celebrating mass beside him’, Irish Jesuits International confirmed.
"Fr Seán will be remembered as a man of kindness and teaching who dedicated many years to his students in Hong Kong and their communities in finding and nurturing their relationship with Christ.
“Seán’s legacy not only lives on through the lives of his students but his involvement and guidance in the Christian Life Community (CLC) in Hong Kong,” the IJI stated in tribute.
Born on October 28, 1938, he entered the Society of Jesus at St. Mary’s Novitiate in Co. Laois on September 7, 1956.
Ordained to the priesthood in his native Derry on July 31, 1971, he took his final vows as a Jesuit on November 5, 1975 at Wah Yan College Hong Kong.
Fr. Ó Cearbhalláin became fluent in Cantonese and Japanese, taught theology at the regional seminary in Hong Kong, and was ecclesiastical assistant at the CLC Hong Kong from 1978 to 2024.
He attended seven CLC World General Assemblies at Rome (1979), Providence (1982), Loyola (1986), Guadalajara (1990), Hong Kong (1994), Itaici (1998) and Nairobi (2003).
Fr. Seán is mourned by his surviving siblings Rev. Bro. Pearse, Veronica Saunders, Peter, Seamus and Siobhan O’Donnell and wider family circle.
A Requiem Mass will be celebrated in his memory at St. Eugene’s Cathedral on Saturday, September 5, at 3.30pm.
His Funeral Mass will take place in Hong Kong on Sunday, September 6, at 12.30pm Irish Time.
He will be buried on Monday, September 7, exactly 70 years from entering the Society of Jesus.
“As we remember and celebrate Seán’s life and ministry we recall all the Irish Jesuit missionaries who served for the past 100 years in Hong Kong. Seán was the last Irish Jesuit missionary in Hong Kong. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis,” the IJI said.