Fr Leo Gopal is a priest of the Diocese of Myitkyina, in Kachin State, Myanmar, who is currently visiting Dalgan. Fr Pat Colgan spoke to him about his family’s links with the Columbans.
Fr Leo Gopal great grandparents were brought from Tamil Nadu, India, to work as civil servants for the then British colony of Burma.
His grandmother “Teacher Frances”, Uncle Lucas and Aunt Monica were all teachers at the St Columban’s High School in Myitkyina, while his grandfather, Francis U Ngunt, was a police officer in the newly independent Union of Burma.
Bishop John Howe was a close family friend and baptised young Leo. By the time Leo reached secondary school age, all Church schools had been nationalised as the military had taken over the country in 1962, and ordered post-1948 missionaries out in 1966.
The last Columbans departed in 1979.
Fr Leo recalls a retreat given by the Columbans, during which “a passion [was ignited] for the faith within me, illuminating my path and shaping my sense of vocation. It was a pivotal moment that inspired my journey toward the priesthood, serving as a testament to these retreats’ profound spiritual renewal”.
Fr Leo Gopal at the grave of the Columban who baptised him, Bishop John Howe. Photo: Fr Pat Colgan.
The Columbans had in fact entered Upper Burma in 1936 (the Columban Sisters in 1947), focusing on the Kachin and Shan peoples. Fifty-one priests served there, enduring “green hell” conditions (like malaria, war, challenging jungle and mountain terrains). Among them, eight Columban Fathers, including Msgr Patrick Usher, and one Sister, gave their life in Kachin Land.
During World War II, figures like Fr James Stuart supported the local Kachin people and Allied forces (like the “Merrill’s Marauders”) against the Japanese, aiding in the rescue of Allied pilots.
After the war, the British government made Fr Stuart an officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire and the US government awarded him the Medal of Freedom.
Fr Laurence McMahon on his mission round
The Columban Sisters focused on education, health (especially in more recent years, those living with HIV/AIDS), and rural community support.
In 1965, Bishop Howe ordained the first Kachin priest, Fr Paul Grawng and then again as the first local Bishop of Myitkyina in 1977.
All these events, and more (such as Columbans opening schools, clinics and running for their lives from lions!) are described in a book called ‘Illuminating Kachin Land’ which Fr Leo began writing after recovering from heart surgery in 2022, as well as recounting the work of the Paris Foreign Missionaries, who worked in Kachin Land from 1856-1936.
Early Columban Sisters in Myanmar
Fr Leo has spent most of his priestly life teaching in St Columban’s Minor Seminary and St Luke’s Socio-pastoral Centre for Catechists in Mytkyina, and has a passion that the stories and sacrifices of the French, and then the Columban missionaries, not be lost to the new generations of seminarians and lay catechists.
He is presently spending time in Dalgan Park, refining his research about the Columbans, getting to know more about Ireland, and will do a retreat with the Jesuits at Manresa, Dublin.
He, and many others, are deeply grateful that the Columbans restarted their mission in Kachin State in 2003 (the Sisters), and 2006 (the priests), focusing on pastoral work, education, health (especially drug addiction among youth) and peace-building.
This is particularly important because, after a further brief period of democracy in Myanmar, led by Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD party’s landslide wins in 2015 and 2020, her government operated in a fragile power-sharing arrangement with the military until a February 2021 coup, which occurred just before the new government’s inauguration, and civil strife has raged ever since.
Present members of Myanmar Mission Unit – Columbans Michael Javier (LM), Kurt Zion, Verano Lee, Jee Hoon Augustine, Eamon Sheridan.
At present there are four Columban priests, two seminary candidates, four Columban Sisters, four postulants and one lay missionary, working in various ministries in Mandalay and Myitkyina.
Fr Francis Xavier Nbwi La Aung became the first Kachin to be ordained a Columban in May 2024, and Sr Sut Nam Bok became the first local Columban Sister to profess First Vows last year
All these are great signs of solidarity with and commitment to the Church and people of Myanmar in this time of conflict and suffering.
The vision of Bishops Usher, Howe and Sr Ita O’Mahoney have in a sense come full circle, and locals such as Fr Leo Gopal are living testimony to the people’s gratitude to them.
The first eight Columbans in Myanmar.