Shay Cullen

Writer in Olongapo, Zambales, Philippines

Shay Cullen

Writer in Olongapo, Zambales, Philippines

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Born in Dublin, Ireland, 27 March 1943, Father Shay Cullen was ordained a member of the Missionary Society of St. Columban in April 1969. That same year, he left his family in Ireland as he was assigned to missionary work in Olongapo City, Philippines. Fr Shay Cullen worked as an assistant parish priest in St. Joseph’s Parish, Olongapo City where he was assigned to teach students in the parish school who were skeptical, unruly and had little respect for authority- many of whom were fathered by US sailors who abandoned them at an early age. He made a difference in the lives of these youth by encouraging them to speak freely about their problems and by listening to them and winning some of them off drugs. Later on, Fr Shay Cullen was assigned to St. William’s Parish in San Marcelino. There together with the Daughters of Charity and the Philippine Band of Mercy, he organized a project that benefited several children with cleft lip and palate. Then with catechists and volunteers, he organized health education classes in the villages to dispel the myth that birth deformity was some kind of punishment for past misdeeds. He also helped the families of the victims of the San Isidro massacre.