WALKING WITH THE EXCLUDED
Speaking about his Indian odyssey that began in 1965, Fr Paul Horan SJ says: “When we arrived in India, Kevin Cronin was there to meet us, so it was not as daunting as it would have been for the first group of Australian Jesuits who were missioned to Hazaribag in 1951. At 23, it was still a bit of an adventure really.” Photo: David McMahon
By David McMahon, Communications Manager, Society of Jesus in Australia
What brought you to the Jesuits?
Growing up in a Catholic family, I asked myself if I had a vocation. That was the way in those days. What brought me to the Jesuits was a visit by Fr Lou Lachal SJ in 1959 to my school in Leederville, Western Australia. Lou was in the first group of Australian-based Jesuits missioned to India in 1951 and was in Australia for medical reasons.
I was in my final year at school when Lou came there and spoke to the class. He showed us bows and arrows used by the Adivasis in his area. That was not what impressed me, but it was the man himself and his presence. This is what led me to apply to the Jesuits.
What was the next step in your passage towards the Jesuits?
When I had finished school and the results had come out I wrote to the Jesuits. I didn’t get a reply for a while. And then Fr Jeremiah Hogan, who was the Provincial at the time, came to Perth and I got a note asking me to come and see him. So off I went and I had what they call the “four sheets”. This is where four Jesuits interview you and give their opinion on your suitability.
But you weren’t prepared for that, were you?
No. And I’d written to them in January, after the results came out. This was getting on to March or April, and they wanted me to go to Melbourne within a week to join the novitiate because the Long Retreat for the novices was starting about a fortnight later.
Did your parents have any inkling that you were considering a vocation with the Jesuits?
I presume they did. I can’t remember the details. I would have talked to them about having written to the Jesuits. But the move would have come as a big surprise, as it did to me when they said they wanted me there very quickly. A week after meeting the Provincial, I was in Watsonia to join the novitiate.
So you had to pack up really quickly to move from one end of the country to the other. What did the Long Retreat do for you personally as a teenager?
In my mind at the time, I suppose it made me want to commit myself. That said, as a teenager back then, you’re not really very deep, so it probably wouldn’t have had the impact on me that it would have had later. Nonetheless, it confirmed my commitment to go on.
You were born in Ireland and while you grew up here, you still have an Irish passport – so technically, you are the last Irish Jesuit in Australia.
(Smiling) I suppose you could say that, although I’ve never thought of it that way. There were Irish Jesuits in Watsonia in those days but I never considered myself Irish because I was brought up in Western Australia.
How old were you when your family moved from Ireland to Australia and what do you remember about arriving here?
I was seven years old. I remember boarding the ship and then arriving in Australia weeks later, when it was so early in the morning that it was still dark. At that age, it was all a bit of an adventure.
Your next major voyage was leaving for India. Were you chosen to go there or did you volunteer?
That’s a curly question. When I first wrote to the Jesuits, I probably expressed that I was interested in the India mission. Years later, when Fr Boylen, the Provincial, asked me if I was still interested in the Mission and whether I would like to go there, I said yes, I was ready to go.
Fr Tony Herbert SJ (right) with Fr Paul Horan SJ at Hawthorn in 2024. They travelled to India together in 1965. Photo: David McMahon
I didn’t hear anything more and then one day, Tony Herbert and I were asked to go and have a medical. I didn’t know it at the time, but the purpose of this check-up was a precursor to being sent to India.
When nothing more was said, Tony thought maybe I had been chosen to go to India, whereas I assumed he had been chosen. Then it turned out that both of us thought someone else was going, because neither of us had heard anything!
The announcement came out eventually and Herb and I were being sent to India together.
That was 1965. Tony boarded the P&O ‘Orcades’ in Melbourne, while you embarked on the same ship when it docked in Fremantle, en route to India.
Yes. That was in April 1965. Before we arrived in Bombay (now Mumbai), the ship called in at Colombo. We disembarked to meet some people. And when we were getting back on the ship at night, there were people selling coconuts, so we bought one each and drank the coconut water, but the next day both of us had a bad attack of the runs! Not the best state to arrive in India.
When we arrived in India, Kevin Cronin was there to meet us, so it was not as daunting as it would have been for the first group of Australian Jesuits who were missioned to Hazaribag in 1951. At 23, it was still a bit of an adventure really. I knew there were other Australian Jesuits there who were fairly comfortable with local dialects and who knew the life, the customs, the culture, the traditions and the land. And I sort of thought, well, if they can do it, I probably can as well.
I suppose we were very open-minded. And of course, there was a great deal of respect for India. I remember when we were learning Hindi at this language school, there were a number of American doctors and nurses there as well. One day, one of them of them said to me, “You must have done a very good orientation course.” But we hadn’t done any special orientation course.
I think the Novitiate and early training at Watsonia had somehow prepared us for what was to come our way. We were ready to take on anything.
“When I first wrote to the Jesuits, I probably expressed that I was interested in the India mission. Years later, when Fr Boylen, the Provincial, asked me if I was still interested in the Mission and whether I would like to go there, I said yes, I was ready to go.” Photo: David McMahon
To enquire about becoming a Jesuit in Australia, contact vocations@sjasl.org.au and for more info, visit our Vocations page.