Father James P. Colligan Celebrates 60 Years As Missioner

Father James P. Colligan, M.M., of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, will celebrate his 60th anniversary of ordination as a Maryknoll priest on Sunday, June 28, 2015. He is one of 42 Maryknollers to commemorate his ordination to the priesthood or Final Oath as a Maryknoll Brother in ceremonies to be held at the Maryknoll Mission Center in Ossining, New York.

After ordination on June 11, 1955, Father Colligan was assigned to Japan. Language study and parish assignments in Sapporo and Kyoto Dioceses occupied his early years there, including a four-year assignment as pastor and kindergarten principal in the coal mining town of Mikasa in Hokkaido, and instructor in English Literature at the Iwamizawa Division of Hokkaido University. He also provided articles and photos of Japan to church publications abroad.

In 1966, Father Colligan was assigned to full-time writing and photography. In 1968, after completing advanced studies in journalism in the United States, he returned to Japan. Father Colligan accepted a short-term assignment with the public information office of the Japan Bishops’ Conference and then obtained Japanese Government accreditation as a correspondent of the U.S. Bishops’ News Service in Washington, D.C.

Father Colligan served a year as Tokyo Bureau Chief for the Union of Catholic Asian News (UCAN) and then resumed his affiliation with the U.S. Bishops’ agency, now known as Catholic News Service (CNS). He was thrice elected chairman of Foreign Press in Japan (FPIJ), the organization representing foreign media interests.

For a decade, Father Colligan contributed a regular column on Catholic activities in Japan for the Protestant publication Japan Christian Quarterly. He was co-editor and contributor to the book Christianity in Japan, 1971-1990 and translated for publication the Sophia University Survey The Image of Christianity in Japan. For Maryknoll, Father Colligan provided editorial materials about Asia. He also researched and compiled a history of Maryknoll’s long presence among ethnic Japanese.

Father Colligan maintains membership in professional organizations, including the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada (CPA), the Overseas Press Club (OPC) in New York City and the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan (FCCJ) in Tokyo, which awarded him life membership in 1994 for his professional contributions.

In 1997, Father Colligan was assigned to the United States with residence in Los Angeles. Although he retired in 2003, Father Colligan continued to assist St. Francis Xavier Parish and its Japanese Catholic Mission in liturgical and sacramental functions, and occasionally served at the Archdiocesan Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral.

Father Colligan moved to Maryknoll, New York, in 2012 and then to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 2014.

Father Colligan was born on October 2, 1928 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he attended St. Mary’s Grade School (1934-1942) and graduated from Central Catholic High School in 1946. After two years at Duquesne University, Father Colligan entered Maryknoll in September 1948. He earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Maryknoll College, Glen Ellen, Illinois (1951). From Maryknoll Seminary in Ossining, Father Colligan earned an S.T.B. degree in sacred theology (1954) and a master’s degree in religious education (1955). He also holds a master’s degree in journalism from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School (1968).

The Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers follow Jesus in serving the poor and others in need in 26 countries that include the U.S. All Catholics are called to mission through baptism and confirmation, and Maryknoll’s mission education outreach in parishes and schools throughout the country engages U.S. Catholics in mission through vocations, prayer, donations and as volunteers. Maryknoll missioners share God’s love and the Gospel in combating poverty, providing healthcare, building communities and promoting human rights. For more information, click here.