Healing through humanity

Not too many people can say they have stepped into the shoes of saint, but as the former international head of the Order of St. Camillus, Killucan-based Fr. Frank Monks can.As Superior General of the Order of St. Camillus between 2001 and 2007, not only did he follow in the footsteps of the Italian patron saint of the sick, but also of the many Irishmen and women who have represented the country overseas either in the service of God, or from a humanitarian standpoint.The warm and good humoured cleric has, over five decades in the order, moved seamlessly between being an effective leader and administrator, on a global as well as local scale, to touching the lives of the ill on a one-to-one basis, either as a carer, chaplain or counsellor.“My Catholic identity was forged from growing up in the small fishing village of Howth in a loving, down-to-earth and devout family,” Fr. Monks said, recalling his youth on the coast of Co. Dublin.“We felt secure in what was a very close-knit, if insular, fishing community. Living on a peninsula, we were almost like island people, although only nine miles from Dublin city centre.”One of eleven children, seven of whom survived into adulthood, Fr. Monks said that he was raised by his parents “to make up our own minds, and take responsibility for our actions”.His father, a fisherman, was a veteran of the War of Independence, and his maternal grandfather’s home in the Glen of Aherlow in Tipperary was used as a safe house for IRA commanders like Dan Breen and Sean Treacy.Fr. Monks was encouraged to join the Order of St. Camillus as a teenager, thanks to the “warmth of personality” of a Camillian who lived not far from his home in Howth. “He lived only a few miles away from us, and I was always struck by how his mother and sister - lay people - worked with him in caring for the sick, in the spirit of St. Camillus,” he recalled.After completing his Leaving Certificate, the young Frank packed his bags to join the order at their headquarters at Riverstown House, Killucan (which, incidentally, was purchased by the order 75 years ago last week).“Killucan train station was still open at the time, and I remember a tractor coming to collect our bags.“I did my spiritual year, or my novitiate, at the Juniorate, where Fr. John Cleary was a great influence on me. I was ordained in Rome in 1965.”His time in Rome was “incredible,” during the pontificate of Pope John XIII, and at a time when the world was experiencing tectonic shifts in religion and politics. The United States had its first Catholic president; the Second Vatican Council convened in 1962, and Fr. Monks was there to witness it all, majoring in spirituality and psychology as part of his studies.Returning to Killucan, he became principal of the Camillian school there in 1968, until it was closed in 1974. “Vocations weren’t forthcoming, so the school was wound down in the mid 70s, and I oversaw its transition to a nursing home.“We were going back to what we should have been doing in a way, looking after the elderly and the sick, so transforming to a nursing home was a natural progression.”After leaving Killucan, Fr. Monks became the provincial (head) of the order’s Anglo-Irish Province, and was based in Blackrock, Co. Dublin for the duration of this nine year appointment. He then ran the health desk at the Conference of Major Religious Superiors, before going back to his Camillian roots as a chaplain at the Mater Hospital in 1986.“These were the happiest years of my life,” he said. “I spent five years in the Mater, and I absolutely loved it.“During that time I had the opportunity to introduce the concept of lay chaplains, and involving lay people in the spiritual aspect of the hospital.“I had a marvellous time, and it was a privilege to work with the staff, and such professional and well known surgeons like Maurice Neligan and Freddie Woods.”Remarking on the “tremendous humanity” of the Mater staff, he recalled the arrival of the first AIDS patient at the hospital in 1989.“It was a frightening time, and there was so much stigma and fear attached to AIDS, because everyone was learning what the disease was about,” he said.“I remember the first AIDS patient I encountered. At first, she wasn’t able to tell me that she had AIDS, and when she finally did, the day after I met her, and she said ‘I didn’t think you’d come back’.”This early experience with AIDS patients prepared Fr. Monks for his future work with the order, as it spearheaded the religious effort to combat the disease in Africa.Returning to Rome to serve on the Camillian ministry secretariat, Fr. Monks got an opportunity to travel the world and see the work of the order in the developing world. “Rome was your base, and the world was your oyster,” he said. “It was a beautiful time, seeing the Church in Asia, Africa, the Americas and other parts of Europe, seeing how universal it was, and how Catholics expressed themselves in different areas.”He came back to Ireland as provincial once again in 1995, and promoted the greater involvement of the laity in the organisation. In 2001, this most humble of clerics got the call he never expected.That year, delegates from the Camillians’ general chapter gathered in Rome to elect a new Superior General, and Fr. Monks’ contribution to the order was recognised when his colleagues selected him for the global leadership role.“It was very daunting to become the successor of St. Camillus,” he remarked, “and challenging to have the entire order in your care. We were dealing with 6,000 of our own people across the world, and then many more thousands of lay people we work with.”During his tenure as the order’s first English-speaking Superior, Fr. Monks spent much time shepherding his brothers in combating the “huge reality” of HIV/AIDS in Africa, and catering to the needs of over 40 million sufferers.“This is by far the greatest humanitarian problem the world has ever faced,” he explained, “and I was so proud of the fact that our Camillian confreres are responsible for 27 projects, as they seek to make some kind of response.“And these are not mini projects - one that comes to mind caters for the needs of over 150 full blown adult HIV/AIDS sufferers, while looking after over a thousand orphans, two hundred and fifty of whom were born with AIDS transmitted from mother to child.“That the mother to child transmission problem has almost been erased is due in no small way to the scientific skills of some of our religious and their research.“The main challenge for religious organisations like ours is to develop and maintain dialogue and mutual understanding with medical science, and to prepare ourselves theologically and ethically to do that.”As an example of what seemed like an insurmountable problem in Africa at one stage, Fr. Monks recalls visiting a house in Uganda, where a woman looked after 32 of her grandchildren - many of them suffering from AIDS - because all of their parents, including her own sons and daughters, had died from the disease.He returned to Killucan in 2007, witnessing a changed Ireland which appeared to have become “very materialistic”.“We’re paying a price for it now, although in general people are beginning to stop and ask themselves questions,” he said.“Progress is a part of life, and while some of it is good, some of it has been not so good.It would be a pity if we lost some of our basic values, because all we’d be achieving is throwing the baby out with the dirty water.”Fr. Monks reports that when the Heart of St. Camillus arrived in Killucan recently, over 40,000 worshippers came from across Ireland to venerate the relic.As the first Superior General to allow the Heart to leave Italy, he was delighted that its arrival in Ireland generated so much interest. “It was particularly pleasing to see the great cross-section of age groups, especially the younger generation,” he said.“At the same time, it was so sad to see so many young mothers and fathers there with sick children. But everyone spoke of a real peace in the place, and commented on how prayerful and reverent everything was.“One of the main things that appealed to people was that they could see the heart, touch it, and spend so much time in its presence.”Fr. Monks reserved particular praise for the lay organisations, charities and public bodies which handled security, traffic management and other matters for the four days of worship.He was also delighted with the people of Killucan and surrounding areas, who effectively took over a lot of the organisation behind the event.“The devotion, compassion and caring shown by people was incredible - it was the true spirit of St. Camillus,” said Fr. Monks.