Robert McCulloch SSC is an Australian priest and member of the
Missionary Society of St. Columban
The Missionary Society of St. Columban ( la, Societas Sancti Columbani pro Missionibus ad Exteros) (abbreviated as S.S.C.M.E. or SSC), commonly known as the Columbans, is a missionary Catholic society of apostolic life of Pontifical Right foun ...
, who served in Pakistan from 1978 to 2011. He was decorated by the
Government of Pakistan
The Government of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=hakúmat-e pákistán) abbreviated as GoP, is a federal government established by the Constitution of Pakistan as a constituted governing authority of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provin ...
for his services to health and education in 2012.
Early life
McCulloch was born in 1946 in
Alexandra
Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "prot ...
,
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
, to Bruce John McCulloch and Jean Frances Crowe. He was educated at St Patrick's School, Mentone, Our Lady of the Assumption Parish Primary School,
Cheltenham
Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...
, and St Bede's College, Mentone.''The Far East'', September 1995.
McCulloch entered the Society of St Columban in 1964, spending his initial year of probation in
Sassafras, Victoria
Sassafras is a locality and township within Greater Melbourne, beyond the Melbourne metropolitan area Urban Growth Boundary, 43 km east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Knox and Shire of Yarra Ranges ...
. He began his studies at St Columban's Seminary in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
in 1965 and was
ordained
Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...
a priest in 1970. In 1976 he received a
Master of Arts
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
in Church History from
The Catholic University of America
The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private university, private Catholic church, Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution ...
in
Washington, D.C.
)
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, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
Since 1978 he has worked to increase the education and basic health care of the poor and mainly non-Christian people of Pakistan.CathNews 18 September 2011 /ref>
Kotri
Kotri ( sd, ڪوٽڙي, ur, ) is a city and the headquarters of the Kotri Taluka of Jamshoro District of Sindh province in Pakistan. Located on the right bank of the Indus River, it is the 29th largest city in Pakistan by population.
Name
The ...
, a rural area east of
Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
; and
Machar Colony
Machar Colony ( ur, ) (Bengali: মাছাব় কলোনি) or Machiara Colony ( ur, ) (Bengali: মাছিয়াব়া কলোনি) is an unplanned settlement in Karachi, Pakistan, located near the Port of Karachi and Lyari. ...
, a community of 300 Catholic families in the slums of
Hyderabad
Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...
. After a spell in
Badin
Badin ( Sindhi and ur, ) is the main city and capital of Badin District in Sindh, Pakistan. It lies east of the Indus River. It is the 87th largest city in Pakistan.
Badin is often called 'Sugar State' due to its production of sugar.
Badin ...
, he started working with the semi-nomadic
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
Tharparkar District
Tharparkar (Dhatki/ sd, ٿرپارڪر, ur, ), also known as Thar, is a district in Sindh province in Pakistan headquartered at Mithi. Before Indian independence it was known as the Thar and Parkar district.
The district is the largest in Sin ...
. During this period, McCulloch helped the tribe design an
alphabet
An alphabet is a standardized set of basic written graphemes (called letters) that represent the phonemes of certain spoken languages. Not all writing systems represent language in this way; in a syllabary, each character represents a syll ...
for their language, for which he called on two linguists for their help. After the local population had opted for using the Sindhi alphabet, with a few minor changes, people gathered proverbs and sayings and launched the first Parkari Kohli newspaper, ''Prem Paracha''. In this he helped to save the native language and culture.
McCulloch has had as a goal of his ministry the improvement of health care in the country. He sits on the administrative board for St. Elizabeth's Hospital, Hyderabad. He has established an outreach medical program at the hospital to provide vaccinations for infants and children, medical care for their mothers, and diagnosis and care of tuberculosis patients.
McCulloch has also developed schools in Pakistan that are now attended by more than 550 children. He has chaired the Board of Governors for the Centre of Academic Excellence, a project he initiated in 2007 to provide educational, spiritual, moral and personal formation for 100 Catholic boys.
McCulloch has lectured at the
National Catholic Institute of Theology
The National Catholic Institute of Theology (NCIT) is a Catholic theological institute established in Karachi, Pakistan in September 1997. It offers academic courses leading to a diploma in theology, as well as programs for laypeople and religio ...
in
Karachi, Pakistan
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
in liturgy and church history.
McCulloch has established a
palliative care
Palliative care (derived from the Latin root , or 'to cloak') is an interdisciplinary medical caregiving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses. Wit ...
unit. It is the first home-based palliative care unit for the terminally ill in Pakistan.
The
St. Vincent de Paul Society
The Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP or SVdP or SSVP) is an international voluntary organization in the Catholic Church, founded in 1833 for the sanctification of its members by personal service of the poor.
Innumerable Catholic parishes have ...
of Victoria, through its overseas development initiatives, is providing ongoing financial support for McCulloch's health and educational programs.
In October 2012, the head of the Vatican's
Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization
The Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization (Latin: ''Pontificium Consilium de Nova Evangelizatione''), also translated as Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization, was a pontifical council of the Roman Curia whose cre ...
, Archbishop
Rino Fisichella
Salvatore Fisichella (born 25 August 1951), commonly known as Rino Fisichella, is an Italian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church with the rank of archbishop. He is the current Pro-prefect for the Section of New Evangelization of the Dicastery ...
Emmanuel Neno this work was completed in 2014. The Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization has approved the Urdu translation and authorised its publication. The translation took 13 years to complete.
Mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...
to celebrate Sister
John Berchmans Conway
John Berchmans Conway, R.J.M. (born Bernadette Conway 1929 – 21 December 2022), usually known as Sister Berchmans, was an Irish Roman Catholic religious sister and teacher who worked in Pakistan for 60 years. In 2012 she was decorated by th ...
RJM and McCulloch receiving the country's highest civilian award.
McCulloch has been transferred to
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
and is serving as the Procurator General of the Society of St Columban.UCANews 27 March 2012 /ref>
On 9 May 2012, McCulloch was inducted into the St Bede's Old Collegians Hall of Fame.