Fr. James Donnelly, S.J.

The Walking Encyclopedia of Chronology

“Back in 1901, there were three other Jesuits …” The pre-novice hesitated for a moment at the door and then turned back. A scholastic coming from the basketball court met him In the corridor and asked him “Did you drink enough water?” “No,” the pre-novice replied. “It seems that there is a talk going on in the refectory. I don’t want to disturb them.” “Talk?” the scholastic had a good laugh and said, “Don’t worry, come with me. I will show you.” They both walked in and there was Fr. Jim Donnelly having a chat with a friend while taking
tea.

We cant blame the pre-novice. It is true of anybody who happens to listen to him for the first time that he/she may mistake him for giving a prepared speech. That is his style even in ordinary conversation, slow, with proper pauses, with accurate choice of words, clear accent; and all his conversations are furnished with the correct years, days, and time of the events he narrates.

The Donnelly family tree shows that they are descended from Niall of all Nine Hostages, the king of Ireland, who died in 406. The tree shows plainly that the Donnellys are a collateral branch of the O’Neills. They derive their descent from Donnghal who flourished in the early years of the 11th centuary. The earliest well-known member of the clan was Goilla Macliag O’Donnelly of Feara Droma, now in County Tyrone, who fell in battle in 1177 at Downpatrick, defending the clan lands against the Norman, John de Courcey. The fortunes of the family are traced through the confiscation in Ulster, through to the battle of the Boyne where five Donnelly brothers were killed defending the bridge against William of Orange.

Skipping about eight centuries of the heroic history of the Donnelly family, we come to one of the offshoots of it, extending to Nepal. Fr. Jim Donnelly was born on August 1, 1929, in Cincinnati, Ohio. His parents were Mr. John F. Donnelly born in 1889, died in 1972; and Mrs. Bertha Peterson Donnelly, born in 1892, died in 1989.

He had two brothers, All three of them entered the Jesuits, but each of the other two left the Society, one year into their regency. His brothers Jack T. Donnelly married to Winnie and Dr. Larry I. Donnelly married to Bea are still alive along with all their children and grandchildren.

When Fr. Jim was in Third Grade, he had the desire to become a Jesuit in Patna. He got his inspiration from the Patna Newsletter that used to come to his family. In 1947 he entered the novitiate in Milford, Ohio. Four years of novitiate and juniorate were spent in Milford, 1947-51. He did his three years of philosophy at West
Baden College, Indiana. His Bachelor of Arts degree came to him in 1952.

His regency was at St. Xavier High School, Cincinnati, his alma mater. At the beginning of second year he was appointed to the missions and applied for his visa to India, along with fellow regent Fr. Jim Dressman. Both of them graduated from St. Xavier High School, Cincinnati, and were appointed to the missions; in 1955 at the same time.

In the summer of 1956, India refused his visa, and so was Jim Dressman’s. He was sent to theology in West Baden and told he was appointed to Nepal for his mission after theology.Jim Dressman was sent immediately to Nepal. During that summer he completed his Master of Arts work in English. Theology began in 1956; and it led to third year. 1958-59.

His ordination to priesthood came after third year of theology, June 14, 1959. After doing one more year of theology, he went to his tertianship in Cleveland, Ohio. In the summer of 1961, he left with three others for Patna and Nepal. Frs. Norm Harland and Dick Lambert went to Patna. Fr. Frank Hillebrand and he came to Nepal.

From 1961 to present he has been assigned to the two St. Xavier Schools in Godavari and Jawalakhel. He has been working in Nepal for 40 years teaching English language. He was the vice principal for twelve years and principal for ten years at St. Xavier’s Godavari.

During his time as principal at Godavari School, 1981-91, he orchestrated with others’ help the 35th anniversary of St. Xavier’s School, a day they had on June 5, 1986. There was a long lead-up to it, involving about 30 meeting with the 40 member committee, many of whom were fathers of boys at ,St. Xavier’s Godavari, and who had been students of himself and the other Fathers. Having Their Majesties at Godavari at that time was the most memorable recollection of his 40 Years in Nepal.

If someone needs an example of how to put one’s whole heart and soul into what one is doing, here he is. Fr. Jim had two heart attacks about a week prior to the big day, which led to quadruple bypass (open heart) surgery a bit later in that summer. He pressed too hard in getting the programme done.

Over these nearly 40 years his most memorable impression is the 3000 or so students he has taught and the ongoing help and interaction he has had and is still having with them. He meets them all the time, and many come for the needed letter of recommendation that they require to move on to their next stage in life. On-going education after having had them in his charge for one or two years in their school days, that is his mission in life and has been for 40 years. He considers this to be the most enriching experience of his life here in Nepal. So much so is his love for his students, he calls them “My people.”

In 1991 he ventured Into textbook writing. He has written three books mainly for the imparting of English language in the schools, The Writing Handbook, The Workbook I for Writing Handbook, and The Teacher’s Key. Besides his regular classes in the school, he also had a few years of teaching in minor seminaries in Nepal. At present, his full time at work as a teacher in St. Xavier’s Jawalakhel. His hobby has been to write his own family history, which has 375 page in its 8th edition, 1998.

Among his activities, the most important ones are probably his various trips abroad, during which he has done for fundraising for the construction of school buildings as well as houses for the Jesuits in Nepal. His outstanding knack of channeling the generosity of his own relatives and friends to the Nepal Region has been a remarkable help in building up the infrastructure of Jesuit activities in Nepal. Recently, for six months, he was in America for raising funds for the new library and school hall block for St. Xavier’s Jawalakhel. His cousin, Thomas J. Donnelly, died in 1994, had been a major contributor for Catholic Church of Nepal as well as for the Jesuits. The top floor of this three-story building is to be named Donnelly Hall.

His most popular activity that has served hundreds of people, including the younger Jesuits to understand Nepal, is his own hobby of showing slides. The large collection of slides features the development of Nepal at various chronological intervals, the growth of the Jesuits in Nepal, the marvelous mountain scenes of Nepal, and his own family history.

When he was asked to share about his vision of the Nepal Jesuit Society at the dawn of her golden jubilee, he clearly struck on certain points that could be summarized as follows.

He considers the schools are the chief apostolate in the Region, which actually pave the way for all the other areas of ministry for the Jesuits and for the Church in Nepal. It is through the schools that we get rooted in the Kingdom of Nepal. Educating the younger generation foreseeing the growth of the Kingdom of Nepal as well as the kingdom of God is probably the best ministry that one could undertake if one feels a call towards it. He says, “Rooted in the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm, which distinguishes us from all the other private educational institutions, we can do marvels to promote a value system which will create a sense of spiritual life, academic excellence, and social justice among the students as they grow in our educational institutions.”

He proposes that we should reach up to the level of entering into public service such as government organized development offices, so that we as Jesuits of South Asia could be called to run them or to be partners in them.

He expects that there will be a special commission for full-time vocation promotion. He hopes that our new vocation promotion policies should also bring in people who are research oriented to continue to develop the activities in the institutions like the Human Resources Research Development Centre.

He also hopes for a Nepal Region Development Office to come into place soon, modeled on the ones in the Chicago and Detroit Provinces. The big difference is Asians will run Nepal’s for Asian needs.

We should keep up the spirit of availability, as well as we should all be firm in our spiritual life and personal prayer such as the Rosary, Examines, etc.

He suggests that all the Jesuits in Nepal should have at least a Master’s degree. He reaffirms that our study should not end with a degree alone, but it should be taken as a lifelong process. He warns all the young Jesuits that they should have a regular pattern of physical exercise, at least 5 or 6 days a week, which would keep them going further in their life.

He says that the younger tiger Jesuits should also be interested in activities such as retreat preaching, writing books, and propagating devotion to the Sacred Heart.

We should be in touch with the remote areas of Nepal and be ready to open up mission stations there. Our developmental interests should include education of remote areas, social work, and environmental development. He points out the need of constant personal communication between us in order to encourage one another in our areas of missionary activities. He foresees the need of all the individuals to be skilled in handling transportation needs (such as bikes, Jeeps, etc.) which mobilize us faster in our ministries. We should be warm hearted, outgoing, generous, cheerful, optimistic, and forgiving.

One of the areas, according to him, we need to develop is media education. We need to create, analyze, and philosophize about movies, dramas, newspapers, etc.

He also emphasizes the importance of catechetical and pastoral experiences and training in these for all the scholastics. We should also be good managers. Basic skills of management, building maintenance, money handling, bookkeeping, and accounting should be expected of every Jesuit. Equally important for all of us is to become fundraisers from among our family members and friends. Right from their earliest days as Jesuits, St. Ignatius, St. Peter Canisius, and other early Jesuits set a splendid example for Jesuits of all times of apostolic fundraising for our works.

Finally he concluded with his own word of wisdom for the growth of the Nepal Jesuit Society and her effective ministry. “As Jesuits, let us be available in our given ministry and put 100% effort into each of our apostolates.” These words of wisdom, emphasizing giving full hearted effort to our apostolates, can be seen as a logical premise that leads into the ideology expressed in the motto of his own ancestral family, which is Spectamur agendo, meaning “By our deeds you will know us.”

Looking back A the marvelous work done by Fr. Jim in various fields, one has to admit the fact that the Nepal Region would not have been in the same pace of development unless someone like him had done that part well. And we are sure that fire of gratitude in all our hearts towards him will never be extinguished.

The quiz master asked the last question, “Which month and year did Thisby give birth to her fist puppy?” All the scholastics looked at each other for a moment, and then one got up and said, “Hold on, I will get the answer in a second,” and walked out of the room. The quiz master was puzzled, “Where has he gone?” Another scholastic replied, “I guess he is making a phone call to Fr. Jim, and will be back soon!”

(Text and Pictures from the Nepal Region’s 50th Anniversary Book, 2001)