Father Barry experienced a myriad of challenges as he spent time over the years in foreign countries
The B.C. Catholic
From Ireland to South Africa to the United States, and now Canada, Father John Barry has experienced a number of cultures.
Every time he moved to a different country, he said, there was “always a big contrast, with big moves.”
“You move from one place to another (often), and it just becomes daily living,” said Father Barry. “It’s very interesting to see the contrast in people and having to adjust to a new way of life and culture.”
Father Barry was ordained a priest at All Hallows College in Dublin in 1959. “During that time the Church changed the liturgy from Latin to the vernacular. It was an exciting time.”
After his ordination Father Barry went to South Africa as a missionary. He found a very different culture there.
“In South Africa, those were the days of racial segregation between whites and non-whites. This posed some difficulties working with the African people, because you needed a permit to go into the African locations.”
The government at the time was very strict on racial mixing, and often prevented Father Barry from doing his missionary work. “I was frequently stopped by the police. They’d ask me what I was doing in a ‘black location.’ I eventually got special permission to work in the areas, but it never stopped the policemen from questioning me.”
The “Africans themselves were very friendly,” Father Barry recounted. “I had to learn Xhosa to speak to them. That was difficult, but I got to the point where I think they understood me.”
For one of his early homilies, Father Barry remembered where the congregation began laughing in response to his words. “I think I was saying the wrong word or using the wrong meaning!”
After 10 years “adapting to and adopting the native culture,” Father Barry moved to California to help disadvantaged youth. The differences between the two countries gave him culture shock.
“Social interaction and recreation was very different for the Africans (when compared to the Americans),” he said. “For them, going to Mass was a full day’s work. They would congregate after Mass for a long period of time, socialize, and meet each other.”
The African people were more relaxed about time, Father Barry found. Americans always had a “strict starting and ending time” for their activities.
Father Barry moved to Vancouver 15 years later. There he became the parish priest at several local parishes before finally retiring to the St. Joseph’s Residence for retired priests in September.
He now spends his time reading, saying Mass, and going for walks. “I’m the first one to live here, somewhat of a pioneer!” he laughed.
“The day Father Barry moved in, I was nervous,” Lisa Marquis, an administrative assistant at the Archdiocese of Vancouver, recounted. “I have been helping Father Barry since he moved in, and we couldn’t be more blessed!”
“His sense of humour, kindness, and spiritual life are a blessing to all of us.”
