Missionary Distortion: Social Service Masquerading as Catholic Mission
The Catholic News Agency portal (December 1, 2025) profiles “Father” Robert McCahill, an 88-year-old Maryknoll “missionary” celebrating 50 years in Bangladesh. The article depicts him cycling through villages to assist disabled children while living in austere conditions. It emphasizes interreligious “love” over doctrinal clarity, quoting McCahill: “I travel around and reach people of all religions with love and work.” Muslim families praise his humanitarian efforts, with one stating: “Not everything is possible with money alone; many great things are possible with love.” The piece frames his work as embodying Gospel values through social service, devoid of sacramental or evangelistic priorities.
Naturalism Replaces Supernatural Mission
The article reduces McCahill’s vocation to humanitarianism, stripping it of ex opere operato (by the work worked) efficacy. His self-described mission—”reach people of all religions with love”—contradicts extra Ecclesiam nulla salus (outside the Church there is no salvation). By celebrating his acceptance among Muslims without conversion efforts, the narrative enshrines religious indifferentism, condemned by Pius IX in the Syllabus of Errors: “Good hope at least is to be entertained of the eternal salvation of all those who are not at all in the true Church of Christ” (Error 17). McCahill’s claim that “lov[ing] one another is the key to happiness” substitutes pagan ethics for the Depositum Fidei, reducing Christ’s commandment (John 13:34) to a social platitude.
Sacramental Abandonment and False Ministry
McCahill’s admission—”I celebrate Mass here myself every day”—exposes canonical irregularities. A priest celebrating Mass sine populo (without the people) while neglecting to offer it for the faithful violates his primary duty to “offer gifts and sacrifices for sins” (Hebrews 5:1). The article omits any mention of administering Last Rites, catechizing families, or combating Islamic errors—a dereliction Pius X denounced in Lamentabili Sane: “The Church listening cooperates… so that the Church teaching should only approve the common opinions” (Error 6). His bicycle, romanticized as a “vehicle of poor people,” becomes a symbol of apostolic poverty divorced from duty to teach all nations (Matthew 28:19).
Maryknoll’s Modernist Legacy
The Maryknoll order, founded in 1911, has long propagated syncretism. Its 1975 mission to Bangladesh—post-Vatican II—embraced the conciliar sect’s “dialogue” paradigm. McCahill’s moniker “Bob Bhai” (Brother Bob), bestowed by a Muslim, illustrates the cult of man replacing the cultus Dei. Pius XI’s Quas Primas rebukes such egalitarianism: “Rulers of states… fulfill this duty themselves and with their people… to maintain their authority inviolate” (¶32). Instead, McCahill’s work echoes the condemned Modernist tenet that “Christian doctrine was initially Jewish… then Greek and universal” (Lamentabili Sane, Error 60).
Omission of Christ’s Kingship
The article’s silence on McCahill’s submission to Christ the King reveals its naturalistic core. Nowhere does he invoke Dominus Iesus or call Muslims to baptism—the sine qua non of missionary work. Pius XI’s encyclical mandates: “Nations must be reminded that… they are bound to give public worship to Christ” (¶25). By contrast, McCahill’s “affection” from Muslims after three years signifies surrender to secularism, condemned in the Syllabus: “The Church ought to be separated from the State” (Error 55).
Conclusion: A Missionary Crisis
McCahill’s 50-year tenure epitomizes the conciliar sect’s apostasy—replacing the munus sanctificandi (office of sanctifying) with social work. True Catholic missions, like those of St. Francis Xavier, prioritized sacraments over bicycles, conversions over comfort. As Pius XII warned: “The greatest sin today is to lose the sense of sin”—a blindness evident in this celebration of futility. Until “missionaries” rediscover the regnum Christi, their wheels will spin in the mud of Modernism.
Source:
Father Bob and his bicycle: How this 88-year-old priest serves Bangladesh’s disabled children (catholicnewsagency.com)
Date: 01.12.2025