Rufus Halley

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Rev. Rufus Halley, Society of the Holy Cross Columban missionary was a linguist and peacemaker who spent more than 20 years promoting Muslim/Christian dialogue in Asia.

A native of Butlerstown, County Waterford, Republic of Ireland, he was appointed to the Philippines shortly after his ordination to the priesthood in 1969. He lived among and ministered to the rural poor.

In 1980, he moved to Mindanao in the south of the Philippines and volunteered to engage in the Columbans' dialogue with Muslims. In a bid to break down the mutual distrust and mistrust, Fr. Halley integrated with both Christian and Muslim communities by learning two local languages and worked for many years in a store owned by a Muslim selling rice and corn.

Father Halley died, aged 57, on August 28, 2001 when he was shot by would-be kidnappers on his way home to his parish. He was mourned by both Christians and Muslims in Mindanao. Both communities kept vigil by his coffin and hundreds of Muslims attended his funeral mass and burial^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Posthumous

The Auroro Aragon-Quezon Foundation in Manila made a posthumous award to Fr. Rufus Halley for his contributions in Lanao del Sur, Philippines. According to the citation, Fr. Halley “went beyond the ordinary call of a missionary as he exhibited unfailingly the zeal of senseless armed conflict”. Davao Archbishop Fernando Cpalla described him as “a tireless and compassionate peacemaker and shepherd of the flock.”