Fr. Frank Connon: Go, go your merry way, you are a child of God
Fr. Frank Connon, CsSR with the late Cebu Arch. Ricardo Cardinal Vidal
For quite some time during this pandemic, I have been thinking of gathering my documentary projects in the Philippines in order to archive my work. I was glad that early this year 2021, I was able to gather two of my early works on the lives of Redemptorist priests Fr. Louie Hechanova and Fr. Leo James English.
The producer, the late Fr. Frank Connon, CSsR in Cebu, opened before me the world of film documentaries, which was a great opportunity to expand my media technology skill.
I remember Fr. Frank with fondness. He was a well-loved eccentric priest who in his advancing years, decided to meld Zen Buddhism rituals into the Holy Mass. He would do it every Sunday in the chapel he built in the far-flung mountain of Cebu City. I sometimes joined him and his crew, along with my daughter Nikki.
The fresh air and vegetables for lunch was delicious and nourishing. Fr. Frank’s sermon during the Mass too had always been comforting and full of wit, whether he spoke in English or in my Cebuano language.
Fr. Louie Hechanova - A Life for Others
In February this year, I got hold of my first documentary film about Fr. Louie Hechanova, thanks to digital editor Renato Regis who searched it thoroughly from his own files. The Hechanova film titled Fr. Louie Hechanova: A Life for Others was finished in 2003.
Among many things, Fr. Louie was an activist priest who headed the Redemptorist Church in Cebu and helped found the Goodwill Industries in Cebu which hired people with special abilities as industrial workers. He passed away due to a massive heart attack just when he accepted the job as spiritual adviser to then President Gloria M. Arroyo. I was glad to have secured the raw film from digital editor Renato Regis and I uploaded it on YouTube. https://youtu.be/p63T1vS7-dA
I believe Fr. Louie’s life of 61 years continues to be an inspiration for the clergy to take the side of the poor. He was brilliant as he was fearless. Perhaps, God summoned Fr. Louie early to spare him from the political mud in the Philippines. It would be crazy to hear if Fr. Louie apologized for Arroyo’s large-scale corruption.
With the horrendous decay and death going on in the Philippines right now, I think that remembering Fr. Louie’s life would be inspirational.
Fr. Leo English - His Life and Times
My work on the life of Fr. James Leo English, again a project with Fr. Frank had been left out missing. I finished this project in 2005-2006. Fr. English is also a Redemptorist priest who was mainly responsible for the creation of the English-Tagalog and Tagalog-English dictionaries for 18 years. He also institutionalized the Wednesday novenas for the Mother of Perpetual Help in Lipa and Baclaran where he served for 51 years. https://youtu.be/5XGd3Nmr4aQ
I realized why Redemptorist priests were so fluent in speaking Tagalog and Cebuano, the dictionaries of Fr. Leo English was a valuable contribution. The late Ricardo Cardinal Vidal took part in the documentary and described Fr. Leo as a gentle white priest who made his first confession joyous.
On the week of February 15, 2021, I got a message from digital editor Renato Regis who worked with me on the Connon documentary films. He wrote on Facebook messenger saying that he has retrieved the English file from his old office! I was ecstatic!
These two projects were my baptismal in documentary filming. I am forever grateful to Fr. Frank for the career break and for keeping my soul whole in his most wonderfully weird way of guidance.
Fr. Frank, who was himself a passionate photographer and filmmaker, did all the interview and filming with the two priests. They were his friends and I have not met Fr. Leo and Fr. Louie in person as they all died when these projects were made.
Fr. Frank had a heart of honoring his fellow priests through film and writing. He was instrumental in the publishing of the book Romano of the Philippines – about Fr. Rudy Romano who was abducted by the military during the time of Pres. Marcos (and still currently missing). The Romano book was written by my good friend Lilette Santos.
He served as the director for the Redemptorist Justice and Peace desk, taking after Fr. Louie. Fr. Frank was a fearless priest who spoke gently (in Cebuano language) before the military and police at the time when his office would lead the team of fact-finding missions in search of missing individuals.
Quiet loved and respected in Cebu, I have known Fr. Frank from a distance. The documentary projects he commissioned to me paved the way to our upbeat and lasting friendship.
In the summer of 2003, Fr. Frank turned over to me a giant bag-full of DVD films and photos that contained his raw work at the lobby of the Redemptorist Seminary. I asked him if he was certain to give me the projects, as it was previously offered to a much senior film and arts personality.
I want things done, so I am asking you to do it - he said to this effect in his usually staccato voice. I gladly took over the project.
My job was to sort Fr. Frank’s work all out, watching all the raw footage, and organizing the pictures to be able to write a story and a script with specific music that went with it. I finished the Hechanova film first and then after several months, Fr. Leo English.
It was a joy working with Fr. Frank. He was fun and everyone knew he was eccentric. But his heart was generous, always doing things for others – especially farmers and the urban poor. He was my listening ear who spoke little but on point all the time.
He would listen all right and would say to me to not dwell so much on anger or hurt. Just shake it off and live life fully, as you are a child of God, just go on and on and on. Go your merry way. Our conversations always ended up in laughter because of his wit.
I bid Fr. Frank goodbye when I flew to the US in 2007. I did not know it was going to be the last time I’d share lunch with him. I will miss you Fr. Frank, I told him. I need to take a break (my husband was murdered in June 2007 and he immediately said a requiem mass inside the Redemptorist Church albeit unscheduled when I broke to him the horrible news).
Once again, Fr. Frank was in his element, stretching his arm and saying, go your merry way, you are a child of God, be happy and do good. If you miss me, you just look at the stars above and see that we are all journeying on and on and on towards God, towards light.
Fr. Frank always cracked me up each time he ended our conversation in that manner (he always did that to everyone he spoke with). I took his message lightly and I always leave with a smile in my heart.
As years passed, I realized Fr. Frank was correct and that he wasn’t joking. We should not burden ourselves with the sorrows and fears of today. We should not be crippled by it – and instead just go on and go on with life, remembering that we are children of God and that we are journeying towards him.
Fr. Frank died in 2011. He chose to live his last days in Cebu rather than go back to his native Ireland. Somehow, I felt sorry that I never remembered to call him in his last years. But I remember again what he told me, look up the sky and keep on journeying towards God, towards light. Go your merry way. His Irish English accent still lingers in my ears, and yes, I do laugh. Thank you, Fr. Frank.# (Featured photo: The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco by Joel Montebon)
