ENDEAVOR
Witnessing Pope Francis place the red hat on newly consecrated Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David – only the 10th Filipino to receive the honor – prompted me to reflect on the challenge of promoting more vocations in our predominantly Christian nation.
Last month, while participating in a meeting of the Don Bosco School of Theology (DBST) board of trustees, I became more keenly aware of the problem of declining vocations. Fr. Francis Gustilo, SDB, who serves as DBST president, highlighted the urgency of meeting the challenge, as he pointed out that the current crop of senior professors needs substantial augmentation.
Radio Veritas Asia reports in its website that last April, there were 852 participants in a vocation congress organized by the Apostolic Vicariate of Calapan in Mindoro island province. The outcome was heartwarming: “(A)t the end of the daylong event, themed ‘Kalampag ng Pagtawag sa Hapag’ (#Kalap,Kaisa, KaMisa), which is after the vicariate's core program that emphasizes gathering, unity, and the Eucharist, about 20 young people stood up when asked who would enter the religious life.”
Zooming out into the Asian scenario, I gathered from an internet search some salient features of the vocation landscape: “The Philippines has about 8,700 priests, but the Catholic Church needs about 25,000 to serve its 85 million Catholics. The ratio of priests to parishioners is currently 1:15,000, but the ideal ratio is 1:2,000 or 1:5,000.”
Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Myanmar, whose early schooling was in a Salesian-run boarding school in Mandalay, wrote a comprehensive essay on “The Challenge of Holy Orders and Religious Vocations – An Asian Perspective” that was published by Licas News, an arm of the Roman Catholic Mission of Bangkok. He echoed two questions that resonate among bishops, religious superiors and vocations directors and promoters: “‘Why is there a decline in vocations to the priestly and religious life?’ and ‘What can we do to promote and increase the same?’”
He analyzed five causes underlying the decline of vocations: first, rapid economic development; second, changes in family structure; third, technological and ideological impact; fourth, poverty and migration; and fifth, lack of role models.
“Religiosity tends to decline with economic development.” With ever-increasing prosperity, there is likely to be further diminution of vocations, as young people aspire to become entrepreneurs and business owners.
Manifestations of changes in family structure include “fertility decline (low birth rates), increasing divorce rates, the rising average age of marriage, single-parent families, and absent-parent syndrome (where parents are away for work and children are brought up by grandparents or relatives).”
Previously, a call to vocation was associated with the concept of the “sincere gift of self.” Ironically, post-modern culture has flipped this into a focus on developing oneself as an autonomous individual. This has raised the hurdles to vocations that impel a selfless commitment to follow Christ by taking on Holy Orders.
The fourth factor, poverty and migration, provides the macroeconomic perspective. The World Bank estimates more than 320 million Asians living in extreme poverty that is rooted in economic inequality. The primary imperative is survival or “getting out of the vicious cycle of poverty,” a scenario that is not conducive to fostering vocations.
Cardinal Bo responds to the fifth challenge: “Promoting vocations calls us toward creating spaces for young men and women to imagine and experience this way of life. Part of this includes those of us who are already in this way of life, setting an example with a spirit of humility and witnessing what it is to follow Christ daily and faithfully witness to the faith in these changing times.”
I recall that in grade school, I was a member of the Knights of the Altar, the group that served as sacristan or acolytes, assisting the priest at mass. Early on, I memorized the Latin prayers, such as Dominus Vobiscum/Et cum spiritu tuo (The Lord be with you, and with your spirit); as well as Pater Noster, the Latin translation of The Lord’s Prayer. In our grade school yearbook, my ambition read: “To be a Salesian priest.”
Two of my classmates, Andrew Wong and Francis Gustilo went on to become aspirants, then novices, on their way to become full-fledged Salesians of Don Bosco. I passed up the opportunity to start preparing for the priesthood as early as in first year high school, and did not pursue the vocation. Andrew and Francis went on to become the highest ranked Salesians in the Philippines and in Asia. If memory serves, Andrew is part of the Rome-based governing council of the order.
Vocation comes from the Latin word vocare, which means to call. A vocation is a calling from God that starts at baptism. It is nurtured and fostered as a person matures and discerns such calling while going through the phases of adolescence and adulthood.
Nestor David, elder brother of the new prelate, shared in a media interview: “After class, during his elementary years, he would pass by, himself, over the church and then say a prayer. It’s like, sabi niya, ‘I was conversing with Jesus.’ Probably ‘yun ang signs na ang vocation niya talaga ay priesthood.’”
Interviewed by TV Maria, Cardinal David said:
“Ang ibig sabihin para sa akin ng pagiging Kardinal ay humihingi ng tulong ang ating Santo Papa na alalayan siya, suportahan siya sa kanyang gawain bilang Pontifex Maximus na ang ibig sabihin ay Supreme Bridge Builder, ang taga-tayo ng mga tulay na nag-uugnay sa particular church at universal church.” (I discern that in appointing me, the Pope wants me to assist in carrying out his work in being a Supreme Bridge Builder, who creates linkages that will unify people of all faiths.)
Truly, this is a blessed season for Filipinos, a timely opportunity for affirming and living their Christian faith.
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