ARTICLE: FROM CGN's REP IN PAKISTAN
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Subj: Vocation woes
Date: 05/30/2002 7:14:06 AM EST
From: robinhod@tv-email.org
To: rfturf@yahoo.com, fred@bytesforall.org, paddydes@aol.com
Pakistani churches hit by shortage of priests and nuns
By Robin Fernandez
KARACHI: The inter-denominational agony of having fewer priests, nuns and
ministers for the burgeoning Christian population here is growing amid
stifling economic conditions and heightened interest in immigration to the
West.
Hundreds of appeals are made each Sunday from the pulpit to families to help
end the current drought in religious vocations but clergymen say the youth of
today are shamelessly looking the other way. Teachers point out that there is
too much pressure on Christian children these days and that most parents
expect their children to be high-achievers and excel in all spheres of
activity. They say if children fail in their academic pursuits they are
encouraged by their parents to take up a trade or learn vocational skills
that will ease their financial burdens. Gone are the days when each family
felt duty-bound to pledge at least one of their family members to the Church,
lamented Fr Joe D'Mello recently. "If you don't commit your children to the
Church, please ask yourselves who will tend the flock when your grandchildren
come into the world?" said Fr D'Mello, striking a somewhat sombre warning to
a church congregation.
The Catholic Church is deeply disturbed at the lack of vocations, because the
average age of its priests is 65 years."This figure, if interpreted loosely,
means they are as close to retirement as is possible," said a social worker.
"Many of our parishes in Karachi are being run by old and feeble priests who
find the courage each day to serve in the vineyard of our Lord. They deserve
to be saluted for their efforts," he said. "But it's time our young men pick
up the baton of holy orders from the old guard."
Both Anglican and Baptist churches face a similar challenge.
Most young men and women feel daunted by the rigours of religious life.
"Celibacy is the least of my worries. I can't imagine a person giving up
their hopes and dreams for the sake of priesthood or sisterhood," an
unmarried female secretary said. Her views are shared by many young men who
know their families depend on them for support.
"In the step-ladder to success, there is seldom any room for spiritual
aspirations," said an old schoolteacher at St Patrick's High School, the alma
mater of the subcontinent's only two cardinals. "And should there be any
leanings towards religion, these will be drowned out by the financial
compulsions of a family," he remarked.
The craze for securing residency rights in North America and Australia,
especially among English-speaking members of the Christian community, is now
almost three decades old and still going strong. During this period the
population of Christians has quadrupled; church demographers estimate the
number of their members to be between 4 and 5 million--which is higher than
what official figures show. In recent years large-scale conversions have
taken place in interior Sindh and Quetta,the provincial capital of
Balochistan, thanks to the work of local- and international-based evangelists.
Priests and nuns are no more immune to immigration charms than lay persons.
Scores of priests have flown out from Pakistan in the past four decades.
According to Fr Ronnie D'Souza, the son of former Indian Railways chief Frank
D'Souza, none of these priests obtained permission for their transfer abroad
from the church leaders. "They left on the pretext of a vacation and never
came back," Fr Ronnie said wryly.
Some followers of the Catholic church warn that the ageing priest population
and lack of spiritual guidance could drive away its adherents. "The dynamism
associated with younger, firebrand priests is missing. In the absence of
that, people are liable to mount their own struggle for spiritual
fulfillment," said a youth who favours the creation of a universal church.
Already the Urdu-speaking members of the Christian community have shown an
inclination towards religious pluralism; their ethnic and cultural roots
frequently overcome the most drastic differences in Christian denominations.
Such a muddled outlook, however, will probably forge rather than block
ecumenical efforts.
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