Nairobi — Few people have the finer details of priestly formation in the Catholic Church. Those with an idea don't know what subjects the seminarians take, and at what stage. Our correspondent David Kuria an ex-seminarian takes us into the secluded life of the seminary and one where all is not gold as it seems.
Priestly formation in the Catholic Church is a very long process that can take as many as seven to 10 years. In fact most seminaries take between eight to 10 years in their formation before admitting the young men into the order of the priesthood. However, many people, even devout Catholics, do not understand what goes on in the seminaries or the kind of studies undertaken there.
A good number of parents who have their sons in the seminaries hardly tell the stage that their sons are in or even how long it will take before the latter are ordained. John Murugi is one such a parent.
When asked about his son, who is currently at St Thomas Aquinas Seminary Langata in Nairobi all he could say was, "If it is God who called my son in to this vocation, God will help him to finish no matter how long it will take him to finish or indeed when that will be." He does not want to commit himself to any time frame.
This is because he is aware, very much like his son that there is no such time schedule. His son might as well never be ordained into priesthood. Although Mirugi and indeed most parents in seminarians pray that this may not happen, the truth is that there is a very high dropout rate in most of the local seminaries. While no body talks about it, the church is likewise very silent on the agonies that these young people face after dropping out, mainly financial, psychological and especially social trauma.
The seminary formation is generally composed of studies in Philosophy and Theology. Philosophy studies may take two years or three while theology takes four years or as is the case with some seminaries five years. In between Philosophy and Theology, some seminaries may add one or two years of Novitiate. In the Novitiate the young men are taught the life, character and charisma of their own particular religious order. As such then in some religious orders and dioceses it may take as few as five years for one to become a priest or as many as 10 years. In some particular cases it may take even more.
If someone drops out after two years in the seminary chances are that he will be in the middle of his course in Philosophy. He will come out after having attended difficult studies but without any certificate. Julius Wanyama is such one person. He dropped out at the age of 22 years. To him the two years in the major seminary were a waste of time.
Yet Wanyama is a very lucky person. If for instance he had dropped out, after five years in the seminary chances are that he would have just finished his novitiate. The only certificate that he would fall back on is probably his diploma or degree in philosophy. If he were to start
looking for a job after five years out of secondary school, he would not get any. To get a job he would need to go for some training in a professional course which would take two years or more. Of course he would have to get the funds first for fees. Unfortunately most seminarians come from poor backgrounds so chances are that they just cannot afford such a training. Thus most dropouts cannot do more than to remain just that: seminary dropouts. That not withstanding the local seminaries have a high dropout rate. In Apostles of Jesus missionaries, among the 1999 finalists, in a class of 28, nine seminarians dropped out.
It is no wonder then that some dropouts resort to committing suicide; The trauma is sometimes overwhelming. John Wasuke (not his real name) spent a whole decade studying and working on what he had come to regard as his "project of life"- becoming a priest. He spent three
years studying Philosophy, two years in the Novitiate and four more studying Theology. After these studies his superiors sent him for a year in a parish for pastoral work. It was after this one year that his superiors realised that Wasuke could not make it to priesthood. Wasuke was sent away. He could not take it. He had come to invest so much energy in becoming a priest that he could not manage to adjust to any new "project of life". He thought that a rope would come in hardy. So he hanged himself. It is a truism that these cases are more numerous than many people would like to believe. Indeed efforts are made to keep them secret or at best ignore them.
Yet not all ex-seminarians resort to suicide. Yet there are others who give in to despair and depression and eventually lose touch with reality. It is not uncommon to see ex-seminarians engaging in anti-social activities. In extreme cases, some really go very crazy. One such a case is Kamiru Joseph who has been diagnosed as being in a maniac depressive state. Doctors fear he might become chronic.
Obviously it would be an exaggeration to say that all ex-seminarians commit suicide or become victims of psychological disorders. High though the number may be of such cases, there are others who manage to fit in the society and adjust themselves to the changed circumstances and make the best of their abilities.
Joshua Mwangi is one such a person. He dropped out while in his second year of theology. That was after he had spent seven years in the seminary. At first he thought he would get a job and integrate in the society easily. He had a degree in Philosophy which he thought was very good. After a few months in search of a job he realised he needed professional training. He promptly joined a private college where he spent three years pursuing a diploma in Business Administration. Luckily he had elder brothers who could afford to pay his college fees. He has since got a job with an advertising company in Nairobi. Though his salary is meagre he is grateful because he knows things could be worse.
The bishops and religious superiors are not unaware of the agonies that ex- seminarians go through. Indeed the Superior General of the First African Missionary Congregation, The Apostles of Jesus, admits that there is a justified fear of failure in life when one leaves the seminary. He further concedes that dismissals in the local seminaries are not always fair, sometimes, he adds they could be out of personal misunderstandings between the seminarian and the superior. But Fr Sylvester, not unlike many other superiors believes that the bulk of reintegration into the society, falls on the individual ex-seminarian and not on the church.
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Arch-Bishop Ndingi Mwana a'Nzeki of Nairobi, on many occasions especially during ordinations rightly emphasises on the need to dismiss seminarians who do not measure up. While that may be necessary, many feel the church should reconsider its methodology of selecting the right persons for ordination to the priesthood. First of all the church could use its elaborate grassroots resource in the Small Christian Communities in the Parishes to select from the very beginning the right aspirants, and in case of failure should help re-integrate the former seminarians socially, psychologically and maybe even assist them, not necessarily financially, to find a new way to serve the society. Such a move would be in keeping with the church's teachings on social justice and peace.
AFRICANEWS News & Views on Africa from Africa Koinonia Media Centre, P.O. Box 8034, Nairobi, Kenya email: amani@iol.it
