The issue of child abuse did not have a ‘significant’ impact on demand for workshops

The problem of child abuse in Portugal’s Catholic Church has “not made a significant contribution” to the change in demand for seminaries, which has been more influenced by fewer professions, the Episcopal Commission on Vocations and Ministries (CEVM) admits.

Recognizing that “the image of the priest (…) is insulted by the reality of cases of abuse of power, conscience and sexual abuse that (…) outrage everyone,” CEVM Secretary Father António Jorge Almeida, believes. It is understood that “people who are not as close or outside communities tend to associate the disengagement of many young people from professional matters” with the problem of abuse.

“However, those who know and attend the church experience know that the difficulties that cause many young people to abandon this form of ministry are the same as those associated, for example, with marriage and other forms of consecrated life. and service,” he states in written statements to Lusa on the occasion of the Week of Prayer for Seminaries, which the Catholic Church observes from November 5 to 12.

According to Father António Jorge Almeida, “this season of more or more realistic awareness of the reality of abuses and a serious attitude towards resolving them in a canonical and civilized just manner has not led to a significant destabilization of the seminary enrollment schedule in recent times, taking into account the argument used above: less responses to the priestly calling, but more sincere responses.”

There are currently “more than 300” young people whom “the dioceses as a whole accompany and train from the pre-seminary stage to the pastoral stage of formation close to the priesthood, passing through stages such as the minor seminary, the propaedeutic year and the major seminary,” says the CEVM secretary , adding that “because there are not many minor seminaries any more, and young people are leaving their families later and later due to common problems associated with finishing their studies and starting their work, dioceses are increasingly following the pre-seminary training model in advance” when young people placed in a family environment.

As part of the theme “Don’t be afraid. You will be a fisher of men” The Week of Prayer for Seminaries “attempts to provide parish priests and those responsible for the pastoral care of vocations and pre-seminaries with a dynamism of prayer and catechesis/formation through which adolescents and young adults can begin the journey ahead.”

“Often, and today increasingly, it is during their academic studies at university that some young people more seriously consider the issue of vocational education and the possibility of embarking on a more serious route of vocational training,” in contrast to what happened several decades ago when “Motives,” that brought the boys to the seminary were very varied: from the attachment to the life of the pastor and his mission to the studies and socializing of the time associated with adventure and play,” explains Father Antonio Jorge Almeida.

According to the priest, today “there are fewer seminarians, but the experience is less widespread and provides more personal accompaniment and more frequent confrontation in a more familial social life. Since there is no longer an abundance of minor seminaries and the discernment that precedes seminary entry is followed in the family, parish, university, church contexts such as WYD, and others, responses to vocations tend to be more authentic.”

In a message for the Week of Prayer for Seminaries, CEVM President, Auxiliary Bishop of Porto Vitalino Soares points to a church “where there is a place for everyone and which strives to be a safe haven for all who encounter border crossings.” shipwrecks and storms of life.”

“As with the first disciples, Jesus invites us to let down our nets again, despite our weariness, despite our disappointment, despite our empty nets, and to feel again the original illusion that must be revived and returned. faith, Pope Francis proposes,” the prelate emphasizes in his message.

Pointing to the future, Father Antonio Jorge Almeida wants the seminarian to become, after ordination, “a synodal priest, able to coexist with other ministries in a differentiated style of ministry rather than in a competitive style.”

“You will have to know how to live in communion, (…) which, as emphasized by the Synod of Bishops taking place in the Church, opens the door to participation and mission,” states the CEVM secretary, adding that “this means that everyone the seminarian is capable of being – like all priests throughout their ordination – one who takes good care of their path of inner growth and good social relationships.”