Kudos!

CEBU, Philippines - My congratulations to The Freeman publisher Jerry Tundag for coming up with an excellent column last week’s “To The Quick” (The Freeman, Jan. 14; p. 15) entitled, “What Have We Become?” The column was indeed a “quick” reaction to a news item appearing on the same issue of the paper date (p. 13) headlined “Baptism of married priests’ kids draws mixed reactions,” by Jennifer P. Rendon.

Mr. Tundag’s column elicited some thoughts from me who am a married priest myself.  I think that those who entered the seminary felt that they were “of the stuff of which priests are supposed to be made” (borrowing Mr. Tundag’s words). 

I do not think that Msgr. Berting Belarmino, the first Filipino Rector of the Seminario Menor de San Carlos, Mabolo (now named after St. Pope John XXIII), did not feel the vocation or attraction to the Roman Catholic priesthood. Neither can it be said that University of San Carlos’ first Filipino President, Very Rev. Fr. Amante Castillo, SVD, felt that “he was not of the stuff of which priests are supposed to be made” – and both of them got married!

Being the least or worst among the more than 100 Filipino married Roman Catholic priests, I cannot speak for the others since no two individuals are exactly the same. I really felt that I was of “the stuff of which priests are supposed to be made,” so I entered the seminary.

As a matter of fact, as a little boy I was thinking that priests had no genitals because they do not marry. What a consolation it was for me to see our parish priest in his black cassock urinating at the back of the sacristy! So, I was consoled at the thought that I too could become a priest in spite of my being a male through and through.

Since my parents could not afford the monthly tuition at the diocesan seminary, they allowed me to study at Christ the King Mission Seminary, Q. C. There I learned that there are four signs of a priestly vocation: good heart or character, good head (can tackle the studies), good health, and good intention (to serve God and people). And I eventually was ordained a priest forever.

Now, those three Ilonggo priests featured in the above-mention news item must have thought that they possessed those four signs, so they entered the seminary and were ordained priests.  Philosophically, we can apply my principle of the “Analogy of the Table,” to the situation of these three controversial priests from Lambunao, Iloilo, since there are those who condemned the trio and there are those who see the other side of “the table” and supported them.

Mr. Tundag sees another side, and presents three “if’s” in his column.  And there is one who sees the whole table and nothing but the table at one glance, while we poor mortals see it part by part and one part at a time.  And this One is the all-seeing God.

Pope Francis, God’s Vicar on earth as far as we Roman Catholics are concerned, visited our country last week with “Mercy and Compassion” as the theme of his Pastoral Visit.  If we think that those three Ilonggo priests belonging to the Compania de los Padres de Familia (CPF) and at the same time to the Compania de los Padres de Capilla (CPC) “inconvenience or make other people suffer just because they want to have the best of two worlds,” let us pray for them and heed Pope Francis’ call for “Mercy and Compassion” as well as for “Peace and Reconciliation.”

Actually, the trio’s advocacy for OpCel (Optional Celibacy) is unnecessary because for all practical purposes priests who did not receive the gift or grace to remain celibate or unmarried their whole life can apply for dispensation – permission from the Pope for a priest to enter into Church marriage. 

In my case, I had to wait for almost 11 years before I could receive the Sacrament of Matrimony.  I applied for dispensation on August 28, 1980 and I was married before the Church on March 27, 1991. But it was worth the long wait because no less than St. Pope John Paul II approved my dispensation and Ricardo J. Cardinal Vidal officiated at my Church wedding. Praise the Lord!