2 brothers serve as priests in same parish

STA. BARBARA, Pangasinan – Seeing double here means having double blessing.

The Holy Family Parish here has two brothers serving as parish priests: Fr. Anthony and Fr. Fidelis Layog, who hail from Bayambang town in this province, comprise the two-member Team Ministry here.

“It is true that two blood brothers, having the same priestly vocation, coming from the same family and therefore having the same values system, could work well together,” said Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz, who assigned Fathers Anthony and Fidelis to the parish.

Cruz said the Layog brothers are complementary in their talents and abilities: one is administrative in disposition (Fr. Fidelis) while the other is artistic in inclination (Fr. Anthony).

The brother-priests told The STAR that being in the same vocation helped encourage two other pairs of brothers from two different families to enter the Mary Help of Christians Minor Seminary in Binmaley town, which incidentally is also their alma mater.

“We found out we could convince brothers like us to also study in the seminary,” they said.

Fr. Anthony, 40, was ordained in 1993 while his younger brother, Fr. Fidelis, 38, became priest in 1996. Fr. Fidelis was the first one assigned to the Holy Family Parish in 2003; Fr. Anthony joined him in 2006.

Archbishop Cruz said the teamwork of the Layog brothers “is a deliberate decision precisely to prove that the pairing will benefit the parishioners.”

He added that he doesn’t know of any other parish in the country administered by two blood brothers at the same time.

“It’s very rare,” said Fr. Fidelis, referring to their situation.

The closeness of the two, Cruz said, is good for the people and it also makes the job easier.

According to Fr. Fidelis, they come up with good plans “because if you know well your buddy, like his potentials or forte, then carrying on with the task is smoother.”

There are times, however, when parishioners get confused in addressing the brother-priests. For instance, when one requests for Fr. Layog, the office assistant would ask, “Which Father Layog do you want?”

When asked who commands and who follows, the Layog brothers laughed, “We are on equal footing.”

The two added that what makes their bond stronger is they are both “jokers, always in a happy mood but are serious in (our) work.”

Religious life

Coming from a very religious family, the two said it is not a surprise that their family would turn out priests.

“We grew up in an environment of prayer,” they said.

They were trained to get up early to attend the 5:00 a.m. Mass and prayed the holy rosary daily together.

Fr. Fidelis, who liked to play with toy guns, said his earlier dream was to become a soldier.

Fr. Anthony, on the other hand, was determined to become a priest from the start.

Both said their parents encouraged them to become what they are now but it was Fr. Anthony who really guided and inspired his younger brother to  follow his footsteps.

After 13 years in the priesthood, Fr. Anthony said, ”Whatever I have achieved so far already makes me happy.”

Fr. Fidelis meanwhile, said that “being a priest is very challenging,” adding that the people are their inspiration because they can see God in them.