Future Brazilian priests

Attentive listening to God's people

By Fr. Ron MacDonell, S.F.M
September/October 2010

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Calls are rooted in many factors, such as family life, teachers and mentors we encounter and, perhaps most essentially, that mysterious movement in our hearts that speaks to us, which is God’s own voice. We are called to particular professions. We are called to ways of life: married life, life as a single person, or life as a priest or a religious. I’ve worked as a Scarboro Missions priest in Brazil’s Amazon region since my ordination in 1986. Now in mid-life, I decided to discover how the Spirit is calling young people today. I spoke with two seminarians.

Jorge da Silva, 26 years old, is from the rural south of Roraima Diocese. His late father, of the Makuxi people, was a fisherman. His mother, a retired clerk, also has Makuxi roots. Jorge has three brothers and one sister. He was baptized but only when he was 19 years old did he become active in the church, receiving First Communion and Confirmation. While studying accounting at a university and working for a local firm, he began to feel a call to priesthood. He participated in vocation retreats and then entered the minor seminary in 2006. This year he started theology studies at São José Seminary in Manaus, 12 hours away by bus.

Photo courtesy of Ron MacDonell, S.F.M. Left-Right: Deacon Cristiano Quatrin, Bishop Roque Paloschi of Roraima Diocese, and seminarian Jorge da Silva, Roraima; Brazil

Cristiano Quatrin, age 27, comes from Brazil’s most southern state, 4,000 kilometres away. After finishing theological studies last December, he was ordained deacon. Currently he is spending a missionary year in Roraima before his priestly ordination in December. Cristiano’s parents own a small farm; his one sister entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame and he has one brother. Cristiano attributes the nightly rosary prayer in his family as formative in his vocation. His participation in “Vocational Weekends” led to his entering the minor seminary at age 14. There he completed high school studies and continued on to philosophy and theology.

When asked about challenges encountered in seminary formation, Cristiano answered that he found studying philosophy difficult. For Jorge, the challenge was conflict resolution in pastoral work. In one situation, he had to be the arbitrator in a conflict between neighbours in a parish. Thanks to the local pastor and the seminary’s psychologist, he came to realize that such conflicts are part of life.

Both men agreed that there are many more joys than challenges in formation. Jorge emphasized the joy of the people in the communities and his friendships in the seminary. As well, studying theology has enlarged his vision of the world, the church, and humanity.

Cristiano concurred that his greatest joy has been the many people he has met in his life. He, too, appreciated theological studies because it is linked directly to church work—it speaks of God’s Word working in our lives and Jesus’ teaching about the Reign of God.

What qualities should a priest have?

Cristiano thinks that a priest should be attentive, kind, and willing to listen to the people. A priest should have a simplicity about him, be approachable and inspire trust, but not be naive; he should be a man of prayer and have good rapport with other priests. Jorge mentioned first that it’s very complex, how people see a priest. He stated that he always prays to have simplicity as a priest, to be very close to the people, to understand them. A priest should be with people, in solidarity with them, and share their joys and sorrows.

A new way of doing mission

As a mission priest, I have discovered an exciting new means of doing mission through the linguistics work of helping native peoples revitalize their languages and providing other missioners with tools for language learning...

We wish to preserve and value each and every language of the Earth, and defend those languages whose speakers are not numerous, such as the Kokama, the Makuxi, and the Wapichana of Brazil. We hope to keep as many languages alive as possible, as each cultural expression is a unique and mysterious manifestation of God’s creation.

Fr. Ron MacDonell (photo above) has a doctorate in linguistics and serves as linguistic assessor for the Indigenous Education Nucleus in Roraima, Northern Brazil.

Reflecting on the needs of the Roraima Diocese, Jorge indicated two: the reality of indigenous peoples needs to be better appreciated by our church; and the base Christian communities, both urban and rural, need more organizational support. Cristiano, as a missionary from the south, observed cultural differences he discovered in the north: the tropical heat, the more joyful liturgical celebrations, the greater involvement of lay people, and the presence of Makuxi, Wapichana, and Yanomami indigenous peoples.

Finally, I asked Jorge and Cristiano about vocations. Roraima Diocese has only six local clergy for a population of 450,000 people. Both men believe that, eventually, the diocese will not have to rely on outside priests. Both help out in vocational workshops.

Jorge believes that for a young person discerning a call, perseverance is important: “We must truly believe that Christ is our strength, our daily force, our spiritual food.” Cristiano states that young people should not be afraid to answer God’s call: “I would say to young people to try out this way of life, to listen to God’s call, to this other side of life which the world often hides away…and to listen to this interior voice…to listen to the call to serve and to love.”

These two future Brazilian priests will indeed be hope and joy for the Brazilian church.

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