Posted on 05/23/2005 6:21:28 AM PDT by sinkspur
......When a young man is ordained in Igboland, it is tradition that his village collects money from its residents and buys him a car – an enormous gift in a poor nation. Priests can afford luxuries, like satellite television, that other Nigerians only dream of.
"When you are a priest, you don't lack," seminarian Tony Ezekwu said. "They have a high standard of living. People want that."
The promise of status no doubt attracts some to the priesthood. And some see seminary more as a path to an education than a way to answer a spiritual calling. Their view is summed up in the comment of young Bigard seminarian who said he was willing to be a parish priest when he's ordained in a few months, "but what I really want to be is a professor."
And while many priests come to America because they believe they can do good work, others come for more prosaic reasons. Dean Hoge, a sociology professor at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., estimates that a Nigerian priest's buying power increases fivefold when he lands in America.
"What is their motivation for joining the priesthood?" he asks. "In the best and most noble case, they want to serve Jesus Christ. But maybe they also want to escape the farm. I'm sure both of those are there".................
(Excerpt) Read more at dallasnews.com ...
This is the third in a multi-part series running in the Dallas Morning News.
Ping.
When I was growing up, if your old man was an alcoholic, it was not uncommon for you to enter the Christian Brothers (boarding) high school. Many of these boys went on to become wonderful Brothers.
And very often, the smartest son was pegged for Holy Orders, because he surely deserved the best education. If a calling is genuine, whether it is helped along by worldly concerns or not, the priest (or brother or sister) will lead a good and holy life.
That's certainly true. The article does, however, inject some realism into the discussion about the huge number of vocations in Africa.
I really can't say what their individual motives are although I know the priesthood has a lot of cachet in the Third World. We really need them here in the US, regardless if they're from India, Nigeria, Philippines or Tierra del Fuego. American guys really aren't attracted to that life as much. It really doesn't have the cachet is used to in the old days.
There is a problem of acceptance. When I was growing up, we had missionaries from Ireland and France...and we were happy to receive them...then we came over here, and instead of being missionaries, we become 'imported personnel.' A priest from Ghana.
As a foreigner, you know that your voice is always somebody coming from outside. The pastor will say 'That's good in your country, but here we are in America'....Emotionally that puts you a little bit down. A priest from Argentina.
The politics in the Church here are terrible...If you are a Hispanic, you are not complete. A priest from Colombia
All American priests should go abroad for two years....They don't see the uncomfortableness, the anxiety that priests from abroad have. A priest from Australia
There are some people who ask, 'Where is our priest?' And the foreign priest is just standing right there, and it's a black guy. He says, 'Hey, I'm a priest.' But the people say, 'No, our kind.' A priest from the Phillipines.
These quotes are taken from International Priests; New Ministers in the Catholic Church in the United States, manuscript by Dean Hoge and Amedi Okore.
Hey, we Anglo-Saxons (plus Irish plus French) are supposed to be the missionaries and convert the savages into eating with a knife and fork. The religion of the Holy Roman Empire can't be just franchised abroad and then sold back to us by hungry immigrants seeking a passport. Gosh, they want our land, our jobs, our women .... now our souls!
"Sure, I'm a waiter now, but that's just until I get my big break in the theater."
what were the other two parts?
You were pinged to both this morning.
We had a Nigerian priest. He was offended at how he was treated here. He expected to be waited on. He sang very well, knew Latin, disdainful of liberalism. He liked to play with the ladies and drive a nice car.
They're coming here to take the confessions that even illegal Mexican priests won't.
OK, now give us your acct info so we can read the whole thing.
Try "schnookered@mailinator.com" with the password as
123456
Try "schnookered@mailinator.com" with the password as
123456
Thank you Sinky, saying an 'Ave' for you.
I am waiting til we can out-source the jobs of politicians.
Next time you need a bypass to a "registered" site, go to bugmenot.com. They've got them ALL covered.
Sometimes I have luck with them, sometimes I don't. FYI for the NYT you can use Member ID:annoyed Password:annoyed
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.