Last month, we celebrated the 35th anniversary
of the establishment of the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa. In creating the Diocese,
the Universal Church gave the people of the CNMI a special gift. I have very
clear memories of the events leading up to the establishment in 1984 and of the
early years of the diocese, since I was part of those events. I have shared
those memories with you in past Along the Way reflections and will not inflict
them on you again. Rather, my goal in this reflection to consider what we have
done with the gift that we have been given.
Church historians tell us that in the early years of the church a community of
believers would form in a city or town under the influence of visiting
preachers. Initially this would have been the apostles and similar church
leaders, like Paul and Barnabas. They would proclaim the Good News. Some people
in the town would be touched by what they heard and speak with the teachers to
learn more. Eventually they came to accept what Christ taught and formed a
community of believers. The teacher would remain with them for a while and then
move on, appointing some among the believers to teach and care for the others.
These groups formed into stable communities of believers over time.
The apostles and other Christians would refer to these stable communities as
the “local church”. The “local church” normally encompassed
the basic Christian community in the city or town. If there were Christians in
nearby towns, they either operated as a functioning local church or joined with
the Christians in the nearby city or town. Often times these local churches
operated as if they had the same boundaries as the Roman administrative
jurisdiction in which they lived. The term for these Roman administrative
districts was “diocese”. While we tend to think of our parish church
as the basic social unit of the church, it is the diocese that is the
equivalent of the “local church”. Parishes began as neighborhood
gathering places in large Christian communities but the identity of “local
church” remained at the level of the diocese.
Over the past three hundred years the Catholic community in the Mariana Islands
has remained an integral element of the local culture. Around 90% of the indigenous
population has identified itself as Catholic. Many cultural practices have
taken on characteristics of Catholic practice. For example, cultural practices
related to death involve Catholic prayer forms, such as the rosary and the
Mass. The funeral is usually at the village church and the deceased is buried
in a Catholic cemetery.
Many of these practices developed over the years when there was a minimal
presence of clergy. In those days lay leaders kept the faith alive and well.
These practices added a unique indigenous character to the experience of faith
in the Mariana Islands.
When Pope Saint John Paul II established the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa in November
of 1984, part of the reasoning was to acknowledge that the Catholic community
in the Northern Mariana Islands was not just an appendage of the Guam church,
but was a unique local church in its own right and with its own identity. The
sainted Pope placed a great deal of faith in this community of Catholics,
trusting that the Catholic community in these islands would do what was
necessary for the local church to survive and even thrive.
In many respects the local church has done well over these past 35 years. The
number of parishes and missions in the diocese has risen. Whenever there is a
call for financial support for construction or building repair, the community
has been generous. The physical improvements to Mt. Carmel School and many
parish buildings throughout the Diocese bears witness to the ongoing support of
the community.
There have been at least four different pastoral plans promulgated over the years since the establishment of the Diocese and each one has contributed to the on-going ministry and growth of the local church.
Then there is Karidat, which is several years
older than the Diocese and continues to serve the people with its social
service programs. This has been an invaluable Diocesan ministry and continues
to be so. Nor should we forget the North Star and the other diocesan
publications that have been made available over the years. These are important
resources for the local church because they keep people informed and help them
to better understand their faith.
If there is any aspect of the local church where the Catholic community may
have fallen short of the trust placed in them, I would suggest that it is in a
failure to raise up indigenous church leaders. Over the past 35 years only four
indigenous men have been ordained as priests for this Diocese: Fr. Isaac Ayuyu,
Fr. Roger Tenorio, Fr. Jesse Reyes and Fr. James Balajadia. While Fr.
Isidro Ogomuro is now a priest of this diocese, he transferred in from the
Capuchins. Sadly, Fr. Roger died a few years ago, leaving the number of
surviving indigenous priests serving in this diocese at two.
To serve the pastoral needs of the people, the local church has had to rely on
priests on loan from religious orders (Capuchins, Jesuits and Augustinians) or
on loan from various dioceses in the Philippines. We have been blessed
with many good and holy men ministering to our local church. They have done a
heroic job in serving the Lord and in serving the Catholic community in the
Northern Marianas. I have deep admiration and respect for these selfless
priests, who have traveled far from home to serve the church. However, the
reliance on temporary guest priests keeps the local church dependent on outside
help. For this local church to become a truly mature faith community, it must
be self-sustaining not only financially but, in the leadership, it is able to
raise up. For this local church to be capable of offering its unique culture,
identity and experience to the universal church, it needs to raise up
leadership from within the indigenous community to serve the church.
This challenge is nothing new. As far back as I can remember this diocese has
relied on outside resources for its clergy. The need for priestly vocations
from this community has been talked about again and again. The response has
been underwhelming. Perhaps the high degree of integration of the faith with
the culture has lessened the importance of priestly ministry in the minds of
many people, since the laity have handled much of their religious practice on
their own for so long?
In many places a postmodern worldview has lessened people’s willingness to
trust any social institution, including the church, or to make long term
commitments. Maybe this is at work in the Mariana Islands as well.
Further, a life of celibacy is not attractive to most people, particularly when
the assumptions and attitudes that once supported it are no longer valued in
most of society. Certainly, the criminal behavior of some clergy has damaged
the reputation of all the clergy and the attractiveness of ministry as a life
commitment. These are significant obstacles, yet they are not insurmountable.
A basic tenet of our faith is that the Holy Spirit does not abandon us. No
matter how much we make a mess of things the Holy Spirit is present and working
to make things right. The Holy Spirit continues to call people to serve the
local church in a variety of ministries, including the priesthood. Our
challenge is to be open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. This diocese of
blessed with many lay ministries and many people responding to the prompting of
the Holy Spirit to serve in those ministries. The ordination in this diocese of
several men to the permanent diaconate about a year and a half ago, shows a
willingness of the local Catholic community to respond to the call of the Holy
Spirit as Catholic clergy. This is an important step up for the capacity of the
local church to sustain itself. It is a step up that needs to continue. In
addition, what still needs to be done is for local believers to step up to
serve in the priesthood.
There is a tendency to think of someone who is called to the priesthood to
begin their training when they are relatively young, then going through college
and graduate school in the seminary system and being ordained a priest when
they are in their mid-twenties. This was common in recent centuries, but it is
not the only way. Nowadays many seminarians aren’t youngsters but are men in
their thirties and even forties who have realized that they are being called to
the priesthood by the Holy Spirit. My current pastor in Erie was a teacher and
a school principal before entering seminary and studying for the priesthood.
Another pastor I know was making a career of the Coast Guard before he entered
seminary. The issue isn’t the age at which you enter seminary. The real issue
simply is responding to the Holy Spirit!
So, let’s rejoice in 35 years of the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa and the growth and
blessings it has enjoyed over those years. We should thank all those who have
generously given of themselves to serve the people of God in this local church
throughout those years. It wouldn’t hurt to give ourselves a pat on the back as
well, as each of us has contributed to the blessings of those 35 years.
Certainly, we should give thanks to God for the grace and blessings we have
experienced as a local church.
It is also important to look ahead to the next 35 years of the life of this
Diocese. As I have suggested in this reflection, an important element in a
successful next 35 years is the ability of the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa to raise
up future church leaders from among the members of this community. That relies
on each of us being attentive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and having
both the faith and courage to respond to that call.
