Why blame celibacy?

would give way to a more liberalized”enlightenment” of the sitting Petrine successor.

We can blame for this perception a secularized hedonistic mindset that jeeringly regard those who turn their backs on marriage as unnatural freaks cast into the dark shades of outdated religiosity. (As if married people grayish sexual aberrations and inanities that range from the maniacal to the beastly.)

As if inevitably drawn into this paradigm, Pope Francis recently threw into the ecclesiastical debate the issue of allowing married men with tested moral and spiritual aptitude (viriprobati) to take up the priesthood.

Of course, this is not a novelty. It was practiced in the early Church and even more recently on a strictly case-to-case basis, using the Church’s mechanism for accommodation, namely, dispensation.

Many far- flung mission stations, in addressing the shortage of priests and the necessity of an authentic local clergy, have ben And somehow it has worked for the secluded mission areas.

With this new papal trendsetting, it is hoped that the practice becomes universally acceptable.

However, addressing the dearth of Catholic ministers cannot be confined just to the issue of celibacy.

For instance, where are the Catholic parents who should have prodded their sons to answer God’s call? In my experience as a former vocation director, the parents themselves are, surprisingly, - no money in that profession.”

I guess, I got mine from the en

Then, how about the Catholic schools that are supposed to be breeding places not only of brilliant academic outputs, but sup- posedly also of boys discerning and deciding to become priests. In my time, our school, Sta. Catalina College, allotted funds for students who mightdecide to venture into seminary education after much goading and support from their mentors.

I cannot forget that my high school principal, the late Mother Elena Lazo, was an avid stakeholder in my priesthood.

Yes, of coursethe minimum of nine to 10 years of training long proposed a shorter period

After ordination, however, the