Capuchins have voiced concern over the growing number of young members who are leaving the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin congregation, some after completing 13 years of formation. It is a “worrying” trend, said Father Steve Rodrigues, vice provincial of the congregation’s Goa province.
“Now we are hearing of members leaving the society each year despite receiving 13 years of formation,” he said. This “was unheard of earlier,” he added.
He and some 30 Capuchin priests leading formation programs across India were attending a four-day meeting in Goa to discuss the formation of members.
Father Rodrigues, who organized the meeting, said a lack of conviction and the absence of role models could be some of the causes.
“No one wants austerity,” and parents of nuclear families discourage children joining the priesthood, he noted.
New members are “delicate darlings” who cannot live the congregation’s life of simplicity, which once meant living without footwear.
“I even got a medical certificate from a member who expressed his unwillingness to be posted to a mission area because he was allergic to wild grass,” said Father Rodrigues.
The meeting that ended July 25 also aimed at “updating” their knowledge on living the life of their founder Saint Francis of Assisi in an Indian context, he said.
Participants stressed the Indian tradition of ashram (monastic) life and sannyasa (asceticism) and the similarities between Indian and Franciscan spirituality.
Saint Francis was associated with vegetarianism, nature, non-violence, tolerance and love, said Father Rodrigues, noting that theses values are also indispensable parts of Indian monastic and ascetic life.
The meeting asked formation leaders to be role models, and to learn to recognize limitations, he said.
SIC: CTHIND