MINISTERIUM – A Journal of Contextual Theology Vol. 6 (Dec. 2020) 46-59

CARE OF EX-SEMINARIANS IN THE NIGERIAN CHURCH

Benjamin Ike Ewelu, Ph.D.1 E-mail: [email protected] And Stephen C. Chukwujekwu, Ph.D.2 E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract This essay states that ex-seminarians, especially the expelled ones, face many difficulties and challenges in . It argues that the Church in Nigeria should show more concern, love and care for these ex-seminarians who in most cases feel disappointed, abandoned and neglected by the Church. By going into the meaning and nature of the vocation to the priesthood as an inner call which a candidate tries to respond to, the paper exposes some erroneous intentions some candidates usually enter the seminary with. In doing so, the essay argues that though the candidates are not to blame for such false motives, at the same time they cannot be promoted to the priesthood because of certain conditions the Church requires of the candidates, given the nature of the life and work of the Catholic priest. Thus, there are and would continue to be cases of expelled ex-seminarians. In its expository and argumentative methodology, and making use of some life examples, the paper tries to convince the reader that the rehabilitation and pastoral care of the ex-seminarians call for immediate attention in the present-day Nigerian Church. As a form of solution, the paper points out the areas where the ex-seminarians need the Church’s assistance and also points out the means and modalities the Nigerian Church can employ to help and care for them.

Keywords: Ex-seminarians, Vocation, Expulsion, Rehabilitation, Pastoral-Care, Sense-of-Belonging, Eternal-Salvation.

Introduction The question of contextual theology in Nigeria today should pay attention to some of the contemporary problems facing the Nigerian Church. One of such problems is the position of many ex-seminarians in the Church of Nigeria. The Nigerian Church has almost no place and no concern for her well-

1 Benjamin Ike Ewelu is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Department of Philosophy, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Igbariam, , Nigeria. He is a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Ekwulobia, Nigeria. 2 Stephen C. Chukwujekwu is a Senior Lecturer at Department of Philosophy, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Igbariam, Anambra State, Nigeria. He is a priest of the Catholic Diocese of , Nigeria.

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Care of Ex-Seminarians in the Nigerian Church meaning sons, who came up willingly and in almost all the cases sincerely to serve God and their sisters and brothers in and through the Church as priests, but who for one reason or the other did not make it to the priesthood. This essay is concerned more with the ex-seminarians that are expelled from the seminary; that is to say, the seminarians that still guarded the intention and the desire to become priests but were dismissed from the seminary by some competent authority for some reasons. It all means that the seminarians who willingly decided and left the seminary on their own are not the immediate concern of this essay. It is the opinion of this paper that the Church in Nigeria has almost no thought at all, not to talk of having plans for her expelled ex-seminarians. The Mother Church in Nigeria should be concerned about her expelled ex- seminarians because many of them really languish psychologically, spiritually, socially, economically etc. The ‘internal bleeding’ (grudges and regrets) many of such ex-seminarians go through is often very obvious when you converse with them or when you observe them closely within certain set-ups. It is the suggestion of this essay that the Church in Nigeria needs to build up some “structure” that can provide some pastoral care of her ex-seminarians. Their pastoral care is an urgent need.

Vocation to the Priesthood The desire to enter the seminary, that is to say, to train for the priesthood, is generally said to be a vocation, a divine call. This general belief may be traced to the call of the small boy Samuel as we read in the Sacred Scriptures (1 Sam 3): “Yahweh called, ‘Samuel, Samuel’….” Other outstanding instances of divine call in the Old Testament include the call of Abraham (Gen 12), of Moses (Ex 3), of Elijah (1Kings 17), of Isaiah (Isa 6), of Jeremiah (Jer 1), of Ezekiel (Ezek 1). In the New Testament, one can think of the call of the first four Apostles by Jesus Christ. Having been called, each left everything and his former job and followed Christ. We can also think of the call of Matthew the tax collector (Mt 9:9) and the dramatic call of St. Paul on his way to Damascus (Acts 9:3-6). About becoming a priest, the Letter to the Hebrews states clearly: “No one takes this honor upon himself but only when called by God, just as Aaron was” (Heb 5:4). This divine call is what is usually referred to as ‘vocation’. The candidate to the priesthood, who manifests positive signs of being truly called is considered to have vocation. This idea of considering the desire to become priest as a call from God is made very evident by a boy who once attended the entrance examination into All Hallows Seminary . As the seminarian-teachers were marking the entrance exams papers, one of them came across a very weak answer script. As he was about putting it away among the discarded papers, he noticed that there

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MINISTERIUM – A Journal of Contextual Theology Vol. 6 (Dec. 2020) 46-59 was a footnote attached to the script by the candidate. The footnote read: “Please Father remember Christ said ‘come and follow me.’ So I have come.” When this footnote was shown to the team marking the papers, they decided to show it the Father Rector, to see whether there could be a way of considering the “pious” boy. The Rector looked at the paper thoroughly and said: “Poor boy, you have come, but you are unable to follow.” This is actually the problem; it is not all who respond to the inner desire to become priest are able to follow the formation for the priesthood. It is one thing to come and totally another thing to be able to follow. Thus, there is bound to be cases of expelled seminarians. We now examine some reasons why some willing candidates to the priesthood are asked to discontinue with their seminary training.

Intention of the Candidate It is true that there is the desire to answer the divine call in each person that comes to the seminary to train for the priesthood. However, the intentions vary from candidate to candidate. After all, a bishop said that the first attraction he had for the priesthood was the well-polished and shined black shoes of his ex-patriate parish priest. The young boy simply desired to be in a position where he would have the opportunity of wearing such shoes; thus, he desired to be a priest and entered the seminary. Another bishop also said that his own vocation came from the nice aroma from the kitchen of the priests living in their parish. The young boy desired to share in such a meal one day and so, he entered the seminary. These two persons entered the seminary and realized that they needed to purify their initial intentions. They did so and each ended up a priest and eventually each a bishop. Many others go to the seminary because of festive nature of priestly ordination and first Mass of the newly ordained priest. Most attractive to many young boys is the gift of nice and flashy cars to the newly ordained, as is often the case here in Nigeria. The seminary formation is meant to inculcate in each seminarian the right intention for being in the seminary. The formators in the seminary, the Ordinary of the seminarian, director of vocations and indeed all the faithful watch to see whether the seminarian exhibits the right intentions as a seminarian training for the priesthood. Where a seminarian is showing signs of wrong intentions, the formators normally try to help him purify his intentions and acquire the right intentions. In many of the cases the formators succeed in this task, but in some cases they do not. Some candidates guard jealously their initial intentions for entering the seminary, no matter how evil the intentions are. In such a case, the seminarian is dismissed from the seminary against his will. Those charged with the task of presenting to the Church the candidates for priestly ordination have to present fitting candidates, which the rite of ordination requires. During the ordination ceremony, the candidate is presented to the

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Care of Ex-Seminarians in the Nigerian Church bishop who asks whether the candidate is worthy to be ordained. The presenter of the candidate answers: “By the testimony of those charged with their formation and from the enquiries made among the people of God, I testify that he is worthy.” For this attestation to be true, a candidate not found worthy for priestly ordination has to be expelled. It is in this spirit that the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council state:

God will not allow his Church to lack ministers if the worthy are promoted and those who are not suited are guided with fatherly kindness and in due time to adopt another calling. 3

This implies that some willing candidates are sometimes asked to discontinue their formation to the priesthood. Therefore, there are cases of expelled ex- seminarians.

Background and Social Influences It is an undisputable fact that man is nature and nurture; that is to say, that a person is a composite of his genetic constitutions and his environmental influences. While the genetic constitutions of a person may not change much as he undergoes formation, his family and social backgrounds can undergo some changes to a large extent, but not without some serious resistance. Each candidate enters the seminary carrying along with him his family background and his social backdrops. Our society today is a materialistic one and whether we accept it or not, this attitude to life influences the candidates to the priesthood. Some candidates come to the seminary meaning actually to lead a poor priestly life, but others influence him into believing that priesthood is also a life where money is made. Such candidates then end up setting up strategies for money making and engaging in some fraudulent activities. When this becomes the case, such seminarians are often caught and expelled from the seminary. It is also not uncommon that some parents and family members encourage their young one to go for the priesthood to better the economic condition of their family. Some priests tell stories about how their family members complain that they (the priests) do not give them financial assistance as other priests do. Some years before now, people looked up to priests for prayer, blessing and some cheap religious articles like chaplet. Today many make big financial demands from priests like helping them to pay their children’s school fees, hospital bills, house rents, or even boosting their collapsing business. There are

3 Vatican Council II ‘Decree on the Training of Priests’ Optatam Totius, 28 October 1965, no. 6.

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MINISTERIUM – A Journal of Contextual Theology Vol. 6 (Dec. 2020) 46-59 also the current waves of secularism and sexual permissiveness that weigh heavily on the present-day seminarians. Because the people of the present society do not see much evil if a seminarian becomes priest just like that, some seminarians push ahead to the priesthood carrying along with them all these unholy influences. Of course, if the formators and the Ordinaries of such seminarians discern such evil inclinations in the seminarians, they will expel them against their wish.

Other Possible Reasons Seminarians are expelled The Decree of Vatican Council II on the Training of Priests states among others:

Each candidate should be subjected to vigilant and careful enquiry, keeping in mind his age and development… his right intention and freedom of choice, his spiritual, moral and intellectual fitness, adequate physical and mental health, and possible hereditary traits. Account should also be taken of the candidate’s capacity for undertaking the obligations of the priesthood and carrying out his pastoral duties.4

This citation briefly and precisely states areas where the candidate to the Catholic priesthood must not be found wanting. Pope St. John Paul II in his Apostolic Exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis5 also underlines four pillars of formation for the priesthood as Spiritual formation, Intellectual formation, Human formation and Pastoral formation. Defects in any of these areas lead to the expulsion of the candidate. We now examine some of these needed qualities one after the other.

Defect in Spiritual Life The truth is that Christ instituted the Catholic priesthood primarily for the spiritual welfare of his followers (the Christians). This took place at the Last Supper with his Apostles when he charged them to consecrate bread and wine in his memory: “Do this in memory of me.” (Lk 22:19). The Letter to the Hebrews clearly underlines the spiritual nature of the work of the priest in the following words: “Every high priest is taken from among human beings and is appointed to act on their behalf in relationships with God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins…” (Heb 5:1-2, emphasis mine). The priest is ordained to stand

4 Ibid. 5 John Paul II, “I Will Give You Shepherds” Pastores Dabo Vobis (Kenya: Palines Publications Africa, 1992), nn. 43-59.

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Care of Ex-Seminarians in the Nigerian Church in for the faithful in things that pertain to God, that is to say, in spiritual matters. The Vatican Council II, in stressing the importance of spiritual formation of the candidates for the priesthood, states among others: “Spiritual formation should be closely associated with doctrinal and pastoral formation, and, with the assistance of the spiritual director in particular, should be conducted in such a way that the students may learn to live in intimate and unceasing union with God….”6 If a candidate for the priesthood fails to show signs of this intimate and unceasing union with God, it becomes difficult to promote him to the priesthood. In short, the seminary formation aims at configuring the seminarian to Christ,7 because a priest is another Christ (alter Christus). Therefore, defect in the spiritual life of a seminarian necessitates his expulsion from the seminary.

Defect in Academics: Intellectual ability is an indispensable requirement for recommending a candidate for priesthood. A priest occupies the position of a leader among the people he ministers to. Thus, he needs to possess the intellectual insight and foresight required of a leader. A leader shows the way, and to show the way, he must know the way. Nobody gives what he does not have (Nemo dat quod non habet). A blind cannot lead a blind for both will fall into a pit, says Jesus (Mt 15:14); more ridiculous still when a blind person presents himself as the leader of those with sight. Good intellectual formation of the Catholic priest is very important because he is the teacher of the Christian faith and for him to teach, he needs first to have a good understanding of the faith. For this good understanding of our faith, the Vatican Council II is of the opinion that good knowledge of philosophy and theology is highly needed.8 Pope St. John Paul II stressing the importance of proper intellectual formation of candidates for the priesthood submits: “Intellectual formation… is… deeply connected with, and indeed can be seen as a necessary expression of, both human and spiritual formation…”9 and surely also of pastoral formation. Good intellectual formation is a basis for proper spiritual, human and pastoral formation. Further on this the pontiff writes:

The intellectual formation of candidates for the priesthood finds its specific justification in the very nature of the ordained ministry, and the challenge of the ‘new evangelization…. If we expect every

6 Optatan Totius, 28 October, 1965, no. 8 7 John Paul II, Pastores Dabo Vobis, nos. 21-23 8 Optatan Totius, nos. 15 and 16. 9 John Paul II, Pastores Dabo Vobis, no. 51

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MINISTERIUM – A Journal of Contextual Theology Vol. 6 (Dec. 2020) 46-59

Christian …to be prepared to make a defense of the faith and to account for the hope that is in us (cf. 1 Pet 3:15), then all the more should candidates for the priesthood and priests have diligent care of the quality of their intellectual formation in their education and pastoral activity. For the salvation of their brothers and sisters they should seek an ever-deeper knowledge of the divine mysteries.10

A Nigerian bishop (Late Bishop Michael Eneja, former Bishop of Enugu diocese) is often quoted as saying that a priest needs two wings to fly – good spiritual life and intellectual adequacy. If any of these fails, the priest cannot fly; and where a seminarian falls short in any of these two, he should be advised to seek his vocation elsewhere.

Inability to keep the Seminary Rules: In the area of human formation, if a candidate shows signs of inadequacy in proper human maturity, the candidate in question is likely to be asked to discontinue with his training for the priesthood. If for instance, a seminarian cannot keep the rules of knowing when, where, over what and how to talk, this can lead to his expulsion. This in the seminary is generally known as rule of silence. Ability to sincerely abide by seminary rules is a good manifestation of human maturity and self-control; it is a sign of a disciplined person. Such a disciplined and self-controlled person is also a master of his temper and other emotions. Quite a number of seminarians find it difficult to show adequate signs of human maturity and self-mastery. On this aspect of the seminary training, Robert Cardinal Sarah writes:

When I think back to my seminary years, I remember a large number of rules that helped us to control our instincts. For example, it was positively forbidden to take even the smallest snack outside of meals…. This discipline of the body was essential in the discernment of future priests.11

Proper human formation is meant to take care of formation in priestly celibate life, because, as we have shortly seen, it aims at self-control and self- mastery. Human formation helps a candidate grow in control of his emotions and inclinations, sexual emotions and inclinations inclusive. This is exactly what

10 Ibid. Also see Propositio, 24. 11 Robert Cardinal Sarah, God or Nothing: A Conversation on Faith (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2015), 152.

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Care of Ex-Seminarians in the Nigerian Church

Cardinal Sarah makes allusion to when he says that the keeping of the seminary rules helps the candidates to control their instincts. Inability to keep the seminary rules leads to the expulsion of quite a number of seminarians. Some of such rules in some of the seminaries in Nigeria command zero tolerance.

Difficulties Facing the Expelled Ex-seminarian Seminarians who are expelled from the seminary leave the seminary with practically no plans of how to continue their lives in the civil society. Before their expulsion, many of them had not thought about any ‘plan B’ in their lives. In most of the cases, the expulsion catches them off guard, without any plan whatsoever on how to keep living outside the seminary without ordination. They are really faced with many problems and challenges of re-adaptation in the society. Some of their problems and challenges include the following:

Completion of Studies Seminarians are expelled at different stages of their seminary training. Some are expelled in the minor seminary, some as they are undergoing philosophical studies in the major seminary, while others are expelled during their theological studies. At any of these levels, there is need for the candidate to complete the studies he has begun so as to acquire a certificate to show that he has done the studies in question. It is not uncommon to see many of our expelled seminarians moving all over the place looking for one school or the other, one institution or the other, one university or the other where to complete their studies. In almost all the cases, the Church and seminary authorities do not assist them in this seeking.

Socio-Psychological Problems Most of the expelled ex-seminarians undergo the psychological trauma of a failed mission. They become ashamed of themselves and are faced with the question of what their parents, siblings, their home parishioners even their towns people will say. From time to time, a seminarian is heard at the moment of his expulsion shouting spontaneously: “What will I tell my mother?” or “What will I tell my people?” Yes, they are faced with the feelings of having disappointed many who are proud of them as candidates for the Catholic priesthood. At their expulsion, they are laden with heavy sense of shame and many immediately see themselves as social misfit. While many with time overcome such negative feelings and move out positively to survive in other areas of the society (after all, one door closes and thousand others open), some few others hide away in shame and waste the rest of their lives. These few live the rest of lives with the sense of failure and guilt and languish under it.

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MINISTERIUM – A Journal of Contextual Theology Vol. 6 (Dec. 2020) 46-59

Spiritual Problems The expelled seminarians generally would have loved to become priests. Thus, they become disappointed at their expulsion and the tendency is that they develop deep-rooted hatred for the seminary and Church authorities that expelled them. They become disgusted with the Church and some with religion in general. This accounts for many ex-seminarians being completely away from the Church. Some go back to traditional religion they do not even know much about, because they feel that Christianity has failed them. Some of them end up founding their own churches where they appoint themselves pastors and bishops. Apart from those who separate themselves from the Church out of disappointment and annoyance, there are those expelled ex-seminarians who do not accept the decision of the Church authorities that they are not fit for the priesthood. They judge themselves quite adequate for the Catholic priesthood. They move from one diocese to the other and from one religious congregation to the other asking to be admitted as candidates for the priesthood. Given this unhealthy attitude by some ex-seminarians, some ill-motivated individuals here in Nigeria (some priests and religious, others lay Christians) have founded religious congregations to assimilate such candidate and to make money from them. This is the major reason why there are proliferation of illicit religious congregations in Nigeria today that now constitute one of the greatest headaches for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria.

Economic Problems Among the problems facing many ex-seminarians in Nigeria are economic problems. In our major seminaries, philosophy and theology are the disciplines studied. Graduates of these two disciplines are not highly demanded for in the job market. Therefore, many of them find it extremely difficult to secure any meaningful job. It is only of recent that some of them started gaining lecturing appointment in the departments of philosophy and religion in the university due to the affiliation to the local universities most of the major seminaries in Nigeria have gained. We have many ex-seminarians who have no meaningful means of livelihood. It becomes, therefore, obvious that the ex-seminarians in Nigeria need to be taken care of because there are many challenges and problems facing them in life. The fact is that the expelled ex-seminarians were never making any alternative plans for their lives and were caught off-guard by their expulsion. They were suddenly uprooted from their base. It is the submission of this essay that rehabilitating such expelled candidates should form part and parcel of the apostolate of the Church in Nigeria.

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Care of Ex-Seminarians in the Nigerian Church

Structures for Rehabilitating Ex-Seminarians: Church’s Task Sensitivity towards the sufferings of the neighbor, quest for the souls going astray and the love of neighbor make it important that the Church in Nigeria rethinks her attitude towards her expelled ex-seminarians. A close acquaintance with Churches in other parts of the world, like Germany and Belgium, shows that they have some plans for their ex-seminarians’ comfortable living in the world. The Germans have such structures like Pastoral Referent and Community Referent (Gemeinde Referent). These have their duties in the Church and contribute much in the pastoral work in parishes and chaplaincies. Some are assigned the duty of taking care of some specific statutory bodies in the Church, like the youth or the students. In Germany, many ex-seminarians and ex-nuns are absorbed into these pastoral groups; this gives them sense of belonging and provides them means of livelihood. It is important the Church in Nigeria thinks out the possible structures where her ex-seminarians can be engaged to satisfy their internal longing to serve God and humanity in the Church, gain some sense of belonging and self- worth. In brainstorming about the possible structures that can help the Church in Nigeria to rehabilitate her ex-seminarians, this essay thinks of three levels of ex-seminarians: those at minor seminary level, those at philosophy level and those at theology level.

Minor Seminary Level The minor seminary is just the equivalent of the secondary schools in the country, especially with regard to the curriculum of studies. Thus, the seminarians expelled at this level should not have much difficulties readjusting to the secular world. It is the seminarians at this level that the Council Fathers have in mind while advising: “Courses of studies should be so arranged that pupils may be able to continue them elsewhere without inconvenience, should they embrace another state of life.”12 The truth is that the Church in Nigeria today adheres to this advice strictly. Days are gone when seminarians doing physical science subjects like physics, chemistry, biology etc. were looked on with suspicion. Nowadays, seminarians are even encouraged to take up such subjects. The area where some expelled minor seminarians encounter problems is in gaining admission into secular secondary schools. In the 1970s many expelled minor seminarians spent many months, some years, seeking for admission into secular secondary schools. Given the number of Catholic schools today, the Church authorities should see to it that ex-seminarians are offered admission in

12 Optatam Totius, no. 3

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MINISTERIUM – A Journal of Contextual Theology Vol. 6 (Dec. 2020) 46-59 their secular secondary schools without difficulties. If for one reason or the other an ex-seminarian at the completion of the secondary school or minor seminary is not able to further his education, the Church can help him undergo some brief training for catechist’s work and engage him as catechist in a parish.

Philosophy Level The recent practice of allowing seminarians to sit for JAMB examination before going to the major seminary is a healthy innovation, especially for the seminarians who might not make it to the priesthood. For many dioceses and religious congregations, passing JAMB examination is now one of the compulsory requirements for being admitted into the major seminary. Most of our major seminaries now have their philosophy department affiliated to some local Universities in the country. Now, if a seminarian doing his philosophical studies is expelled, there is no longer the problem of how he would complete his education. Most of the mother Universities where the seminaries are affiliated offer the ex-seminarians of the affiliated seminaries the chance of completing their studies in the mother University. Both the expelled seminarians and those who completed the philosophy program of studies in the seminary all obtain the philosophy degree from the mother University. Thus, they have the same job opportunity and other opportunities like their counterparts in the University. Concerning getting a job, the Church can come to the aid of the ex- seminarians at this level. Now that the Church in Nigeria has some universities both at national and diocesan/congregational levels, the Church can easily offer the ex-seminarians some job in their universities. They can also be offered teaching opportunity in the seminary, to teach philosophy in the major seminary or other subjects in the minor seminary, with reasonable payment that will enable them live comfortably in the world. It is also a fact that many dioceses and parishes have secondary and technical schools nowadays. These schools can easily absorb ex-seminarians into their teaching or managerial staff. Many of our ex-seminarians are good academic materials and can effectively help to raise the standard of our schools both in the area of academics and morals.

Theology Level Some seminarians are expelled when they are already at the theological level of their priestly formation and some are denied ordinations even when they have completed their seminary formation. Of all the three levels of the priestly formation, where the expulsion of a seminarian is most devastating is at this last stage. At this level, most of the candidates have decided for the priesthood and are no more thinking of becoming any other thing in life. At this level, many have absorbed many aspects of the priestly life. When now expelled, the candidate becomes totally disenchanted and the sense of loss and failure could

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Care of Ex-Seminarians in the Nigerian Church be quite heavy. For many of such candidates, everything seems to have ended in fiasco, a mission not accomplished. To begin at this point in time when most of them are almost thirty years old, in the Nigerian set up, to plan for a totally different kind of life becomes very difficult, with all the feeling of shame that goes with failure. It is those ex-seminarians who have reached this level of formation that the Church should be much concerned about their rehabilitation. Most often, the candidates who are expelled at this late stage are allowed to complete their academic program from outside the seminary and obtain their certificate in theology. The problem, however, is what reasonable means of livelihood a person can get with a certificate in Catholic sacred theology, especially in the Nigerian secular society. The situation of an ex-seminarian at this stage is more challenging than that of the one expelled at philosophy level, unless he already has good certificate in philosophy in which case he can fall back to it. Given the fact that an ex-seminarian with a certificate in theology or one that has almost completed his theological studies already knows much about Catholic doctrine and Church’s administration, he could be easily engaged by the Church in those areas of pastoral work and administration that must not necessarily be occupied by an ordained person. As earlier stated, in Germany many of their ex-seminarians are engaged by the Church in certain areas of pastoral work of the Church and they know very well and respect their limits as non-ordained ministers. They are specially trained and sent out by the diocesan Bishop as non-ordained ministers – as Pastoral Referents and Gemeinde (community) Referents. The Pastoral Referents are entrusted with pastoral care of a group of people, even though they may not be properly called a parish. He does the administrative work in the parish while priests come for Masses and other sacraments that require a priest. The Gemeinde Referents hold Church services without a priest, do burials, prepare candidates for different sacraments, engage in hospital apostolate, etc., all in accordance with the directives of the parish priest. The ex-seminarians so engaged feel fulfilled and settled. We may not think that the Church in Nigeria does not need such ministers. The number of priests we have do not properly cover all the areas of the apostolate. Another area where the Church can offer the ex-seminarians job is in the diocesan and parish offices. The ex-seminarians with certificates in philosophy and theology can easily be employed by the Church to lecture in their schools as religious teachers; they can as well teach other courses and subjects according to their areas of competence. Some dioceses in our country have theological institutes for lay people; the ex-seminarians with certificate in theology are quite suitable to lecture in such institutes. It is for the Church to see that the engaged ex- seminarians, irrespective of their area of engagements, are paid enough to live well in the world.

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Associations for the Spiritual Care of Ex-seminarians It is somehow understandable that some ex-seminarians, especially the expelled ones, grow cold feet in their spiritual endeavors. Some, because of the shame of expulsion, find it hard to attend Masses because they would like to avoid being queried by the members of their parish. At the initial stage, they may have the intention to begin going to Church at a later time, but as time goes on, they find it even more difficult to resume their usual spiritual activities. They remain in their hiding. The important task in such a situation is how to bring such ex-seminarians out of their hiding by convincing them that not much has gone wrong by their not making it to the priesthood. It is the opinion of this essay that certain associations can help to bring them out.

Old Boys/Alumni Association: Many ex-seminarians like attending old boys or alumni associations because they long to meet with some old friends. These associations are made up of priests and ex-seminarians. In many cases, leadership of these associations are given to the ex-seminarians. Many really regain sense of belonging and self- worth through these associations. Generally, the meetings of these associations take off with Eucharistic celebration. In this way, opportunity is given to all the members to take part at Mass. Among others, the members seize the opportunity to talk to all about the importance of sound spiritual life for all. From time to time, well informed persons on the role of the laity in the Church are invited to address the association. Some groups meet as class/course mates. This smaller and more intimate group attracts hidden members more than the larger ones. Many groups of smaller number meet more often; they also attend celebrations and condolences of their members very frequently. Some hold annual meetings and Christmas celebrations. Such celebrations are open to the wives and children of their members who are ex-seminarians. In these associations, the family members of the ex-seminarians feel proud that they belong to a special class of people and many of them become more committed to the course of the Church. It is the opinion of the essay that the ex-seminarians will be all the more rehabilitated if different dioceses create a forum where they can be invited from time to time for some fraternal and friendly discussion with the diocesan Bishop and/or his representatives. Such a get-together is better begun with a Eucharistic celebration during which the ex-seminarians themselves serve at the altar and take up the readings, those things which they used to do well in the seminary. Such a gathering gives the mother Church the opportunity to show this group of special children that she still cherishes them very highly with great love. The Bishop or his representative in this occasion would explain to the ex-seminarians the need the Church has of them to employ the special training and knowledge

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Care of Ex-Seminarians in the Nigerian Church they gained in their seminary days in the lay apostolate in the society. This would serve as an opportunity for the mother Church to conscientize this set of her children that the period of time God allowed them in the seminary might have been to train them to serve as the yeast of their respective communities where they live and their respective places of work. They are best placed to serve as the light of the world and the salt of the earth (Mt 5:13-16).

Conclusion The rehabilitation and the pastoral care of ex-seminarians in Nigeria call for urgent attention. The Nigerian Church has for long overlooked this very important task and apostolate. The expelled ex-seminarians form part and parcel of those at the periphery to whom Pope Francis says the pastoral care of the Church should first and foremost go to.13 The expelled candidates to the priesthood are among those children of the Church who need to hear the hope- raising and encouraging message that “God is with us in the trial. He walks with us along the road to Emmaus, the road of disappointment, suffering, and discouragement.”14 Priesthood is not an end in itself, but only a means to our common end, which is heaven, the eternal salvation. There are several ways and means to this common terminus ad quem. For some Christians, the most effective means to this end may be the lay state of life, for some the consecrated religious life and for some the clerical life. There is some danger that clerical life rather than being a means of salvation for some Christians may even lead a person away from it because of heavy obligations that go with this state of life. We have tried above to show areas where the Church in Nigeria is to show more concern and compassion towards those who have been asked to discontinue their training to the priesthood. These areas are not only economic and secular, they are also ecclesiastical and spiritual. Man remains, according to the anthropology of Aristotle, a composite being, composed of body and soul and these two need to be taken proper care of. While the Church extends hands of love and care to the ex-seminarians, they themselves need also to realize that their expulsion was not out of hatred towards them but out of love, the good and salvation of all, themselves inclusive. There is need for them to continue to see the Church and relate to her as a loving mother that is much concerned for their holistic (temporal and eternal) wellbeing.

13 Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, no. 20ff. 14 Robert Cardinal Sarah, God or Nothing: A Conversation on Faith, 80.

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