Jamaine Punzalan

Pope Francis and Archbishop Cardinal Antonio Tagle gesture as they converse with a family headed by a deaf-mute couple at the Mall of Asia Arena on January 16, 2015. Josh Albelda, ABS-CBN News/File

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/174667218256820160116-pope-moa-ja.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Pope Francis and Archbishop Cardinal Antonio Tagle gesture as they converse with a family headed by a deaf-mute couple at the Mall of Asia Arena on January 16, 2015. Josh Albelda, ABS-CBN News/File </span></span></span></div><p>As cardinals gather in the Vatican to elect a new pope -- with a Filipino among the favourites -- the church in Asia&#x27;s most Catholic country is grappling with a decline in those with a vocation for the priesthood.</p><p>&quot;According to the statistics we have... one priest is catering to around 9,000 Catholics,&quot; John Alfred Rabena, chancellor of UST Central Seminary, one the country&#x27;s oldest, said this week.</p><p>It is a situation that was leading to &quot;exhaustion&quot; among an overworked clergy, he told AFP during a visit to the seminary&#x27;s art deco building on the sprawling University of Santo Tomas campus.</p><p>Philippine Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle is among the favorites to succeed Pope Francis, while another Filipino, Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, has emerged as a late dark horse candidate.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/5/5/list-potential-successors-to-pope-francis-1417">LIST: Potential successors to Pope Francis</a></div><p>While officially cautioned not to campaign for their countrymen, clergymen in the Philippines told AFP they believe a Filipino pope could inspire a surge in recruits to the flagging ranks of the priesthood.</p><p>Father Robert Reyes, a well-known activist priest, said he sounded the alarm during his 1987-98 tenure as national vocation director of the Catholic Bishops&#x27; Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).</p><p>&quot;I was already warning the bishops that there were obvious signs of a decline in vocations, and how many years is that already?&quot; he said.</p><p>While the CBCP said it maintains no formal database tracking enrolment numbers, the Philippine Church marked its first-ever National Vocation Awareness Month in November in a bid to &quot;address the critical need for more priests within the nation&quot;.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/5/8/all-eyes-on-sistine-chapel-chimney-as-conclave-enters-day-two-1031">All eyes on Sistine Chapel chimney as conclave enters day two</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;BROKEN TRUST&#x27;</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>For Father Jerome Secillano, spokesperson for the CBCP, said the reason for that need is no secret.</p><p>&quot;Because of the sexual misconduct that happened in the Church,&quot; he said of the global abuse scandal that erupted in the early 2000s.</p><p>&quot;That was when people entering the seminary started to dwindle. The impact of that is still being felt.&quot;</p><p>And while he believes an outpouring of joy and pride would follow the ascendance of a Filipino pope, he questions if it would be enough.</p><p>&quot;I don&#x27;t know if a Filipino pope will immediately restore that broken trust,&quot; he said.</p><div><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/j6Dcwf34BLs" title="WATCH: Black smoke signals no pope elected in first conclave vote | ABS-CBN News" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div><p>Others who spoke to AFP said the sex abuse scandal could not be solely blamed for dwindling seminary enrollments, pointing to cultural changes that had made the country&#x27;s youth harder to reach.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s also because young people are so exposed to the secular world, with travel, with the internet and with social media,&quot; said Reyes.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;PLAIN FILIPINO&#x27;</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Seminarian Neil Pena, 27, told AFP he believed the potential for a Filipino pope to galvanize his countrymen&#x27;s faith was undeniable.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s different when the pope speaks your language,&quot; Pena said.</p><p>&quot;A pope speaking Filipino, plain Filipino, talking to you like he&#x27;s talking to you directly... it will be an inspiration.&quot;</p><p>Reyes agreed a shared heritage would be meaningful in a &quot;personality-oriented&quot; country.</p><p>&quot;If there&#x27;s someone famous, we gravitate towards the person and his actions, way of life,&quot; Reyes said. &quot;There might be many who will be interested in (becoming a) priest.&quot;</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/5/7/special-vatican-mass-begins-ahead-of-the-conclave-1608">READ: Next pope faces &#x27;difficult, complex&#x27; point in history, cardinals told</a></div><p>Rabena, the seminary chancellor, pointed to his own decision to join the clergy, saying it had been &quot;ignited&quot; by the 2015 visit of Pope Francis to the country following the deadliest storm in its history.</p><p>Arvin Eballo, a theology professor at the University of Santo Tomas, said there was a time when when almost every family aspired to have a son as a priest.</p><p>&quot;They believed it was a blessing of God,&quot; he said.</p><div><iframe width="966" height="703" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oPYTcuv4Mew" title="Faithful wait in hope after black smoke rises over Vatican | ABS-CBN News" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>

<p>As cardinals gather in the Vatican to elect a new pope -- with a Filipino among the favorites -- the church in Asia's most Catholic country is grappling with a decline in those with a vocation for the priesthood.</p>

As cardinals gather in the Vatican to elect a new pope -- with a Filipino among the favorites -- the church in Asia's most Catholic country is grappling with a decline in those with a vocation for the priesthood.

Filipino pope could revive priestly vocations in Catholic bastion

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Filipino pope could revive priestly vocations in Catholic bastion

Agence France-Presse,

Pam Castro

Published May 08, 2025 10:46 AM PHT

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