Filipino bishop: "Poverty leads to fewer vocations"

The bishop of Dumaguete, Mgr Du, said poverty and not enough promotion of priestly life were to blame for a drop in vocations.

Manila (AsiaNews) – Poverty is "one of the main causes of the drop in priestly vocations among youth in the Philippines", according to the bishop of the southern diocese of Dumaguete.

Mgr John Du told AsiaNews: "We are seeing a diminishing interest in vocations among youth. I think poverty is one major cause of the problem." He continued: "There are people who are willing to support seminarians, but sometimes there are no seminarians to support."

Apart from poverty, a "serious problem" is "lack of promotion of the priesthood. Although there are people assigned to this particular work, still it is not enough."

In the diocese, only six seminarians are in the Theologate while 39 are in college and there are only 81 priests. Mgr Du said: "Despite these figures, the perception of the people about the Church is generally positive. I hope that this will help the renewal of our mission."

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