The Hindu : A priest in a class of his own

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Nov 11, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka-Bangalore

A priest in a class of his own

By K. Satyamurty

BANGALORE NOV. 10. Like all Catholic priests he is not married, but considers all the 12,000 parishioners of the Sacred Heart Church at Richmond Town here his "extended family".

"Priests of any faith can no longer be content with conducting rituals; they have to reach out to the people, especially the young," says Adolf Washington, this unusual priest. He was involved in helping the youth even before entering the ministry and joining the parish two years ago.

"The elders then thought I had good organising skills and encouraged me," Fr. Washington says. The ministry was not his first goal; he wanted to study law. He also toyed with the idea of joining films and had a "side role" in a Kannada movie. "But something pulled me towards the church, and I joined a seminary in Kolkata to study philosophy and theology, and continued the studies later at St. Paul's Seminary in Bangalore," he says.

Though his family was well off, his mother encouraged him to work part-time as a student and "rough it out". This is something most young persons now lack, he says.

Fr. Washington's focus is on the youth of his parish and not all of them belonging to his church. "When I took over, there were at least 700 unemployed young people, almost wasting away. They were a problem to themselves and their families and the neighbourhood, falling prey to bad habits such as drinking and gambling." His organising skills took over and Fr. Washington soon built a network to identify available jobs and match them with the jobseekers in his parish.

"Nearly 700 of them are now employed," he says.

In dealing with young people, he first tries to help them get over the low self-esteem many of them suffer from. "This is mostly the result of the family environment they come from, and it is not only poverty. Even in better-off families, both parents are at work most of the day, meeting career ambitions or the need for money and possessions. Parents are so immersed in their own career problems, they can't spare much time for their children," he says.

"In poorer families, it is often difficult for children to find a physical space to study undisturbed. This is one reason many of them drop out from school,'' he says.

Fr. Washington has tried to solve this by providing well-lit space within the church compound for children to study. He wants to build a separate facility with study halls, a reading room, and space for indoor games.

The Bangalore Archdiocese Youth Centres have similar facilities of various sizes. They help spot young talent in arts or sports and encourage them. "The constant negative strokes and neglect by parents are beginning to tell on the character and outlook of the young, and somebody has to help them,'' Fr. Washington says.

Another problem many urban young face is the lack of real friends to turn to for help. "The pals they find in online chat rooms are of no help, and there has to be opportunities for them to find friends," he says.

Fr. Washington can be contacted on Ph: 5511955 or 5487288, or email adolf123@rediffmail.com.

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