Permanent Deacons, Lay Leaders, and Clergy - all responsible for the life of the church

This week has turned out to be much busier, as I suspected. I was asked over the last few days to take on a course with a group of 87 catechists. This involves a three hour lecture on both Tuesday and Wednesday nights. As is not unusual here, there hasn't been a lot of time to get ready so my focus has been on preparing classes over the last few days.

INFAP - not too sure what the initials stand for - is a body set up by the diocese here to provide theological, catechetical and religious formation for cathechists, young people, and for those preparing for the Permanent Diaconate (and anyone else who might be interested). The group that I am working with inludes people from all of these groups, and also has a few Anglicans thrown in for good measure.

The whole set up, which is huge, is managed by a Columbian nun who is a Dominican Sister of the Presentation. Sr. Rosemary is a highly competent person who has the whole thing running like clockwork. She is also one of those sisters who tends to get her way. Something tells me I might be doing more work with her in the future. In fact, I am quite happy to do this as it is a very interesting group to be part of.

Panama doesn't have nearly enough priests to staff its parishes - and has never had. This means that trained laity and permanent deacons are vital to the life of the church here. I have never seen so many permanent (mostly married) deacons - and I have certainly never seen anywhere where the role of deacon is so well understood, valued, and deployed in ministry. These men, who also have their day jobs, work in a very dedicated way in their parishes - they lead Sunday services, they preside at funerals, baptisms, and weddings, they lead catechesis groups, they bury the dead, and do so many more things.

Trained laity are another essesntial element of the church here. Catechists who pass on the faith to others are also community leaders, in every sense of the word. It is a wonderful experience to see how these two groups, together with the clergy, are all responsible for the life of the church in Panama - so different to Ireland, or, for that matter, anywhere else I have ever lived.

As Ireland begins to notice more and more that there is a lack of priests we would do well to learn from somewhere like Panama - but, I suspect, we are unlikely to do so.

In the meantime, it's the head down for me as I try to stay ahead of the posse, preparing classes for next week - Good Night!