Aid to the Church in Need and Permanent Deacons' Training

There have been lots of people visiting the seminary over the last few days and it has given the place an air of busyness that has changed the rhythm of things quite a bit.

Three men - an Italian, an Argentinian, and a Frenchman - who work with Aid to the Church in Need have been visiting on behalf of that organisation. They are on a preliminary visit to investigate what sorts of project might be possible for them to get involved with, or to start to assist the church here which is very much in the process of being developed. One of the things that they are specifically focusing on is projects to do with young people. World Youth Day has highlighted the place of young people in the Panamanian church and they are hoping to maximise the enthusiasm that this international event has generated and to harness that energy in favour of various projects.

While they haven't been specific about what projects they are investigating - I think they want to avoid giving particular groups expectations that may not be met later - they have visited quite a few of the dioceses here in Panama and have met with the bishops, the clergy and, of course, groups of young people. It will be very interesting to see what they eventually propose doing as, certainly at the moment, they seem very enthusiastic about the likelihood of beginning to work in Panama in the very near future.

As an aside: they tell me that they have quite a few Irish people working with them in their organisation and that they have a very busy office in Dublin - have to say, I was unaware of that.

We are also hosting a retreat for those who are preparing for the Permanent Diaconate. There are about 25 candidates participating and they appear to range in age from around 40 to around 60, with most of them being at the lower end of that age group. I have to say that they are a very pleasant group and show huge commitment to answering the call that they have experienced.

These men must first apply to be accepted. Then they must do some courses to bring their academic credits and theology up to a basic level. Once they have been accepted in to the programme they will have a further 3 years of studies - mostly at night, after they have completed their day's work - and they also undertake both spiritual direction and pastoral work in their parishes. It really is a huge candidate. At various stages during the process they are subject to evaluations and can either be invited to continue on with their training or else asked to leave the process: it is very demanding, not unlike the formation process for the seminarians - but these men are doing it while still holding down a job and rearing their families.

They arrived here yesterday (Friday) evening and will remain until Sunday afternoon. They seem to be really enjoying not only their retreat, but the formation process in itself as well.