By Fr Declan McNaughton MSSC

I came from a fairly typical Irish Catholic background and was educated at schools run by nuns, the Christian Brothers as well as a parochial school. When I first became interested in the priesthood in my early teens, it was in my own diocese that I was interested in serving. However, we received the Columban magazine, the Far East, so it was natural that I should begin to read the articles written by Columbans telling about the situations that they were working in. What impressed me was the lack of priests in all of these countries, the plight of the people who were not able to receive the Sacraments regularly and thus was born my missionary vocation.

Hazy road ahead

I entered the Columban seminary in Ireland, Dalgan Park, in 1966. The Vatican Council had just finished the previous year and, of course, I had no idea what an impact it was going to have on not just the seminary but on the understanding of mission and priesthood. In my first year there, most of the Mass was still in Latin, we wore soutanes all the time, permission to leave the grounds was not readily obtained and times for recreation and study were strictly regulated.

Declining vocations

Happily, all these things changed, but not so happily, the numbers in the seminary dropped dramatically from over 190 in my first year to 40 at my ordination. Vatican II challenged us in the Church to re-examine our understanding of the priesthood and of mission. The old narrow idea of simply saving souls through administration of the Sacraments no longer seemed as relevant as it did before, but no other clear conception of the missionary’s role had been formulated, hence many students left and numbers entering dwindled.

Clear call, clear answer

Although my reasons for wishing to become a priest were originally based on the old model of what he should be, and during that time it was not clear to me what the new model would be, I can say that I have never doubted that God called me to be a priest. This conviction sustained me through the seminary.

I regard this conviction as coming not from any application to study or prayer on my part, but as a gratuitous gift from God, by which sustained my vocation through the years. It was probably a very wise thing for God to do, because He probably knew what would have happened if it had been left up to study and prayer on my part.