Creative Ministries: An Interview with Fr Freddie Santhumayor SVD

Interview with Fr. Freddie Santhumayor, SVD

Conducted by

Fr. Christopher Kerketta, SVD

1. Question

 “Laity Formation” is one of the ministries you are   actively involved in. Can you share with us in brief how and why you began this ministry and still continue it?

  Answer:

I had a ‘dream’; I had to find out ways and means to realize it. Already while studying in major seminary when my name was proposed for higher studies in theology, I had a ‘dream’ (vision) of sharing whatever knowledge I possessed till then with the laity in a creative manner before undertaking higher studies. I am stuck in that ‘dream’ till today. That is why and how I took up Laity Formation as a full-time apostolate in 1985 first without any institution, and later (when I realized that this idea was impractical), when the Bishop of Rourkela was looking for someone to found a Laity Formation Centre at Kalunga, I took it up.
Secondly, why I am committed to this ministry is because of my conviction that the future of the Church very much depends on the formation and leadership of the laity. The laity is a neglected group in the Church in our Region as far as religious/spiritual formation is concerned. So I thought of concentrating my energies on the less privileged ones.

Thirdly, when I was a pastor in Gaibira from 1981 to 1985, I was influenced by reports in SVD documents that we (SVDs) get stagnant with our pastoral and missionary approach, and are unwilling to enter into new forms of ministries. Based on my keen observation of the tribal community to which most of our lay people belong, I identified some groups which needed special attention, namely catechists, village headmen (called ‘panch’), alcoholics (and heavy drinkers), traditional healers (called ‘baid’), industrial workers, married couples and school drop-outs. I analyzed the issues, problems and needs of these groups and developed my own brand of numerous seminars and workshops for them. The rest is a long story.

Along with Biblical Apostolate, I still continue this ministry without any institution, in collaboration with Parish Priests and other institutions, since my dream is not yet over; it only takes a new shape. 

2. Question:

  You began your special ministry for the alcoholics   more than 25 years ago, and stil continue it single-handedly along with other works. What makes you to stick to it for such a long period?

     Answer:

To tell you the truth, several times in the past, due to discouragement, I thought of winding up this ministry or withdrawing my involvement in it, and handing it over fully to the leaders among the recovered alcoholics (lay people). The moment I began to withdraw, their organization began to disintegrate since their leaders (lay people) found it difficult to lead on their own in spite of conducting leadership training for them. Another thought prevented me from withdrawing totally – woe to me if even a single alcoholic who otherwise would have been saved could not be saved due to my withdrawal! 

Why I began this work and still continue it, is again because of my dream. Already when I was a seminarian at Pune, I had dreamt of this apostolate after coming into contact with the members of Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) through the initiative of our Rector, Fr. Eddie D’Mello, SVD. When I was appointed to work among the tribals here in Odisha my dream got activated when I came across suffering alcoholics in my pastoral field.

Though alcoholism is a universal problem, for the tribals of our Mission, it has become a ‘cancer’ that destroys peace in families, brings injustice to so many children, and frustrates all developmental process. Working for peace and justice and liberating people from all types of bondages are some of the priorities dear to our Society. Since other confreres are doing this work so wonderfully in so many fields in other ways, I understand that I contribute my mite towards peace, justice and liberation from the bondage of addiction in this manner. 

3. Question:

   What about the continuity of this ministry? So far no SVD is prepared to carry onthis work after you.

   Answer:

This is an awkward question to answer in a public forum like this. First of all, the Society did not appoint me to do this ministry, though my Superiors always encouraged my initiatives. Nor did I apply for or use any funds from the Society or any other Funding Agency exclusively for this work. Nor did I establish any institution, though had applied to the Provincial Administration for it. I carried on with this work along with my other official appointments. For most of the de-addiction programmes, the participants themselves paid fees. Only when I was in the Laity Formation Centre, for a few years, I treated this work also as a part of the laity formation and subsidized their programmes from the funding agency’s funds meant for any other laity animation programmes.
In our Provincial Assemblies and Chapters, the common refrain was that for such an apostolate nobody could be appointed; the request had to come from the individuals who were interested. Such a request never came. I too never groomed any SVD to be my collaborator or successor. Now I wonder whether it was right on my part. If the Society or the dioceses take up this ministry in an organized way, I am willing to give my wholehearted co-operation. Anyway, I feel this is a need of the hour. 

4. Question:

You are known for your Preaching Ministry among the laity from the beginning of your priestly life. In the recent past, you have extended this ministry to the clergy, religious and Houses of Formation. Can you share with us why you did this and what are your experiences in this field?

   Answer:

Again, a very tricky question. Preaching retreats for clergy, religious and formees in Formation Houses was not my choice in the beginning. I was dragged into this new field by the Superiors and Heads of religious institutions. Till I came to Regional Pastoral Centre at Jharsuguda in 2001, for 22 long years, I resisted all attempts by Religious Sisters to invite me to conduct their annual retreats. I used to tell them firmly that they could go to other priests for this purpose, since I wished to stick to only one field, namely the formation of the laity.
But after taking charge of the Regional Pastoral Centre 2001, I thought it was not fair on my part to restrict myself to only one category or group. After the publication of my book on Gospel Reflections titled “Power of the Word” in 2007, more priests and religious from outside Odisha came to know me, and began to invite me for retreats. I am not able to cope with so many requests. I feel sorry that I had to cancel quite a few requests from Bishops and Religious Superiors because of clash of their dates with my other engagements.

Regarding my experience of preaching retreats to priests and religious, let me share with you what one Sister Superior told me: “We are very ‘choosy’ (I suppose she meant selective) when we invite priests to preach retreats”. I used to be a bit negative about preaching retreats to priests and religious thinking that they are the most privileged group due to long years of formation and ‘know everything’. I was afraid of making a fool of myself by sharing my ‘crazy’ ideas with them. Especially about priests, I used to think: “Will they listen to me; will they accept me and my ideas?” I thank the Lord for giving me the grace to overcome some of these prejudices. Contrary to my reservations, I was surprised to get a lot of encouragement and positive feedback and also some suggestions for improvement from priests through email.

Now I realize that renewal of the Church depends so much on the conversion of priests (including myself) and religious who try to convert others while they remain unchanged. In spite of my own weaknesses, I thought let me contribute my mite to motivate some priests and religious (especially the younger ones) to aim at personal excellence by formulating a personal vision for themselves and cultivating a self-discipline on their own, because their common vision is often consigned to files and notice-boards, and their rigorous discipline is mostly confined to Formation Houses. 

5. Question:

 As an SVD, how do you view your ministry of preaching the Word of God?

   Answer:

As an SVD, my main concern is to present the Word in such a way that it can become ‘flesh’ and dwell in the midst of life-situations of the groups and categories of people I minister. Many religious congregations and dioceses outside Odisha tend to identify me with my religious congregation. Since people identify SVDs as proclaimers of the Word of God, I feel we need to fulfill these aspirations of the people in a larger scale. Anybody will listen? 

6. Question:

Besides your famous book in English, “Power of the Word”, you have a number of books in Sadri and Hindi languages to your credit. What inspired you to go for religious literature in local languages in a large scale, and why lay people, especially the tribals, are attracted to your books?

    Answer:

The first reason is again my dream of bringing about renewal and updating among the laity by making Catholic literature available and affordable to them in their own language; because hardly anything of that sort was available.
To motivate people to buy and read my books, I follow two of the modern principles of persuasion: relevance and benefit. When I inform the people that the matter in my books is very relevant to understand their present issues, problems, struggles and needs, and will be beneficial to them, their families and society, many of them buy my books. Secondly, most people buy my book only during my retreats, seminars, classes and meetings after listening to my views. Blessed are they if they would read them.

Contrary to my expectations, a good number of my books are bought by the lay people. Let me open my files to substantiate my statement. So far (from 2007 till today), I have deposited in the Provincial Office Rs.6,61,157.00 from the sale of my books. In addition, I have deposited Rs. 60,777.00 in the Office of St. Arnold’s Vikas Sanchar (Communication Centre) collected from the sale of unsold books found in its storeroom. Out of this, only Rs.2,66,947.00, collected from the sale of my book in English titled “Power of the Word”, came from clergy and the religious. The rest of the amount is exclusively from the lay people who belong to tribal community. This amount far exceeds what the Province spent for the composition and printing of these books.

 7. Question:

 As a Biblical Coordinator of the Province, what are your contributions in this field       and what is your vision for the future of Biblical Apostolate in the Province?

   Answer:

Again, let me refer to my files. From March 2007 till today, I have conducted 51 Bible Seminars and Biblical Retreats (each one lasting for 2 or 3 days) only for the laity in the dioceses of Rourkela and Sambalpur, besides a number of other programmes for the laity.

In the last five years I have preached 17 biblical retreats for priests, religious and formees of Formation Houses like novitiates and diocesan Major Seminaries (each one lasting from 5 to 8 days) only on the topic: “Implications of spirituality of John’s Gospel to priestly and religious life today”.

What makes my book on Sunday Gospel Reflections titled “Power of the Word” (2007) different from all other books of homilies/reflections is its creative style in presenting the message of the gospel texts, in cryptic statements (called focus-statements) written in common (non-technical) language; and then showing its  application to present-day life in a separate column (box). Now I am going to present these reflections in another format with some modifications from the first Sunday of Lent. They can be viewed in my Blog http://freddielifepromotion.blogspot.in. or in SVD India.org  and SVD INM.org website. Your can also visit my second Blog in which I share my articles, views and other reflections: http://freddielifetips.blogspot.in .I thank God for this inspiration. Now I am able to reach to as many as possible all over the world with God's Word and spiritual thoughts.

About the future of Biblical Apostolate in our Province my suggestion is that we should go into this apostolate in a bigger way by making it a part or department of the proposed Retreat Centre in our Province. I also wish that our confreres working in pastoral ministry become more zealous in promoting Biblical Pastoral Ministry. From my own experience as a pastor, I know this is a tough task since, on the surface level, this need may not be immediately felt by the laity in our field.

[Thank you so much for your creative idea to interview me and giving me a platform to express some of the views for the first time in a public forum, which otherwise I would have kept to myself. Through your Newsletter, I want to thank you, all my Superiors, Superiors of other religious institutions/congregations, Bishops, pastors, lay leaders, etc., for the wonderful support, co-operation, appreciation, encouragement and trust that I enjoy.]

[Fr. Freddie invites feedback with creative suggestions for further enhancement of his ministry and the development of creative ministries among priests and religious. He can be contacted at freddysvd@gmail.com ]