Antidius James Kaijage is 29 years old and a diocesan seminarian. Thanks to the help of the partners, benefactors and friends of the CARF Foundation, he is in Spain training at the University of Navarra and resides at the Bidasoa Seminary.
He was born in the diocese of Bukoba, in Tanzania, in the heart of Africa. He is the fifth of eight siblings and grew up in a deeply catholic family, where faith has always been a part of daily life.
«We received a Catholic education from the beginning,» she says. Her parents and siblings live their faith naturally and consistently: Sunday Mass and, on vacations, the parish became almost a second home.
Today Antidius is in the fourth year of Theology in the Ecclesiastical Faculties of the University of Navarre and has been living in the Bidasoa international seminar. He is far from his homeland, but not from his vocation. «God willing, he will choose me as a priest of his Church,» he says humbly.
Your vocation was not born out of an extraordinary event, but from the simple and constant treatment of the sacred, and from the example of her parish priest. If I had to point to a specific moment, it would be the consecration during the Mass of his parish.
«I really liked the way the pastor I celebrated the Mass with great respect. Especially the time of the consecration, the preface... I was very attentive and it felt good,» he says.
I was just a child, but that solemnity, that silence, that silence loaded with mystery, ignited a flame. Enthusiasm then grew in the parish choir, youth activities and community life.
«When we would join together at home for prayer, that also influenced me a lot, because. the life of the priest is a community lifeBeing with the people, serving, consoling, accompanying».
Your entry into the seminar was not easy. Her parents were hesitant at first. They told him: «Children have many desires, but when youth comes, everything changes». They feared it was a passing illusion.
But Antidius« desire was not extinguished. On the contrary, he grew up in the midst of adolescence, with its questions, its concerns, its moments of family tension and its desire to be with friends. »My parents were always teaching me, always correcting me," he recalls.
Finally, they gave him permission and their blessing. He entered the seminary supported by the faith of his family.
The Diocese of Bukoba has 150 priests and 766,970 baptized Catholics, nearly 61 % of the population of 1,255,679 people. Catholicism is the majority there, but it is not without its challenges.
«There are some Catholics who change the religion natural of their parents and enter other small religions for economic, psychological, ideological, family or personal reasons».
The Church suffers when those who have received the Baptism and the sacraments go away. That is why he insists on formation, preaching, constant education in the faith.
There is also a real material need. «My diocese needs financial help to do its spiritual, family, pastoral activities better, academic and to assist people in need, so that they are not tempted to deny their faith,» says Antidius.
«We need trained priests, with a universal vision.. Seminarians who can study abroad, learn more and better how the universal Church is, have a global mind in their daily ministries».
Tanzania is constitutionally a country with religious freedom.. Religion is separate from government, although there are points of connection.
However, the threat of jihadism worries them. «Tanzania faces a latent threat, although not on the same scale as our neighbors in Somalia, Kenya or Mozambique.» Especially on the islands of Pemba and Zanzibar, which is where the Muslim population is in the majority.
Faced with the problems that arise between the different denominations, this seminarian explains that education, dialogue, political cooperation, control of financing... are important.
«The first thing is to put love and charity, and then everything is solved little by little.».
Antidius also reflects on evangelization in secularized societies, something he is observing in Spain. For him, the starting point is clear: «missionary humility, patience (as Africans have), active listening skills and empathy».
He adds that personal witness has a great power of attraction, both in daily life and through social networks. And he points out as something essential: «to speak the truth about the faith and the teaching of Christ without fear, because that is how the apostles and the Fathers of the Church lived it».
He was coming to a country with a long Christian tradition and discovered a nation where many are «event Catholics, but not practicing Catholics. He verified it in his pastoral experience: »Faith is present in weddings, baptisms, communions, Holy Week, processions... but not in the attendance to the Holy Mass, which is the center of the mystery of our salvation,« he laments.
However, he admires the fact that many Spaniards have great devotion and respect for the Virgin Mary.
But in spite of some shadows, he confesses that he is learning a lot in our country, he is positively surprised by the coexistence in the seminary, the education, the care for customs and norms, and he highlights something hopeful: «people who believe, really believe».
Antidius affirms that Spaniards and Africans can learn from each other for evangelization, but points out some traits of African Catholics:
This Tanzanian seminarian speaks of the priesthood with an awareness of today's challenges. «Today's priest must integrate human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral dimensions to respond to a secularized, technological and constantly changing society.».
For him, he must cultivate the gift of people and kindness in order to generate trust and overcome individualism. In addition, he must acquire a solid cultural and theological formation to respond to all the questions of this century.
«But, above all, he must be a man of deep and constant prayer with God, which is the source of his apostolate and his identity,» he says.
And be clear about the priestly identity and fidelity to the magisterium, spirituality centered on the altar and the Eucharistic sacrifice. As St. John Bosco says: «Priest of Jesus Christ, celebrate this Holy Mass as if it were your first, your last, your only Mass».
And it concludes with a simple and powerful image: «the priest of the 21st century is called to be a good shepherd, a father, a brother, to present and identify the presence of God and who lives in the kingdom of God».
Marta Santínjournalist specializing in religion.
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