Vocation for travel. Catholic priestly training in Sri Lanka
Catholic priests and advanced seminarians in Sri Lanka often describe their entrance to the seminary as the response to a strong spiritual calling that they could not ignore. Young seminarians offer more ambiguous narratives, where a combination of material anxieties, local cultural traditions and i...
| Published in: | Religion |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Routledge
[2020]
|
| In: |
Religion
|
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Sri Lanka
/ Catholic church
/ Major seminary
/ Seminarian
/ Vocation
/ Religious development
|
| RelBib Classification: | CB Christian life; spirituality KBM Asia KDB Roman Catholic Church RB Church office; congregation |
| Further subjects: | B
Sri Lanka
B Priesthood B topics B fieldwork approaches / ethnography B Catholicism B anthropology approaches B areas B Seminary B Christianity religions B Vocation |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) |
| Summary: | Catholic priests and advanced seminarians in Sri Lanka often describe their entrance to the seminary as the response to a strong spiritual calling that they could not ignore. Young seminarians offer more ambiguous narratives, where a combination of material anxieties, local cultural traditions and individual aspirations, encourage them to consider joining the clergy. This article examines how seminaries highlight aspects of religious formation where vocational discernment and the authenticity of one's calling are left for later stages of formation. Emphasizing aspects of career mobility, graduate studies overseas and missionary work, seminaries provide an attractive alternative for prospective priests in Sri Lanka. I argue that there is no contradiction between the spiritual dimensions of religious vocation and the material aspirations of seminarians. Although ethical dispositions emerge and replace the mundane impulses that initially attract young men to the seminary, material incentives are never completely eliminated from the vocational map of seminarians. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1096-1151 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religion
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/0048721X.2020.1810818 |