By Kenneth J. Souza
Anchor Staff
WAREHAM, Mass. — This being the Year For Priests, John Wilk thinks there’s no better time than the present to start another Serra Club here in the Fall River Diocese.
“I wrote a letter to Bishop George W. Coleman asking if I could start up a new club here in the diocese to promote vocations through laypeople and he thought it was a good idea,” Wilk said. “There’s been enough information throughout the country that suggests Serra Clubs can help bring people to vocations.”
Founded in Seattle, Wash., in 1935, the Serra Club is an international Catholic organization comprised of laity — both men and women — who work to foster and promote vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Named after Blessed Junipero Serra, a Spanish Franciscan missionary who established nine missions in California in the 1700s, the Serra Club currently has more than 800 chapters in 42 countries with a total membership of more than 20,000 worldwide.
While there is already a Serra Club chapter based in the Attleboro Deanery with about 25 active members, Wilk felt a diocese as large as Fall River could benefit from a second chapter in the Fall River or New Bedford area.
A parishioner of St. Patrick’s Parish in Wareham, Wilk first looked to start up a Serra Club on Cape Cod, but he later realized centralizing the effort in New Bedford or Fall River made better sense.
“People aren’t going to drive a long distance to come to a club meeting once a month,” he said.
A previous Serra Club chapter based in the New Bedford disbanded years ago.
“We’re such a secular society today that Serra Clubs have been very helpful in promoting vocations,” he said. “There used to be a club in New Bedford but all the members got old, so the club became defunct.”
Wilk said he’s actively recruiting new Serra Club members — he needs at least 24 to charter a local chapter — and will soon begin reaching out to parishes throughout the diocese.
“We’re looking to get the word out to priests in the diocese about what I’m doing,” he said. “It seems like there are people who want to do something to help promote vocations in the diocese, but they don’t know what to do. Having been a Serran for the last 17 years, I think I can help. I was vice president of vocations for the Serra Club in Dallas which was very successful with about 75 members.”
Father Karl Bissinger, co-director of the diocese’s vocations office, said he welcomes another diocesan Serra Club.
“I think it would be a great thing,” Father Bissinger said. “Any time we have help from the laity in promoting vocations is great, because priests can only do so much.”
While there won’t be any ordinations this year, Father Bissinger confirmed there are currently seven seminarians studying for the priesthood in the Fall River Diocese and he’s been in contact with several others who have expressed interest.
“I know it works,” Wilk said, adding that nearby dioceses where Serra Clubs are active have all seen spikes in vocations.
“Springfield has over 20 seminarian candidates and Worcester has a bunch as does Boston,” he said. “I see all religious vocations as a gift from God and since God does not discriminate, there are people out there being called. If it can be done in Denver — where they now have more than 100 in the seminary — it can be done here. The Serra Club is very active there and they’ve doubled the capacity of their seminary, so there are a lot of young men who are serious about this.”
Once formed, Wilk said the Serra Club will likely work to arrange monthly meetings and plan programs within the diocese that help provide information to potential priests and nuns about various religious orders. They will also reach out to groups such as altar servers and Catholic school students.
“I think 75 percent of all priests were once altar servers,” Wilk said. “If you have a family letting their son or daughter become an altar server, that’s a good indication. Catholic schools are another: people are paying so much to send their children to the schools so if we can get information to these people they might at least think about a possible religious vocation.”
Regular monthly club meetings will include Mass and probably a breakfast featuring a guest speaker — a priest, bishop or member of a religious order discussing vocations.
“In Dallas, once a year we would invite the altar servers from all the parishes to have a dinner program for them with their parents,” Wilk said. “The bishop was there and we gave them medals and talked about vocations.”
He said another possible focal point would be World Youth Day slated for August 2011 in Madrid, Spain.
“We found out that over 1,000 priests currently in the United States went to previous World Youth Days,” Wilk said. “Not all of them went, obviously, but many of them who maybe weren’t sure of their calling went to World Youth Day to solidify their vocation and now they are priests. Our parish is trying to raise some money so we can hopefully send some people to World Youth Day in August 2011 when the pope will be there.”
Wilk said Bishop Coleman recently sent letters to all the parishes in the diocese identifying him and endorsing his effort to start the Serra Club. “That gets my foot in the door,” he said. “Now I’m hoping to contact them each directly.”
He’s already made a presentation at a couple of Cape-based parishes, including St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in North Falmouth.
While the diocese already has an established vocations office and parish priests are always on the look out for potential seminary candidates, Wilk said it’s difficult for them to devote ample time to vocations.
“They’re doing a lot of spiritual outreach to everybody but from our perspective they’re not doing enough to promote vocations,” Wilk said. “The Serra Club can provide support, prayers and activities to help them.
“I know priests in the diocese believe in their ministry and want to promote vocations. We’re trying to find a man like them sitting out in the pews of their church and bring them to the priesthood.”
In the meantime, Wilk asked everyone in the diocese to pray for the success of the new Serra Club endeavor.
“We all need prayers,” he said. “Eventually I’d like for us to have a single vocation prayer for the entire diocese — almost like an ‘Our Father.’ This would be the Fall River Vocation Prayer. I think something like that would be very helpful.”
Those interested in joining the new Serra Club should contact John Wilk at 781-878-4624 (work), 508-224-1614 (home), 617-799-8276 (cell) or email ppantaleo17@yahoo.com.