SS.CC.
Philippines
—Fr. Fintan Sheeran, ss.cc.,
Delegate of the General Government and Local Superior
When you
think “SS.CC. Philippines” think
“formation;” not formation only, but principally. The origins of
the SS.CC. presence in Manila were
rooted in formation needs. There is more than formation happening
here now, but the major focus of the work is still formation.
 The need to have novitiate and
post-novitiate formation available
in Asia for
candidates from India
and Indonesia led to the Congregation coming to Manila. A beginning
influx of candidates in India and a continuing one in Indonesia
strained the capacity of the Congregation in Asia to provide for
their formation personnel and accommodation.
Add to that the difficulty and uncertainty of obtaining visas
to India and Indonesia for would be formators from other countries
and you have the confluence of circumstances that led to our
beginning in Manila. It is readily accessible and is a place with
plentiful formation resources in terms of philosophy and theology
schools and other such institutions.
three houses of formation
 Today we have three houses of
formation in Manila for three different stages of formation.
I will mention the stage in the middle first. This is the novitiate,
the spiritual year at the conclusion of
which
the candidate takes his first vows and becomes a member of the
Congregation. It is the one stage of formation shared by all the
candidates, Indian, Indonesian and Filipino. This year there is also
a candidate from Poland. Life in formation here is decidedly
inter-cultural. On finishing novitiate, the candidates move on to
the study of theology in a post-novitiate formation community. Here
in Manila, that is the Damien
Formation Center, where the Indian and Filipino brothers come; the
Indonesian candidates return to Indonesia. The third community of
formation is the pre-novitiate, a community for the initial
reception of students who will spend a year or two discerning their
call to religious life in the Congregation. The candidates in
pre-novitiate are always local; the six candidates in our
pre-novitiate this year are all Filipino.
SS.CC. apostolic presence
Besides our formation
communities we have an apostolic presence that is a very important
part of our over-all mission in the Philippines and, in particular,
of our formation ministry. We have a parish in
a very poor area of Manila with three priests and three of our SS.CC. Sisters
ministering and living among the people in very simple
circumstances. Together, the brothers and sisters form a
community in mission.
The challenge of this apostolic
work is great; the needs are endless and the resources restricted,
but, as always, the Lord of the harvest goes ahead of the workers
and accompanies them. This apostolic presence and work is an
important locus and resource for the ministry of formation; it was
planned that way from the beginning, and it fulfills great hopes. It
must be said that cooperation between the brothers and sisters marks
all aspects and phases of SS.CC. life and
Mission here. It enriches us and is a source of hope for the future.
Our Work Has
Been Blessed
 If formation
is a key to SS.CC. Mission here in
the Philippines, so is youth. When the brothers’ and sisters’ communities here in Manila gather there are 55 of us
present and the great, great majority are young men and women just
beginning their SS.CC. journey. As we
thank God for that blessing, we are reminded of the efforts of the
many brothers and sisters who began this work in the Philippines and
continued it in often difficult circumstances. They deserve great
credit; their work has been blessed.
TUTORIAL
AS A PARISH PROJECT —WHY
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