CHALLENGES OF CHAPLAINCY

When I began to plan for this workshop, a chaplain of many years reminded me: “Years ago, we had chaplains’ meetings at the ational level. This happened three times: 4-5 January 1982, 4-6 January 1983, and 3-4January 1984. They had been organized by Roy Thaden, S.J. I think the main reason for dropping these has been that we discovered that the situation of chaplains was so different from school to school that it became impossible to give clear guidelines fit for all….”

I expect that my friend wanted to alert me to the difficulty of having clear-cut directions, a point clearly confirmed when forty- three people attended our August workshop. The attendees represented a wide variety but not all Catholic institutions, since eight of them failed to respond to repeated invitations. I think the workshop left us no illusions about the difficulties involved. But the participants felt that it was useful to get together so as to explore the meaning and potential of educational chaplaincy, despite its great diversity.

Evidently chaplaincy has so many dimensions because it offers services in the school in the area of faith, personal and human development, links with parents, as well as outreaches to people and situations in need. This would include organizing liturgical and para-liturgical services, retreats, links with families, contacts with other members of the staff, and programs for the needy.

CHAPLAINCY IN ZAMBIA

In the Zambian context, chaplaincy has often been identified primarily with the chaplain. For many administrators, the chaplain has a key role in promoting Catholic ideals and a religious ethos. Often this person is a priest, though this is changing rapidly. This is so not simply because there are fewer priests but because of the growing awareness of the role of non-ordained ministry in this area.

Theoretically, the chaplain or “pastoral director” as she or he is sometimes called is regarded as a king pin for the religious and moral atmosphere of the setting. Yet individual chaplains often claim to be rather peripheral to the operation of a school or college.

In addition, quite a number feel unprepared for the task in terms of skills and job description. The job is often vaguely defined, if at all. Sometimes she or he does not even have an office. Thus, we might say that there is not a little ambiguity surrounding the chaplaincy’s institutional role in Zambian schools and colleges.

Among a variety of activities of the three days, we focused on the theme of loss and how to deal with it. Loss has many shapes. There is the obvious and major loss in the experience of death and we are all very much aware of its increasing presence in our day. However, there are many other types of loss entailed in relationships and we reflected on some of these. Dealing creatively with loss is clearly a major challenge for anybody involved in chaplaincy

One of the important outcomes from the chaplaincy workshop was that the participants decided to form a committee to facilitate future get-togethers of this nature. Despite the varied problems and backgrounds connected with chaplaincy, it was felt that we must continue to work together in getting clearer directions in order to be of better service.

From discussions during the three days, it became somewhat evident that many would like a more professional, though not necessarily clinical, approach to chaplaincy. Hospital chaplaincy has made headway in this area mainly through the many C.P.E. programmes that exist.

There are few places that train and certify school chaplains. Mater Dei Institute in Dublin, where our facilitator Donal Neary has worked for many years, does this. It offers diploma and Masters’ programmes. What about Zambia? Should we not begin to think on these lines? This also raises the matter of the chaplain’s relationship to the teacher of Religious Education. They are different avenues of exposing students to the faith dimensions of life.

But maybe there could be more fruitful linkages, especially in the Zambian context where Religious Education has tended to become progressively more academic and cognitive in approach. I have touched this topic in an earlier article (JCTR Bulletin, No. 39). However, it needs further reflection.

In our Zambian context, we are also faced with school settings that are not totally church operated. Co-operation with government has led us to a situation where we have to work with many different denominations. Thus the role of the chaplain has to differ from what it would be in a church-run private school. Is the chaplain simply responsible for Catholics in our present “grant-aided” system or should she or he think more widely, more ecumenically, in an interfaith mode?

It also struck me that many of the personal matters that we discussed during the three days have deep societal roots. The chaplain has to be careful that she or he does not become simply a provider of aspirins (no matter how useful aspirins can be!) when major surgery is needed. Thus the chaplain’s role in the promotion of justice needs to be elaborated further. For me this workshop was well worth the effort in that it has once more raised our awareness of the importance and potential of chaplaincy in our educational settings.

If it is not inappropriate in an article of this nature, I would like to thank all who participated, thinking of the sacrifices in time, money, and the inconvenience they accepted. Unlike many workshops and seminars today, those who attended this one got neither sitting, standing, or moving allowances!