Recently, I received an e-mail from a friend abroad written in Italian. An occasional glimpse to an English-Italian and Italian-English dictionary helps me a lot in fully understanding the language although I have enough working knowledge on it. “Anunciata” (not her real name) is fluent in English but she insists in practicing my floundering Italian.
She was telling an anecdote about the outgoing rector in their parish. Let me share it.
“Fr. Giovanni” (not his real name), after finishing his term has to be given another assignment to another place. Weeks before he left, he thanked the parishioners he served for years and asked for their prayers. Claiming that some of his parishioners were pushing in asking for what gift he would want, Fr. Giovanni wished for a down payment for a new car. (Wow!) He got five times of what he expected and there were also gifts for his beloved dog “Canis”.
Anunciata who has a lot of Filipino friends says that upon learning the story, her friends from Manila, Ilocos Sur and Iloilo had their eyebrows raised shaking their heads.
What the Filipinos cannot relate to is the fact that Fr. Giovanni has his own family where to seek help instead of the parishioners he was about to leave behind. To punctuate the story, he is a religious priest and has a vow of poverty. The money he received, my friend said, is enough down payment for a new top of the line German car.
Now my word . . .
If Fr. Giovanni meets a homeless Gypsy in Rome and asks for €100, would the priest hand over the amount if he has? What happened to his vow of poverty? In cases like that to my understanding, their religious congregation takes care of the car and all the needs of the priest/brother of their (religious) order.
Anyway, let the Fr. Giovanni and his dog “Canis” enjoy their gifts! -30-
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