DEACON Renald Anthony’s 10-year journey to the priesthood, which began in India when he was 17, will be complete on May 23 when he is ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Perth.
With less than 10 days until his ordination, the 27-year-old said he’s feeling relaxed, although he admits he has a few nerves.
“I’ve spent my time inside the seminary, well hidden, and even when I became a deacon there was another candidate with me, but this is all on my own, so I’m nervous in that sense,” he said.
“But this is the big event that every seminarian looks forward to in their life.”
Priesthood wasn’t always what Deacon Renald imagined as his life’s vocation; in fact, up until his final year of high school in India, he planned to study nautical science.
“In Year 12, that whole idea changed during the Holy Week retreat, particularly during the Holy Thursday homily by the retreat’s preacher on priesthood,” he explained.
“From that day onwards I completely changed my idea of becoming a nautical scientist to becoming a priest. I had no idea what priesthood was.”
He entered the seminary in his local diocese the following year, in 2004, where he completed several years of studies.
“In India, I did one year of spirituality, three years of university studies, then two years of philosophy and one year of pastoral placement,” Deacon Renald said.
While he was studying philosophy, Deacon Renald felt a desire to become a missionary, and so he began applying to seminaries around the world.
“I got a positive reply from Archbishop Hickey in 2009,” he said. “Although it was a bit of a struggle for a while to get here, I ended up at St Charles’ in March 2011. Fr Joseph Rathnaraj, the current parish priest at Embleton, helped a lot to get me here. I then continued my theology studies here.”
Moving to Australia to continue his studies was a major change for Deacon Renald, as was joining a seminary with a significantly smaller number of students.
“It was a big transition when I came from India to Australia, because I had never been to any country outside of India,” he said.
“We had a big community in India, with almost 150 students in the major seminary, but this was a small community with approximately 20 students.
“But although the quantity is bigger in India, the quality here is far higher. My biggest strength and support are my brother seminarians, and I am very grateful to Mgr Kevin Long, the rector of the seminary, the formators and staff at St Charles’.”
Deacon Renald said since his ordination to the diaconate in November 2013 he has had many experiences that have greatly aided his formation, primarily his time serving as a deacon at South Perth.
“I am very grateful and thankful to Mgr O’Loughlin and the parish community at South Perth, they’re great people,” he said.
“The way they welcomed me, the hospitality they offered me and the opportunities they gave me were enormous. I was able to learn so much from the parish community and particularly the school community.”
Deacon Renald also assisted Perth’s Tamil Mass Community in Langford, where the Tamil Catholic celebrate Mass once a month, and visited his home parish in India, where he preached frequently, and celebrated several baptisms and funerals.
“It was a great time for me, the past six months,” he said. “It’s enormously developed my skills and developed my pastoral commitment towards the ministry.”
As a priest, Deacon Renald said his focus would be on serving God and his people to the best of his ability.
“It is only through the [people’s] faith that I am a priest, without them, I’m nothing, so I represent the whole Christian community and their faith,” he said.