When helping some of the world’s people in need, Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers work through local Catholic churches in 26 countries. Sometimes the assistance is not for the parishioners. At times, Maryknoll responds to the needs of the local ministers. This is the specialty Father Edward Shellito has brought to Namibia.
Fr. Ed Shelito Offering communion in Kenya. Photo Credit: S. SpragueFr. Shellito helps church members, including the clergy, address their addictions. It could be alcohol, drugs, or even gambling.
“Somehow through the grace of God I became recognized as someone who could offer a special service that was very much needed, said the Erie, Pennsylvania, missioner, “and because of Maryknoll I was available to fulfill the need.”
Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers is the overseas mission outreach of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States, following Jesus in serving the poor and others in need. All Catholics are called to mission through baptism, and Maryknoll’s mission education outreach in parishes and schools throughout the country engages U.S. Catholics in mission through prayer, donations, as volunteers and through vocations.
During 2011, Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers is commemorating its centennial with a theme of The Gift of Mission – The Maryknoll Journey. These missionaries will celebrate as they continue their journey into the next 100 years to share God’s love and the Gospel in combating poverty, providing healthcare, building communities and promoting human rights.
After spending 15 years in the Philippines, Fr. Shellito earned a master’s degree in pastoral counseling and said goodbye to his beloved community on the island of Mindanao to join Maryknoll’s team in the African nation of Namibia. A relaxed manner and sense of humor help him combat some of society’s most serious conditions.
Fr. Shellito has encountered Namibia’s entrenched gambling industry that is combined with what he calls “a very strong culture of heavy drinking.” He said that the social environment masks the problem so that “if you’re a drinker, no one’s going to recognize that maybe you’re drinking inappropriately until you crash your car, until you start a house on fire.”
That problem also has remained hidden within the church hierarchy. During a presentation about addictions and professional failures among the clergy that the priest delivered to the Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines a number of years ago, Father Sehllito grabbed the audience’s attention when he said, “Bishops, you do not have problem priests; you have fellow priest with problems.”
The priest described his work then and now as treating people or clergy “with severe behavioral and emotional difficulties, not as problems to be solved, but as opportunities to allow the Lord’s good grace through his church to assist the troubled toward a more Spirit-filled life.”
Fundamental to Fr. Shellito’s mission is to help the church and society “recognize the troubled behaviors as a disease.” His approach has met with many successes along with some difficulties.
Fr. Shellito helped a worker at a Roman Catholic hospital who had encountered job issues due to a gambling obsession. As for clergy, the process can be more difficult.
“Very few clergy can easily recognize their own feelings or be aware of the extreme danger that they sometimes put themselves in,” said Father Shellito. “They need others to help them open up.”
At these times, faith is an ally. Along with psychological techniques, Father Shellito takes a spiritual approach.
“The person can be helped to start approaching the Lord saying, ‘Hey, I want to get my act together. I want to feel that joy, that peace that God promised. Right now for some reason I’m not getting it from God. I’m getting it from the bottle. I’m getting it from the gambling den.’”
To help with the healing process, Father Shellito insists that a superior or close friend “present,” in a “turning-over” ceremony any individual who seeks assistance from his treatment center. At the end of therapy, a similar “giving-back” ceremony occurs. This emphasizes that the person’s journey and ministry are not over, but only interrupted and superiors and congregations can give “a healthy welcome” to their returning brother or sister.
“Not only is community important in the recovery process,” said Father Shellito, “but allowing the community to rejoice in that recovery has also to be a goal.”
Learn more about Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers at www.maryknollsociety.org and follow them on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MaryknollNews and Facebook at www.facebook.com/maryknollsociety.
