Church trains prayer leaders for vital role

(August 25, 2011) In Bangladesh, at a seminar last week at the King of Peace Church in Chandpukur, 25 local prayer leaders received an intensive course on pastoral work, sacraments, marriage law, family life, social communications and Church history. Father Ignatius Bindu Hembrom, the parish priest, described the training as “vital,” for in this remote part of North West Bangladesh, the role of the prayer leader is essential. There are more than 5,000 tribal Catholics, scattered across 65 villages in the district. Few can afford transport to go regularly to church. Only five percent of the local Catholic population is educated and, as the prayer leaders come from the same background, they are no exception; few of them continued their education after fifth grade. But forward-thinking priests like Fr Hembrom realize the immense value of improving the prayer leaders’ knowledge. “It’s vital to make the prayer leaders efficient,” he said, “because we can only offer Mass twice in a whole year in each village. The prayer leaders can perform a lot of duties in our absence; often double what we can do.” Fr Hembrom frankly admitted that he and his fellow priests can’t make enough time for their parishioners. As a result, he said, “their bond with the Church is in decline. Young people are becoming reluctant to go to church and social disputes are on the rise. Prayer leaders can do a great job because they are village leaders. They know the people and their problems better than we do.” Samson Hasdak, a tribal Catholic teacher, said: “Prayer leaders have the skills to lead a village, but they lack in knowledge and technique. This training was important because now they can give better encouragement to the faithful, to live a Church-focused Catholic life.”