Catholics face a shortage of priests. But one Indonesian seminary is overwhelmed with applicants

MAUMERE, Indonesia (AP) — Arnoldus Yansen thought for certain he was going to become a Catholic priest, just like his older brother, cousin and uncle.

He attended St. Peter Major Seminary, a bastion of priestly vocations located in the middle of a jungle on Flores, a predominantly Catholic island in Muslim-majority Indonesia. Known familiarly as Ritapiret Seminary, St. Peter Major has produced 13 bishops, more than 580 diocesan priests and 23 deacons in nearly 70 years of existence.

But Yansen won’t be among them. He tried to shake off what he thought were last-minute jitters before entering the priesthood. Instead, Yansen took off his clerical robes for good and joined the hundreds of prospective priests who resign or fail to take up Catholic vocations every year in Indonesia.

“I felt like I didn’t fit in anymore and that I would be able to do more if I left,” said Yansen, 26, who is now an administrator at a Catholic school, Ledalero Institute of Philosophy and Creative Technology.

Pope Francis’ upcoming trip to Indonesia is putting a spotlight on the 8.6 million Catholics who make up 3% of the population. It’s a country where religious minorities remain on edge due to militant attacks that have targeted faith groups.

More men are entering seminary, but Yansen and others like him show that Indonesia is not immune from trends contributing to the Catholic Church’s global priest shortage, including fallout from the clergy sex abuse crisis and the pull of the fast-paced modern world.

“The number of priests is never enough,” said the Rev. Guidelbertus Tanga, rector of St. Peter Major Seminary, which is considered the largest Catholic seminary in the world by enrollment.

In Indonesia, there 2,466 diocesan priests in Indonesia in 2022, up from 2,203 in 2017, according to Vatican statistics as of Dec. 31, 2022, the last year for which data is available. That number is supplemented by even more religious order priests, such as Jesuits or Franciscans, whose numbers reached 3,437 in 2022.

But Tanga noted that Indonesia’s population growth is outpacing priesthood vocations. “We will continue to face a shortage of priests in the future if nothing is done now.”

Asia, along with Africa, has long been seen as the future of the Catholic Church, both in terms of the number of baptized faithful and the number of men and women who decide to become priests or nuns.

The Philippines and India outpace Indonesia. But compared to all of Asia, the number of seminarians in Indonesia is growing while it levels off or declines across the continent.

While the Catholic Church is faced with priest-less parishes in many parts of the world, Ritapiret Seminary is overwhelmed with applicants.

Men training to be diocesan priests typically spend six to eight years in the seminary, and two years of pastoral work, before ordination. Less than 20 seminarians can be ordained each year, Tanga said.

“To answer God’s calling and to choose a life as (a) priest remain something fascinating for people in this region,” Tanga said. “And yet we still appeal (to) youths to have courage to make a decision to take up church vocation, and the support from their families and society.”

He knows monastic life isn’t for everyone. Some consider taking up a vocation to be too dull when compared to more modern ways of life.

Tanga said seminaries are now being challenged to brand and promote themselves to encourage young people to become priests. The school with 62 lecturers — more than half of whom are priests — is now a college where the public can study digital technology, economics, and how to become Catholic religion teachers.

During Pope John Paul II's visit to Indonesia in 1989, he hailed the faithfulness of people in Flores and the flourishing number of priests and nuns. He praised the seminarians in Ritapiret, saying: “You must also understand that faithful service to Christ and his Church will not always earn you the world’s praise. On the contrary, you will sometimes receive the same treatment as the Lord: rejection, contempt, and even persecution."

Now a saint, the room he spent the night in at the seminary has become a spiritual tourism destination.

Inosentius Mansur, who is on the seminary staff, said their data shows that the Catholic priest shortage is not caused by a loss of resources, but by a “loss of moral commitment.”

Sex abuse scandals and other unflattering news reports emerging from the Vatican and elsewhere contributed to Yansen’s decision to leave the path to priesthood, he said.

Beyond the internal challenges, violent attacks are also a concern of the church in Indonesia. Although the country promotes itself as a bastion of tolerance in the Muslim world, a small extremist fringe has become more vocal in recent years.

In 2021, a militant couple blew themselves up outside a packed Catholic cathedral on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island during a Palm Sunday Mass, wounding at least 20 people.

Bishop Siprianus Hormat of Ruteng said he still believes that most Indonesians are tolerant unless something triggers a conflict, and that the country has a pluralist society that respects freedom of religion.

“In general, acts or behaviors of intolerance are still there, but on a small scale,” Hormat said. “This is actually not a problem that is purely related to religious issue, but it was used to fuel people’s anger to oppress their political rivals or those who don’t agree with them.”

Though religious freedom is protected by Indonesia’s constitution, members of religious minorities and atheists have been increasingly subjected to discrimination.

“Diversity of Indonesia is a reality that we cannot deny,” Hormat said. “We cannot tolerate any actions that aim to eliminate certain religion or race from this country.”

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom said in its annual report in January that blasphemy allegations and convictions remain persistent religious freedom violations throughout Indonesia.

The report said a new criminal code that will be implemented in 2026 will further criminalize blasphemy and expand on other violations. There also are concerns about local government initiatives to codify discrimination against minority communities gaining traction. In some schools, there are religious clothing mandates, including wearing a hijab, even for non-Muslim girls.

“We believe in what Jesus said, that even though this world ends, my kingdom there will be no end,” said Tanga, the seminary’s rector, adding that the Catholic Church, though it has been through crises before, “will never become extinct.”

“It means the vocations to become a priest and dedication to the service of Christ and his church will never wane,” he said.

Associated Press writer Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed to this report.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

A former seminarian Arnoldus Yansen works on a computer at Ledalero Institute of Philosophy and Creative Technology in Maumere, East NusaTenggara province, Indonesia, Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024.(AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

Parishioners leave after a Sunday mass at St. Joseph Cathedral Church in Maumere, East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

Boys play soccer in Maumere, East NusaTenggara province, Indonesia, Saturday, Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

Seminarians play volleyball at Ritapiret Major Seminary in Maumere, East NusaTenggara province, Indonesia, Saturday, Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

Students walk outside their class at Ledalero Institute of Philosophy and Creative Technology in Maumere, East NusaTenggara province, Indonesia Friday, Aug. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

Students attend a class at Ledalero Institute of Philosophy and Creative Technology in Maumere, East NusaTenggara province, Indonesia Friday, Aug. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

Seminarians climb onto a the truck that will take them to their classes at Ritapiret Major Seminary in Maumere, East NusaTenggara province, Indonesia, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

Seminarians of Ritapiret Major Seminary climb onto a the truck that will take them to their classes at Ledalero Institute of Philosophy and Creative Technology in Maumere, East NusaTenggara province, Indonesia, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

Portraits of Pope John Paul II are displayed in a room where he stayed during his visit in 1989, at Ritapiret Major Seminary in Maumere, East NusaTenggara province, Indonesia, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

Seminarian Bernard Gredyo Sinagula prepares to start his day in his room at Ritapiret Major Seminary in Maumere, East NusaTenggara province, Indonesia, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

Parishioners attend the ordination ceremony of Paulus Budi Kleden as the new bishop of Ende, outside the Christ the King Cathedral church in Ende, East NusaTenggara province, Indonesia, Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

Catholic priests leave after the ordination ceremony of the Paulus Budi Kleden as the new bishop of Ende, at the Christ the King Cathedral church in Ende, East NusaTenggara province, Indonesia, Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

Bishops take part in the ordination ceremony of Paulus Budi Kleden as the new bishop of Ende, at the Christ the King Cathedral church in Ende, East NusaTenggara province, Indonesia, Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

Catholic priests attend the ordination ceremony of Paulus Budi Kleden as the new bishop of Ende, at the Christ the King Cathedral church in Ende, East NusaTenggara province, Indonesia, Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

Seminarians walk near their dormitory at Ritapiret Major Seminary in Maumere, East NusaTenggara province, Indonesia, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

Seminarians read the Bible during a morning Mass at Ritapiret Major Seminary in Maumere, East NusaTenggara province, Indonesia, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

Seminarians have their breakfast at Ritapiret Major Seminary in Maumere, East NusaTenggara province, Indonesia, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

Seminarians attend morning Mass at Ritapiret Major Seminary in Maumere, East NusaTenggara province, Indonesia, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

Seminarians attend morning Mass at Ritapiret Major Seminary in Maumere, East NusaTenggara province, Indonesia Friday, Aug. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

Seminarians leave after morning Mass at Ritapiret Major Seminary in Maumere, East NusaTenggara province, Indonesia, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Three Americans, two Spaniards and a Czech citizen were arrested Saturday after Venezuelan officials accused them of coming to the South American country to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro.

The arrests were announced on state television by Diosdado Cabello, the nation's powerful interior minister. Cabello said the foreign citizens were part of a CIA-led plot to overthrow the Venezuelan government and kill several members of its leadership. In the television program, Cabello showed images of rifles that he said were confiscated from some of the plotters of the alleged plan.

The arrest of the American citizens included a member of the Navy, who Cabello identified as Wilbert Joseph Castañeda Gomez. Cabello said that Gomez was a former navy seal who had served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Colombia. Spain's embassy in Venezuela did not reply to a request for comment on the arrests of its citizens.

The U.S. State Department late Saturday confirmed the detention of a U.S. military member and said it was aware of “unconfirmed reports of two additional U.S. citizens detained in Venezuela.”

“Any claims of U.S. involvement in a plot to overthrow Maduro are categorically false. The United States continues to support a democratic solution to the political crisis in Venezuela,” the statement said.

The announcement of the arrests comes just two days after the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on 16 allies of Maduro who were accused by the U.S. government of obstructing voting during the disputed July 28 Venezuelan presidential election, and carrying out human rights abuses.

Earlier this week, Spain's parliament recognized opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez as the winner of the election, angering Maduro allies who called on the Venezuelan government to suspend commercial and diplomatic relations with Spain.

Tensions between Venezuela's government and the U.S. have increased as well following the election, whose result sparked protests within Venezuela in which hundreds of opposition activists were arrested.

Venezuela's Electoral Council, which is closely aligned with the Maduro administration, said Maduro won the election with 52% of the vote, but did not provide a detailed breakdown of the results.

Opposition activists, however, surprised the government by collecting tally sheets from 80% of the nation's voting machines. The tally sheets collected by the opposition were published online, and they indicate that Gonzalez won the election with twice as many votes as Maduro.

Despite international condemnation over the election's lack of transparency, Venezuela's supreme court, which has long backed Maduro, confirmed his victory in August. Venezuela's attorney general then filed conspiracy charges against Gonzalez, who fled to Spain last week after it became clear he would be arrested.

Maduro has dismissed requests from several countries, including the leftist governments of Colombia and Brazil, to provide tally sheets that prove he won the election. Maduro, who has been in power since 2013, has long claimed the U.S. is trying to overthrow him through sanctions and covert operations.

The Maduro administration has previously used Americans imprisoned in Venezuela to gain concessions from the U.S. government. In a deal conducted last year with the Biden administration, Maduro released 10 Americans and a fugitive wanted by the U.S. government to secure a presidential pardon for Alex Saab, a close Maduro ally who was held in Florida on money laundering charges. According to U.S. prosecutors, Saab had also helped Maduro to avoid U.S. Treasury sanctions through a complex network of shell companies.

FILE - Socialist Party President Diosdado Cabello gives his weekly press conference, in Catia La Mar, La Guaira, Venezuela, Aug. 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)

FILE - Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro addresses government loyalists gathered at the presidential palace in support of his reelection one month after the presidential vote, in Caracas, Venezuela, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)