ARTICLES

Sign of Hope

East Bay Dominicans Bounce Back

By Joe Marti

Oakland's Dominican School of Philosophy, better known as St. Albert's College, is experiencing a quiet renaissance. Their number of vocations is on the rise -- four times the number of accepted applicants as they could have expected only a few years before.

St. Albert's has stood on the same ground since 1932, when it moved from Benicia to be closer to the University of California, Berkeley. This was to follow the 13th century Dominican tradition of forming young friars in a city priory near a major university. Since then, the school has gone on to become the first Catholic member of the Graduate Theological Union in 1964 at Berkeley and a formation house for young men from around the world.

When asked to explain the recent surge in vocations, Father Martin Walsh, vocations director at St. Albert's, cited several factors. First, he said, a number of young men coming to the Dominicans were active Catholics in their youth, but were never given a solid basic understanding of their faith. As soon as they went out into the world, they fell into one of three categories: abandonment, or conversion to a different faith, or a thirst for the faith of their birth.

It is the people in this last category, Father Walsh says, that are largely fueling the upswing in vocations. They hunger for answers to what they believe in, and that hunger leads them to the front door. I pointed out that while the Dominicans (in addition to many other religious orders) are enjoying growing vocations, many orders are not. Father Walsh believes this is due to the Dominican tradition of creating a strong identity that people can understand. Says Father Walsh, "We still wear our habits, still live in community, are still known as a preaching order, and still pray and eat together. So many other orders have abandoned or altered their identities so much that they take on the appearance of social justice advocates instead of religious." That, he agrees, may account for the drop in vocations for many orders.

In addition, potential seminarians feel that the Dominicans appeal to an American frame of mind. While the Jesuits have a more top-down hierarchy, the Dominicans have favored a 'democratic' form of hierarchy. "A good way to describe the difference between a Jesuit and a Dominican is this," offered Brother John, a first-year novice, "If a Jesuit superior tells a novice to plant a tree upside down, the novice will obey. If a Dominican superior asks the same thing, the Dominican novice will ask why and perhaps suggest another option." Father Walsh explains that in recent years, religious orders have been aware that in order to get vocations, they need to speak about them more and more to generate interest and to ask people if they may have vocations.

Jerry Usher, a man who is discerning a vocation to the priesthood and the Dominicans in particular visited St. Albert's in May. He called the visit a "very, very good experience. They were very Marian and orthodox." Asked to comment on the glut of vocations, he answered, "To the Dominicans' credit, they've maintained much more of their traditions than some other orders. Ultimately, I think the Holy Spirit is doing something great to respond to the urgent need for vocations." He also agreed that the strong identity of the order must also be factored in.

Daily life of the Dominicans includes community prayer three or four times a day, daily community meals and recreation, and the uniquely Dominican practice of individual ministry. As someone once commented, "If you've met one Dominican, you've met one Dominican." This points to the fact that each individual is responsible for developing a ministry according to their own talents and interests. As Brother John explains, "There is one Dominican who feels his calling is to be involved with radio. So he may get to be involved with that."

In the last ten years, about fifty men have entered the Norbertine seminary in Orange County. Brother John, who recently graduated from Thomas Aquinas College, is among three from that school to enter the Western Dominican province. He said that he was attracted to the combination of the active and the contemplative life in accord with the good preaching tradition, which is similar to the Norbertines, who live in community during the week and go out to active parishes on the weekend. Brother John, when asked why he chose the Dominicans over the Norbertines, replied, "Because of their individual ministry and the fact that Dominicans do not make a vow of stability." This vow demonstrates a commitment to live in a particular monastic community for life. Dominicans in the Western Province are able, throughout their lives, to be assigned to any of the Western states to become members of different communities.

Because of St. Albert's location, it is too tempting to pass up a question about a notorious former Dominican living in the area. Father Matthew Fox, who operates his 'University of Creation Spirituality' in Oakland, was silenced by the Vatican in 1989. He was formally dismissed by the Dominican order in the spring of 1993 after a five-year struggle over his radical views. When asked about this fellow Dominican, Father Walsh distanced himself and the entire Western Province from the controversy. He said, "[Fox] was never dismissed primarily for his theology. The reason he was dismissed is that he never had permission to be here to begin with. He wasn't ever even a part of the Western Province. His theology isn't why he was kicked out; disobedience is why he was kicked out."

Another subject brought up was the use of the traditional Mass of the Dominicans, the Dominican Rite. The last known regular Dominican Rite Mass was offered by the late Father Joseph Fulton at Blessed Sacrament Church in Seattle until his death in 1998. When the seminarians were asked if anyone they knew was learning the Mass, they seemed to think that while seminarians were probably not, priests throughout the order were learning and offering the Mass in this way. They added that they didn't know how many were doing this. While Latin is not a course required of seminarians, many are learning the language on their own.

At 5:00 pm, the dozen or so priests and seminarians gather for vespers in the newly restored (and for the most part, traditional) chapel. The six rows of choir stalls, facing one another, are one third full. After hearing the stories of the seminarians and priests and witnessing their sincere wishes to live a holy life, one would not be surprised if these stalls fill up in coming years.

Those interested in discussing a vocation to the Dominicans or any other order should contact Father Martin Walsh at: St. Albert's Priory, 5890 Birch Court Oakland, CA 94618, or phone him at (510) 596-1800.

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