16/04/2022
By wizewebsite
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We teach students to think critically, we do not avoid topics such as euthanasia, sex and drugs, says the chaplain of the church grammar school - EDUzín - Magazine about everything important in education<

"An estimated half of believers come to school, and a smaller half of students who are non-believers," says Petr Káňa. PHOTO: Kateřina Lánská

Petr Káňa says that he comes from an "open-air museum", a village that still goes to church and where families send children to religion. When the bishop of Olomouc elected him to the position of chaplain of the Archbishop's Grammar School in Kroměříž as a young priest with six years of pastoral experience, he was worried about how he, an ordinary ogar, would manage. After almost four years, he says: "I enjoy it a lot. We do not force anyone to become a believer, but rather develop students' critical thinking. And he also sees that a priest is not always a man in a black robe locked up in a rectory and isolated from the rest of the world. "

You are the school chaplain of a church grammar school. Does the position match the ideas you had before you started?

It may sound strange to a layman, but as a priest I have no expectations, I try not to have them. I did not go to the priesthood to serve there or elsewhere. It doesn't matter if it is in a parish, in a town or in a village, in the Sudetenland, in Wallachia, or in a church school. The primary thing is that I want to serve people. And I can do that anywhere. Of course, there are places where you prefer and where you like less, that's natural. The funny thing is that when I was still in the seminary, I declared that I would go anywhere without any problems, but not to Rajnochovice. And in the end I was sent to the youth center in Rajnochovice and I spent three years there. The Lord God has a sense of humor. But of course there was nothing to fear.

Why didn't you want to go there?

In addition to the parishes, the diocese also includes schools established by the diocese or youth centers. One is in Rajnochovice. Historically, the bishops of Olomouc had a summer residence there, there is a large church, a large parish, but few believers, and so the bishop of Olomouc offered the place to young people in the 1990s. The center organizes weekend and holiday events, young people can come here, be rooted in Christian values, gain strength… I did not know Rajnochovice until then. I had only been here once, at the beginning of my priesthood training, and had a great winter. So I had the idea of a big and cool house in the landscape of the unfriendly and dry Hostýn Hills and enthusiastic young people with whom I will have to play games every weekend (laughs).

So you don't choose your place of work, will anyone else decide?

More or less yes, even if it is not some totalitarianism, there is a debate about it. The bishop knows his priests, he should know them, so he chooses according to their abilities and according to the needs of the whole, the region. And the priest has the right to say that he does not feel it, it is taken into account. The bishop is responsible for his diocese and for all the parishes in the diocese, and the priests report to him, but in a friendly spirit, like his collaborators. The good thing is that the location changes after a few years, I perceive the change in the environment as beneficial for everyone. It is always a new impulse that can serve to enrich the priest and the people he leads as a shepherd.

Did the bishop justify the "placement" at the grammar school?

Yes, he called me and said that he thought I might be a good job because I work with young people and have a relationship with them. I started laughing and replied that I wasn't sure. I wasn't at all sure if I fit into an institution like the archbishop's high school, I, an ordinary boy from the village. When they came to see me, I was actually quite surprised. But I said that if he thought I could do it, I would go and try to work as best I could. This is my fourth year here, but in reality it is practically two years, in the other two contacts with pupils and teachers were quite limited due to the pandemic, we did not meet much.

How long have you been a priest?

Učíme žáky myslet kriticky, nevyhýbáme se ani tématům jako eutanazie, sex a drogy, říká kaplan církevního gymnázia - EDUzín - Magazín o všem podstatném ve vzdělávání

Tenth year. My first service was in the parish in Šumperk, in the north, in the Sudetenland, it was also an interesting experience.

So you didn't know the high school environment until then? What high school did you graduate from?

He didn't know. I come from Wallachia, from a traditional area, from such an almost Catholic open-air museum (laughs), our parish is called Nedašov, my native village is Návojná. Even today, it is customary that almost the whole village goes to church, children in primary school go to religion, there is not much elsewhere in the republic. I grew up in a Christian family, my father is an artist-restorer and I went to study artistic wood processing in Luhačovice, so I am an artistic carpenter and woodcarver by education. In high school, I realized that I would like to be a priest in my life, and after graduation, I went to a seminary in Olomouc. During my studies, I interrupted my studies for a year and spent part of that period in Jerusalem, volunteered there, then returned, completed my studies, and was ordained.

In the morning I saw you and your colleagues after Mass from the chapel, and there were more of you in the priestly robe. Who makes up the pastoral team at school?

Besides me, he is a deacon, my assistant and close associate. The deacon has already graduated from the faculty, but he is not yet ordained a priest, he has a lower ordination. Student ministers also help with Mass. Then I have two pastoral assistants, colleagues Maria Kvapilíková and Martin Kaluža. There are five hundred students and a hundred employees. It would be an awful lot for one person.

  The chaplain (from the Latin capellanus, a clergyman bound to the chapel) is a clergyman in charge of pastoral care for a certain group of not only believers.  In the Roman Catholic Church, the chaplain is usually a priest.  The chaplain can serve in prisons, hospitals, schools ...

You serve Mass every day. Is it compulsory for pupils?

It's not. Our founder is the archbishopric, but that does not mean that only believers study at the school. The school is open to all. Religion is a subject as a subject. In the first and second year after two hours a week, in the third and fourth year it is an hour. In addition, as a school, we experience a common Mass five times a year, and everyone, including non-believers, is expected to attend. At the job interview, we always inform the student that he / she will meet the spiritual life at this school and ask if he / she understands it.

What other activities belong to the spiritual life of the school? You are already voluntary, aren't you?

We serve the already mentioned Masses, daily, sometimes in the morning, sometimes in the evening, we also hold praise evenings, these are our internal names for established activities of the spiritual life, when we share the faith. We have missionary centers, we think of the needy people in the world, we try to make collections so that we do not create any of our church ghettos, but perceive what is happening in society, feel co-responsibility and have the will to help people - not just believers but everyone. We also prayed for elections, for people to come to the elections and conscientiously choose the party they consider to be the right. We also experience together the important moments of the liturgical year: Christmas and Advent, Lent and preparation for Easter, we experience Dušičky, we pray for the dead. Everyone can bring a picture of a loved one who has died, and we pray for them together. It doesn't matter if he was a believer or an unbeliever. Then, traditionally, November is Red Wednesday, a day when we commemorate the persecuted Christians in the world. In addition, students have the opportunity for holy confession or preparation for the sacraments as confirmation, the first holy communion. We are preparing some students for baptism. It is estimated that more than half of believers and less than half of non-believers come to school. Some of them then apply to the faith, each year there are several students.

Do you also teach religion?

Yes, in the second year. In the first half of the year, I teach them the New Testament and especially the Apostle Paul. As the apostle Paul, one might wonder what is close to man today. But we are going to the roots of the church. The Apostle Paul knew Christ himself, and we reflect on what Christianity was like before and compare it to the present. We analyze what happened, that today's form is quite different. It is usually very interesting to think and discuss together. Pupils also see that the priest is not a man in a black robe locked up in a rectory and isolated from the rest of the world and society. In the second half of the year, we make Christian morals, go through them in depth, discover what each commandment is about, touch on all areas of the Christian life, and discuss "controversial" topics such as euthanasia, abortion, sex before marriage, drugs, the occult.

I was in your colleague's religion class. From the discussions there, I wouldn't even know it was a church grammar school class. Pupils were very critical of some church speeches…

It is so. We care that students feel that they can express themselves and develop freely, that there is no one who would argue with them, moralize, box them. It can't even be forced into faith, that's nonsense. I do this in class sometimes by dividing students into groups and asking them questions. One example is: when I say church, what comes to mind? And be open, there is no right answer. Say what you think, what the church brought good, what bad. And if it has any potential. I let their opinions be heard, I do not direct them in any way, then we compare what someone said with the ideas about the church that the apostle Paul had. I get them to think. I try to dispel their prejudices, I sometimes perceive them among Christians, but also among unbelievers. Christians sometimes behave affectedly, need to moralize, and that's not right. At the same time, an unbelieving person, when he hears the word Christian, imagines someone with whom one cannot really talk about anything, who has his devoured conservative ideas. I want to tear this down. I tell them: I will be most happy when you leave high school as people who can think.

How capable are students of critical thinking?

As they are young and have easily accessible information, they sometimes think they already know everything. And it seems to me that they often take on opinions they like uncritically. Critical thinking is something that needs to be developed in them. We teach them. I ask them: and why do you have this opinion? And they often say they don't really know. But if he explains it to me, it's okay. I'm not here to judge, I call for thought. We also teach them what it means to listen to others. And I have to say that I enjoy it a lot, talking to them, discussing it. Even that a young person comes and asks you questions. As a Christian and a priest, it makes me think about it. I wish I could help them, as they help me.

Petr Káňa is a school chaplain at the Archbishop's Grammar School in Kroměříž. Hailing from Wallachia, he studied artisanal woodworking at the Luhačovice Secondary School and theology at the Archbishop's Priestly Seminary in Olomouc. He has been a priest for ten years.