People you meet are the ‘best thing’ for a priest

Sydney
10 August 2003

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People you meet are the ‘best thing’ for a priest

By Marilyn Rodrigues

“I just wanted to show what two very good men, priests from different backgrounds, did every day in their lives as a priest.”

That, says John Santamaria, of Gabriel Communications, is what inspired him to produce Priests 24/7, a reality TV-style video that follows two Victorian priests in an inner suburban Geelong parish over four days.

John says he was fed up with all the negative publicity priests were receiving at the time.

“Our six children were all baptised and married by a priest friend of the family and, of the hundreds of contacts which I have had with priests and religious over 60 years, I had met only two ‘bad apples’,” he said. “The great majority were and are good people trying to bring God’s life into mine, that of our family and within the community in general.”

The two priests featured in the video, Frs Kevin Dillon and Max Vodola, were both at St Mary of the Angels parish in Geelong when the documentary was produced.

Fr Max, who is now parish priest of St Joseph the Worker at North Reservoir, a Melbourne suburb, says: “The best thing about being a priest is the extraordinary variety of people and situations you meet in a 24-hour period.

“To gain entry into people’s lives in the most personal, the most vulnerable, most joyous, most traumatic times - this is one of the most joyous events.”

The priests are seen in the roles of celebrants, teachers, counsellors, preachers and organisers.

They find time during the day for personal prayer and for enjoying their own interests. In the case of Fr Kevin that means listening to country and western music anddriving a vintage car.

Although it focuses on ordained ministry, the documentary acknowledges that all Christians are called to service.

Priests 24/7 is available from Albert Street Productions, Rear 400 Albert St, East Melbourne, Vic. Tel: (03) 9662 9211.