Father 'Rene' Rodillas among new faces at Sts. Peter and Paul

Intermountain Catholic

+ Enlarge

Father Raynato ?Rene? Rodillas is already studying Spanish as he makes himself at home at Sts. Peter and Paul Parish, West Valley City. A native of Luzon Island in Ilocos sur Province in the Philippines, Fr. Rene came to the Diocese of Salt Lake City from the Archdiocese of San Francisco. IC photo by Barbara S. Lee

WEST VALLEY CITY — Father Raynato "Rene" Rodillas is taking up a fourth language, now that he’s been assigned to Sts. Peter and Paul Parish in West Valley City. In addition to his native Tagalog, spoken in the Philippines, Fr. Rene, a member of the international Congregation of the Divine Word Priests and Brothers, speaks German and English, and is now studying Spanish.

"You just wait," said Pastor Father Javier Virgen, "he’ll be preaching in Spanish by Christmas."

Perhaps not that soon, but celebrating Mass and preaching in Spanish is certainly on Fr. Rene’s "to-do" list. He is blessed with a gift for languages.

Ordained Dec. 12, 1997 for his Congregation, Fr. Rene is 45. "I was a late vocation," he said in a Nov. 23 interview with the Intermountain Catholic. He was ready to go home in July to change his immigration status and update his visa while awaiting a new assignment in the archdiocese. On the same day he was to apply for an extension of his visa, Bishop John C. Wester of the Diocese of Salt Lake City called to tell him there was an opening for him here.

He made his planned visit home beginning Aug. 30, and began the process of putting his visa in order.

"Maybe the Diocese of Salt Lake City really is my home," Fr. Rene said. "Our Order has its motherhouse in Holland, and is almost 130 years old. Right now, I am on leave from the Order."

Fr. Rene has served in parish work both in his native country and in San Francisco. "I will do whatever work the diocese needs. I am not yet familiar with this diocese, and I am still learning things."

He said because his order is a missionary congregation, he didn’t have a difficult time leaving home to come to the United States. "During our years of formation, we are trained to go out of our own country. We are missionaries."

Fr. Rene left behind his mother, a brother and three sisters (he is the middle of five children), but he recalls a story he’s been told since he was a small child. "Since I was born Jan. 25, I am meant to be shared with everyone," he said with a laugh.

Fr. Rene has been in the diocese just 40 days. He has already met members of the Filipino community, which is celebrating the 10th anniversary of their founding in the Diocese of Salt Lake City next month.

"I am not assigned here to serve any particular congregation," he said. "I am here for everybody. I was called for ministry in this parish, and that must be my first priority."

But, he said, Fr. Virgen is open to him celebrating Masses in Tagalog now and then at Sts. Peter and Paul. "I have no intention of causing a rift in the Filipino community, which meets at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Salt Lake City."

Fr. Rene’s gift for languages may be the result of growing up in a country that has more that 10 major dialects and up to 100 minor ones.

"I’ve already met a few Filipinos here who have been away from the church for quite some time. Perhaps part of my mission here will be to bring some of them back home. Sts. Peter and Paul Parish is so open and welcoming."

Fr. Rene said he entered the seminary while considering another vocation – marriage. "My girlfriend and I had been seeing each other for years. We were best friends. She was working in Italy when I entered the seminary, and I told her when she returned two years later. It was hard, and she was concerned that I would be in school for so long before being ordained. I last heard from a few days after she was married."

With a vocation to the priesthood that became more evident as he saw friends enter the seminary and become ordained, he left his pioneering work in youth ministry at the suggestion of a priest friend he’d met on a bus.

"At the time, I didn’t know there were different kinds of priests – diocesan and order priests. I applied to the Congregation of the Divine Word, but my application was rejected. It took some weeks for me to learn they had accidentally sent me the wrong letter, and I’d been accepted after all."

After years in the seminary and as a priest, Fr. Rene said, "I was incomplete outside of the priesthood; this is what I am called to be. Since I came to know that, I’ve never had a crisis of faith. I’m on the right track."

It wasn’t easy for his family to accept his priesthood, he said, "Our parents expect their children to grow up and take care of them when they are old, but as I got closer to ordination, it became easier for my family to understand. Now, they are very supportive."

Cautiously Fr. Rene said, "I hope they like me here. I may be here to stay."