Father Romeo Salinas is new vocation director

Father Romeo Salinas, ap- pointed by Bishop Michael Mulvey as the new Vocation Director for the Diocese of Corpus Christi, says he wants to continue “to develop a culture of vocations…not just for the person being called by God, but for their families too.” He said families are not spending enough time in prayer, so his goal is to help promote prayer and living the Commandments. 

“In that environment, you are better able to hear your vocation,” Father Salinas said.

Before this new assignment, Father Salinas—who grew up in Premont—was pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Kingsville for 15 years. His appointment became effective July 5. 

While his appointment came as a surprise to Father Salinas, he said he is “excited to work with our seminarians.”

Father Salinas, 62, was ordained on June 24, 2000. By all accounts, he entered the priesthood later than the average priest.

“I thought about becoming a priest when I was in high school, but I didn’t do anything with it,” Father Salinas said. “The calling stayed with me through the years.”

After high school, Father Salinas graduated from Texas A&M University in College Station and became a CPA in the banking industry. It was on a vacation to Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris that his path to the priesthood became clear.

“It was after Mass at Notre Dame,” Father Salinas said. “I went up to the altar, knelt down and said ‘Blessed Mother, if you want me to be a priest, let it happen’ and just like that, all the doors opened up for me.”

Father Salinas is excited about his new role as Vocation Director, and he spent the first three days on the job meeting the local seminarians. “When I found out about my new assignment, I immediately started praying for the seminarians,” he said. “It’s amazing how prayer works.”

Father Salinas said the Office of Vocations exists to help the faithful to become aware of their vocation to holiness and to respond to God’s plan in living out that call. 

“The goals of the office are threefold: to help all of us who make up the Diocese of Corpus Christi understand that we have a common vocation, or calling, from God to be holy; to promote the ordained life and religious life by planting seeds and ensuring the planting of seeds in people who are discerning the call of God; and to help men who have discerned God’s call to enter the seminary by engaging them in the application process to become a seminarian and work closely with the seminarians during the years of formation,” Father Salinas said.

Father Salinas says there is a definite need for more priests. On average, two men from the Diocese of Corpus Christi enter seminary each year, however, not all of them graduate.

“Sometimes a man will decide that he is no longer being called to the priesthood, and instead, he realizes he is being called to married life,” Father Salinas said. “In that case, nobody gets hurt, there are no bad feelings, because that man takes everything learned in seminary to his married life and his family life.”

Father Salinas issued a petition to all parishes to form prayer teams especially for vocations. The teams can be made of couples in the parish, the deacon or other interested parties, and the goal is to pray specifically for vocations and to spread the seed of vocations to religious education classes.

“It’s not that God isn’t calling men to the priesthood, it’s that people aren’t able to hear him,” Father Salinas said. “In today’s world, there are so many distractions, like materialism, attachment to worldly things and lack of prayer.”

Father Salinas stresses that it does not take a perfect person to be a priest, only someone who is willing to give 100 percent of themselves to God.

“In baseball, it’s three strikes and you’re out, but with Jesus, we can always start brand new,” Father Salinas said.

To learn more about vocations, visit ccpriest.org or call (361) 882-9191. The Vocations Office has recently relocated from the grounds of St. John Paul II High School to the Chancery.