Family members told me get married and have children

However, he feels the onus is on parents and other family members to aid the process.

“Family have to bring more awareness of the need of vocations and of the possibility that God may be calling a member of their family to serve the Church in this way,” Ango, 41, said in a recent Sunday Newsday interview.

Ango, who is of Nigerian and Trinidadian heritage, was ordained at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Port-of- Spain on July 15. His installation comes at a time when local priests are overburdened because of the shortage of clergymen in the archdiocese.

In his homily at the event, Archbishop Joseph Harris alluded to the growing need for vocations to the priesthood, saying Ango’s ordination was a welcomed reprieve for the church.

“It is a moment of thanksgiving because the God which never leaves his flock unattended once again smiles on us and gives us help to work in the vineyard,” Harris said.

Ango, though, acknowledged parents seldom view the priesthood as an option for their sons and remained stuck in conventional stereotypes.

“What parents talk about is ‘I want my son to be a doctor, a lawyer and engineer,” he said, adding many parents also have said they do not encourage their sons to be priests because they want grandchildren.

Ango, who celebrated his first Mass as a priest two weeks ago at St Peter’s RC Church, Mayaro, said during his ordination he felt a mixture of pride, fear and apprehension.

“People wanted to know how I felt after the big day. I want to admit that it felt great but also kind of terrifying. I felt relieved that the long preparation is finally over, but also apprehensive about taking on the duties.” Ango said he has not yet gotten used to the idea of people calling him “Father”.

Had it not been for his family’s love for the church and its teachings, Ango said he would have never considered entering the religious life, let alone becoming a priest.

In fact, so involved were his parents in the St Paul’s parish of Nasarawa, Nigeria, Ango said even at the tender age of ten he knew he wanted to be a priest.

He told Sunday Newsday: “All my family went to Mass every day and my sister sang in the choir.

My dad was a reader and my mom a leader in the women’s organisation.

My brothers and I were altar servers.” A former member of the youth group in the parish, Ango was also president of the altar servers for ten years. He said he used to admire the seminarians who were sent to do apostolic work in the parish and functioned as well as the manner in which parish priest, Isaac Madaki, exercised his duties.

“He was an example of the fatherliness, prayerfulness and generosity that is fundamental to the priestly life,” he said of Madaki.

Ango said he continued to serve the church in “maturity and reasoning” until he finally decided to enter the priesthood.

Ango’s decision, however, was met with some resistance from his family, including his father.

“It was not easy for my father because I just graduated and got a good job with Nigeria Beer and Beverage in the sales and marketing department. I was happy with the job since the wages come in regularly on a monthly basis. But my father was unhappy with my decision because he felt I had a good job.” On the other hand, he recalled his mother Mary Ango (now deceased) “was very happy for me because that is what I always wanted to become.

“Some family members were supportive and some were not.

Some even said, ‘What a waste.’ They felt that I should have married and had children.” Ango’s journey to the priesthood began with studies in philosophy which he pursued in Nigeria.

He then moved to Rome, Italy where he studied theology.

“To study in Rome is not easy because you have to study in Italian but I made it.” Saying life here does not differ much from Nigeria, Ango described the people here as “happy and caring.” Since coming to this country two years ago, Ango has served at St Mary’s RC, St James and St John the Baptist RC, St John Road, St Augustine.

He described his first Mass at St Peter’s RC, Mayaro two Sundays ago as a happy one, saying there were about 500 people in the congregation from the communities of Biche, Manzanilla, Ortoire, Fishing Pond and Guayaguayare.

So, what can church-goers expect from the newly-ordained priest? “My style ministry will be meeting with people if we want to have the greatest impact in their lives,” he said.