Chaplain in the US Military

Rev. Fr. Romeo Jose “Dongdong” Axalan was ordained priest 25 years ago together with six other jubilarians in the Archdiocese of Davao. On 2004 he began applying for military chaplaincy and was granted permission by Archbishop Emeritus Fernando Capalla on 2009.

For Fr. Dongdong it was a calling, he tried different ministries but he really found himself in the ministry within the military. Just like any other vocation, he faced a lot of struggles and because he is in another country, it was even more challenging.

The first struggle he faced was during his first week of work while visiting a veteran, when the other patients saw him wearing his collar, they shouted, “get out” and one of them even said, “I don’t need you”. Right then and there he was rejected and didn’t know how else to respond but to walk away. It took him a week to process the emotions and come up with a better response to rejection.

To be able to cope with the negativity, he went to see somebody with the thought of irony in his mind. He was supposedly sent to that hospital to process the veterans’ emotions but he was the one who needed processing.

Still, he continued with his mission and every day he just passed that room and waved without going inside. Until one day as he was about to wave, one of them asked him to come and asked why he never attempted to come in again. He then began to realize that it was not about him, not his race nor his being a Catholic priest, it was about the pain his patients were going through. It was a great moment of struggle for him but it was also a learning experience because he brings Christ to them.

Since then he found the stories and experiences of other people amazing. Because some of them are left alone and there’s nobody who wanted to talk and listen to them, they are in far greater pain. Being present and being able to listen to these wounded people, ignites in him the realization that God indeed sends people so that His presence may be felt.