The member NGOs of PhilDHRRA Mindanao in its partnership with the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro showed its active engagement with the church by hosting eight Galilean Seminarians of the St. John Vianney Theological Seminary  in their urban and rural exposures from the period January 8-14 (Urban) and January 22 to February 2, 2009.

The urban and rural immersions of the twelve seminarians were part of their three months Socio-Pastoral exposure program of the seminary. Selected member NGOs that hosted the immersions include: TOUCH Foundation, GROUP Foundation, MASS-SPECC, KAANIB Foundation, IPHC-DMSF,  KAPWA Upliftment, and PhilDHRRA of Caraga and Convenio Projects. These member NGOs were considered as host-partners in the formation process of the future pastors of the church.

Dubbed as Transformative Pastoral Leadership Training, the program was developed as a response to fill the gaps in achieving a holistic and integral theological studies of the seminarians that is grounded on the social realities and life of the church. Said program also looks into the challenge that given the right avenue and opportunity for experiencing and learning about the real situation of basic communities, pastors can be catalyst and critical influence in forming the church’ social-conscience as well as in its ability to be more responsive to the emerging signs of the times especially the worsening condition of the margins. 

It is in this realization that there is an urgent need to instill strong “socio-pastoral consciousness and responsibility” integrated in the theological training of future pastors even while they are still in the seminary formation. Specifically, at the end of 3-month training formation, the Seminarians are expected to be psychologically and spiritually prepared for a 6-months deployment in selected parishes in its pastoral mission for the church of the poor in their respective dioceses.

The urban and rural immersion of the seminarians highly considered the geographic and thematic areas of their exposure. For PhilDHRRA members alone, 4 provinces have been chosen as their areas for exposure namely, Bukidnon through KAANIB & MASS-SPECC, Davao through IPHC & KAPWA Upliftment, Camiguin  through TOUCH Foundation and Caraga area through PHILDHRRA Caraga & Convenio Projects. The themes being highlighted in their immersion were Agrarian Reform, Cooperative Development, Sustainable Agriculture, Health Governance, Gender and Development, Ancestral domain of the Indigenous Peoples, Coastal Resource Management, Solid Waste Management, Enterprise Development, and Local Governance.