SEMINARY FORMATION
"Come follow Me and I will make you fishers of men." (Mark 1:17)
Human Formation
Human formation is the necessary foundation of the whole seminary formation. As Pope John Paul II says, “the priest should mould his human personality in such a way that it becomes a bridge and not an obstacle for others in their meeting with Jesus Christ…future priest should therefore cultivate a series of human qualities, not only out of proper due growth and realization of self, but also with a view to the ministry. These qualities are needed for them to be balanced people, strong and free, capable of bearing the weight of pastoral responsibilities. They need to be educated to love the truth, to be loyal, to respect every person, to have a sense of justice, to be true to their word, to be genuinely compassionate, to be men of integrity and , especially, to be balanced in judgement and behaviour…of special importance is the capacity to relate to others. This is truly fundamental for a person who is called to be responsible for a community and to be a ‘man of communion' (Pastores Dabo Vobis, #43)
An important dimension of human formation is the attainment of affective maturity, which is “a firm support to live chastity in faithfulness and joy?it) requires the person to be truly master of himself, determined to fight and overcome the different forms of selfishness and individualism which threaten the life of each one, ready to open out to others, generous in dedication and service to one’s neighbour?and) intimately connected with formation to responsible freedom is education of the moral conscience." (Pastores Dabo Vobis, #44)
Spiritual Formation
The human formation leads to and finds its completion in spiritual formation. It is “the work of the Holy Spirit and engages a person in his totality. It introduces him to a deep communion with Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, and leads to the total submission of one’s life to the Spirit, in a filial attitude towards the Father and a trustful attachment to the Church." (Pastores Dabo Vobis, #45)
The values and means to spiritual formation is emphasized by Vatican II and reiterated by Pope John Paul II as follows: “spiritual formation…should be conducted in such a way that the students may learn to live in intimate and unceasing union with God the Father through his Son Jesus Christ, in the Holy Spirit. Those who are to take on the likeness of Christ by sacred ordination should form the habit of drawing close to him as friends in every detail of their lives. They should live his Paschal mystery in such a way that they will know how to initiate into it the people committed to their charge. They should be taught to seek Christ in faithful meditation on the word of God and in active participation in the sacred mysteries of the Church, especially the Eucharist and the Divine Office, to seek him in the Bishop by whom they are sent and in the people to whom they are sent, especially the poor, little children, the weak, sinners and unbelievers. With the confidence of sons they should love and reverence the most Blessed Virgin Mary, who was given as a mother to the disciple by Jesus Christ as he was dying on the Cross." (Optatam Totius #8)
Intellectual Formation
The intellectual formation helps the seminarians to understand their faith. It is the desire to be like St. Augustine, “to see with my mind what I have believed."
The study of philosophy and human sciences such as sociology, psychology and social communication is to help the future priest to prolong the living contemporaneousness of Christ. As Pope Paul VI once said, “Christ became the contemporary of some men and spoke their language. Our faithfulness to him demands that this contemporaneousness should be maintained." As for theology, it proceeds from faith and aims at leading to faith. (Ref: Pastores Dabo Vobis, #52-53)
Intellectual formation is not just about theoretical and speculative knowledge. It is “to be integrated with spirituality marked by a personal experience of God. In this way a purely abstract approach to knowledge is overcome in favour of that intelligence of heart which knows how to ‘look beyond? and then is in a position to communicate the mystery of God to the people." (Pastores Dabo Vobis, #51)
Pastoral Formation
The above mentioned formation is deeply linked with the pastoral reality which the future priests would encounter. Vatican II stresses that “the whole training of the students should have as its object to make them true shepherds of souls after the example of our Lord Jesus Christ, teacher, priest and shepherd." (Optatam Totius #4)
The aim of the seminary pastoral formation is “to initiate the candidate into the sensitivity of being a shepherd, in the conscious and mature assumption of his responsibilities, in the interior habit of evaluating problems and establishing priorities and looking for solutions on the basis of honest motivations of faith and according to the theological demands inherent in pastoral work." (Pastores Dabo Vobis, #58)
Pastoral formation cannot be divorced from a good appreciation of what Church is. Pope John Paul II highlighted this by saying, “pastoral action is destined by its very nature to enliven the Church, which is essentially ‘mystery' ‘communion?and ‘mission' pastoral formation should be aware of and should live these ecclesial aspects in the exercise of the ministry." (Pastores Dabo Vobis, #59)
