Guide to Ongoing Formation for Priests

CHAPTER 6: PASTORAL FORMATION | 91

FRATERNAL MEANS

230. Brother priests help each other grow in the pastoral dimension in many ways. Priest friends can encourage, affirm, and hold each other accountable for personal growth in holiness as well as pastoral generosity and competence. 212 Such friendships are most helpful when they stimu late intentional conversations about pastoral methods, the care of souls, preaching, and the handling of difficult pastoral situations. Even friend ships that have less explicitly apostolic origins, such as those emerging from common human interests, can foster priestly conversation. Such friends find that they have lost none of their common interests while they put their friendship on an even deeper and more stable foundation: their mutual growth as Christians and as priests. Mentoring relationships can also be a powerful means to grow in the pastoral dimension of formation. Fraternal consultations with seasoned priests give younger priests an opportunity to draw from the wisdom of experience and avoid many pitfalls to which they are otherwise prone. Priests willing to receive and give such assistance contribute meaningfully to the overall health of a presbyterate and foster a fruitful unity among priests of different age groups. Last, every diocese has a great deal of pastoral experience, and certain priests will be especially effective in particular ministries. When a priest is given a new assignment, he can find it helpful to make on-site visits to priests successfully doing similar work, learning from them on the ground. 213 In addition, those who serve in similar capacities—for instance, those involved in campus ministry, hospital work, or military or prison chaplaincy—might consider gathering periodically to share best practices and speak about particular situations they face. They can be means of ongoing formation for each other, as well as a source of encouragement and new friendships. 231. 232.

212 It is particularly recommended that groups of priests read and discuss the DMLP. 213 “In view of his own spiritual and pastoral growth and out of love for his flock, the priest should welcome with gratitude, and even seek on a regular basis, the orientations of his bishop or the latter’s representa tives for the development of his pastoral ministry. It is also an admirable practice for the priest to request the opinions of more expert priests and qualified laypersons with respect to the most suitable pastoral methods.” DMLP, no. 33.