Guide to Ongoing Formation for Priests

92 | GUIDE TO ONGOING FORMATION FOR PRIESTS

EPISCOPAL MEANS

233. Because ongoing pastoral formation often consists of gaining new knowledge or revisiting matters previously learned, diocesan bishops and dioceses can do much to foster this dimension of priestly life. Many subjects can be addressed in priest study days, workshops, convocations, and online seminars. Topics that lend themselves to such training may be grouped under three principal headings: priestly ministry, parish apostolates, and management.

PRIESTLY MINISTRY

234. As in any other field, priests sometimes need to return to basics, refresh their memory, and update their knowledge about daily duties. Liturgical training, especially in regard to the celebration of Mass and other sacred rites, can often be helpful. So too can formation on the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation, such as exploring ways to help penitents overcome habitual sins or reminding priests of the various reserved penal ties, faculties for their remission, and their relationship to the sacrament. Methods to strengthen homiletics skills are always welcome, as is concrete assistance in giving spiritual direction, preparing couples for marriage, and performing other priestly duties. 214 Some priests find that a temporary shift away from direct parish ministry can be highly restorative. Though such a break can be a sacrifice for dioceses already coping with a shortage of priests, giving some men an opportunity to enrich skills and pastoral experience can be a good way to provide long-term personal development and enable them to return to parish ministry more motivated than ever. Such opportunities could include, for instance, working for a time as a chaplain, taking an extended sabbatical, or enrolling in short courses on topics such as bioethics, liturgy, canon law, or deliverance ministry. Opportunities could also include more intense, direct work with the poor and marginalized or even a period doing missionary work at home or abroad. 235.

214 “Particularly interesting may be the organization of courses or seminars on the apostolate of the Sacrament of Confession or on practical questions of spiritual direction in both general and specific situations. Practical formation in the field of the liturgy is also particularly important. Special attention should be reserved to learning how to celebrate the Mass well—as pointed out earlier, the ars celebrandi is a sine qua non condition of the actuosa partecipatio of the faithful—and to adoration outside the Mass.” DMLP, no. 96.