Guide to Ongoing Formation for Priests

CHAPTER 2: ONGOING FORMATION | 35

and corrections, such a pastor will have a profound impact on the trajectory of a man’s entire priesthood. In many respects our first pastor is the first teacher in our priestly lives and one whose influence is most enduring. 69 Many young priests are also eager to have a more personal relationship with their diocesan bishop. A diocesan bishop’s accessibility to his newly ordained priests in their joys and struggles—and his solicitude for their welfare, both personally and through his vicar for clergy—will yield tremen dous benefits throughout their lives. 70 Diocesan bishops and those responsible for ongoing formation therefore need to pay particular attention to the growth of their newly ordained priests. No less importantly, those young priests must take seri ously their own responsibility to seek the means of formation they most need during the exciting but also demanding first years of priestly ministry. “These first years,” the DMLP states, “constitute a necessary verification of their initial formation after the first delicate impact with reality, and are the most decisive ones for the future. Young priests therefore require harmo nious maturation in order to be able to cope with moments of difficulty with faith and fortitude.” 71 After surmounting the challenges that attend the first years of priesthood, a man starts to encounter transitions that again require partic ular attention. Leaving his first parish is often a painful experience. The commitment to celibacy can seem especially keen to a young priest who must uproot himself from the parishioners and families he has grown to love and serve. When he reports to his new assignment, the loneliness can be a bit overwhelming. Personal and fraternal means of support will be especially important in those moments. 92. TRANSITIONS 93.

69 “It is desirable that accompaniment by confreres of exemplary life and pastoral zeal be promoted, so that they can help young priests to experience a cordial and active participation in the life of the entire dioce san presbyterate. . . . It is good to set up a system of personal accompaniment of young priests, to promote and maintain the quality of their ministry, so that they can embrace their first pastoral challenges with enthusiasm. It is the Pastor [parochus] above all who should assume responsibility for this, or whichever priest it is to whom the young priest has first been sent.” Ratio Fundamentalis , no. 83. 70 “Moreover, it would seem useful to underscore the need especially for young priests to be introduced to an authentic journey of faith in the presbyterate or in the parish community, accompanied by the Bishop and by the brother priests assigned to that task.” DMLP, no. 111. 71 DMLP, no. 111.