Guide to Ongoing Formation for Priests

CHAPTER 5: INTELLECTUAL FORMATION | 73

the teachings articulated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church . Beyond that, he should have an awareness of the theological background of those teachings and the overall historical arc of theology through the centuries. A faithful priest strives for ever more precision and clarity in his grasp of theological ideas and discourse. The second characteristic of intellectual formation is subjective, namely a priest’s fidelity to Catholic teachings. 156 The priest—entrusted with handing on the precious Deposit of Faith—should stand out for his confident adherence to true doctrine. 157 The humility of intellectual assent proper to all official Catholic teachers and preachers is far from passivity, servitude, or timidity. Such assent is rather a vigorous application of one’s intellect, placing it at the service of revealed truth. It is, in fact, the highest exercise of the mind, which, like all our faculties, is made to glorify its Creator. “The assent of faith, engaging the intellect and will,” Fides et Ratio reminds us, “does not destroy but perfects the free will of each believer who deep within welcomes what has been revealed.” 158 By probing the limits of human understanding, especially the fields of knowledge unveiled by God’s own Revelation, the human intellect finds its most sublime purpose and its greatest achievement. 159 191.

ENGAGEMENT WITH THE WORLD

192. The second marker of intellectual formation is broader than the first. The first deals specifically with the content of faith; the second deals with the content of human learning. The Second Vatican Council taught,

156 “The awareness of the absolute need to ‘remain’ faithful to and anchored in the Word of God and Tradition in order to be true disciples of Christ and know the truth (see Jn 8:31-32) has always accom panied the history of the priestly spirituality, and was also reiterated in an authoritative manner by the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council.” DMLP, no. 62. 157 “Above all for contemporary society marked as it is in many countries by theoretical and practical mate rialism, subjectivism and cultural relativism, it is necessary for the Gospel to be presented as ‘the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes’ (Rm 1:16). Priests, recalling that ‘the faith comes from what is preached, and what is preached comes from the word of Christ’ (Rm 10:17), will devote their every energy to correspond to this mission, which is primary in their ministry. Indeed, they are not only witnesses, but heralds and transmitters of the faith (see CIC, cc. 757, 762, 776).” DMLP, no. 62. 158 St. John Paul II, Fides et Ratio (On the Relationship Between Faith and Reason) , September 14, 1998, no. 75, www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_14091998_fides-et-ratio.html . See also CIC, c. 750. 159 “Although he made much of the supernatural character of faith, the Angelic Doctor did not overlook the importance of its reasonableness; indeed he was able to plumb the depths and explain the meaning of this reasonableness. Faith is in a sense an ‘exercise of thought’; and human reason is neither annulled nor debased in assenting to the contents of faith, which are in any case attained by way of free and informed choice.” St. John Paul II, Fides et Ratio , no. 43.