Guidelines for Receiving Pastoral Ministers in the USA

Guidelines for Receiving Pastoral Ministers in the United States, Third Edition was developed as a resource by the Committees on: Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations; Cultural Diversity in the Church; the Protection of Children and Young People; and Canonical Affairs and Church Governance of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). It was approved by the committee chairmen, Bishop Michael F. Burbidge, Bishop R. Daniel Conlon, Bishop Daniel E. Flores, and Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, JCD, and authorized for publication by the Administrative Committee at its September 2014 meeting. It has been directed for publication by the undersigned. Msgr. Ronny Jenkins General Secretary, USCCB

Excerpts from the Code of Canon Law: Latin-English Edition, New English Translation copyright © 1998, Canon Law Society of America, Washington, DC, are reprinted with permission. Excerpt(s) from the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches: Latin-English Edition, New English Translation copyright © 1995, Canon Law Society of America, Washington DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved. Excerpts from Pope John Paul II’s April 23, 2002 Address, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris Missio , Post Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in America , Encyclical Letter Fides et Ratio , Encyclical Letter Redemptoris Missio , and excerpts from Pope Francis’s Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium are taken from the Vatican website and copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana (LEV), Vatican City State. Used with permission. All rights reserved. Excerpt(s) from the Second Vatican Council’s Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes) are taken from the Vatican website and copyright © 1965 Libreria Editrice Vaticana (LEV), Vatican City State. Used with permission. All rights reserved. Excerpt from the Congregation of Catholic Education’s Guidelines for the Use of Psychology in the Admission and Formation of Candidates for the Priesthood taken from the Vatican website and copyright © 2008 Libreria Editrice Vaticana (LEV), Vatican City State. Used with permission. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2014, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington DC. All rights reserved.

Cover image © 123RF.

First printing, October 2014

ISBN 978-1-60137-462-2