Program of Priestly Formation 6th edition

INTELLECTUAL DIMENSION | 141

for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism (nos. 70-81, 192-95) and The Ecumenical Dimension in the Formation of Those Engaged in Pastoral Work are to be followed. The expansion of communications technology and social media is a phenomenon that must be taken into account in the intellectual formation of seminarians. “Considering the ample attention given by the Magisterium to the theme of social communications, and the promising area of evangelization found in the ‘new media,’ Seminaries must develop a specific awareness in seminarians in this regard.” 422 Theological formation in seminaries must clearly respect tradi tional doctrinal formulations of the faith while recognizing contemporary modes of theological expression and explanation that accord with the doctrine of the faith. Contemporary expressions are always to be presented with due deference for the Tradition and in continuity with it. 423 Theological education for the priesthood should resist any tendency to reduce theology to a merely historical, sociological investiga tion or to a comparative study of religions. The entire academic program should be taught in such a way that it makes seminarians aware that they have a responsibility to continue their theological and pastoral education after ordination. 424 The theological curriculum, in both its planning and its execu tion, should address the unique needs of a multicultural society, which entails not only the study of the Spanish language and Hispanic cultures, but also direction regarding such matters as approved Marian apparitions and the lives of those Americans who have been canonized or beatified. 425 353. 354. 355. 356. 357.

422 Ratio Fundamentalis , no. 182; see CIC, c. 666. 423 Pope Benedict XVI provides a helpful principle regarding contemporary expressions of the faith: “On the one hand, there is an interpretation that I would call ‘a hermeneutic of discontinuity and rupture’; it has frequently availed itself of the sympathies of the mass media, and also one trend of modern theology. On the other, there is the ‘hermeneutic of reform,’ of renewal in the continuity of the one subject-Church which the Lord has given to us. She is a subject which increases in time and develops, yet always remain ing the same, the one subject of the journeying People of God.” Address to the Roman Curia Offering Them Christmas Greetings, December 22, 2005, www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/speeches/2005/ december/documents/hf_ben_xvi_spe_20051222_roman-curia.html.

424 See Ratio Fundamentalis , no. 56. 425 See Ratio Fundamentalis , no. 157.