Program of Priestly Formation 6th edition

PASTORAL DIMENSION | 153

God, the Body of Christ, the Temple of the Holy Spirit, for the service of which they consecrate their lives.” 454 The foundation in pastoral knowl edge, pastoral skills, and pastoral charity, which is laid during the disciple ship stage, will enable the seminarian in the following stages to continue to develop the skills necessary for a life of service in the Church. Pastoral knowledge acquired in the discipleship stage includes competency in the performance of liturgical roles in the seminary community as well as knowledge gained by actively participating in formation seminars. Pastoral skills adequately demonstrated by the end of the discipleship stage include relating well with others, both in the seminary and in pastoral settings; freedom from prejudices against any class or group of individuals; a will ingness to work with people of diverse cultural backgrounds; demon strated generosity to the poor given his limited means; demonstrated accompaniment of the poor; the ability to tithe; and a willingness and ability to work collaboratively as a member of a team. It is necessary that seminarians demonstrate that they relate well to women in authority and in peer situations. Seminarians demonstrate good stewardship of personal and communal property. They demonstrate the capacity to take initia tive in leadership situations and express a missionary spirit with a zeal for evangelization. Pastoral knowledge and pastoral skills are meaningless if they are not accompanied by pastoral charity. To aid in the development of pastoral charity, it is necessary for the seminarian to demonstrate by the end of the discipleship stage a commitment to apostolic works of Christian charity and an awareness of issues surrounding global poverty. 375.

CONFIGURATION STAGE BENCHMARKS

376. Pastoral opportunities in the seminary and in pastoral ministry allow the seminarian, with the trusting guidance of his formators, to recognize and hone his pastoral leadership skills. As a servant leader he is called constantly to look to Jesus as his model. “Jesus, the Son of God, has assumed the condition of a slave even unto death (cf. Phil 2:6-8). Before dying on the cross, he washed the feet of his disciples, commanding them to do the same (cf. Jn 13:1-17).” 455 As a human instrument of Jesus, he can

454 Ratio Fundamentalis , no. 30. 455 Ratio Fundamentalis , no. 38.