Program of Priestly Formation 6th edition

THE MINISTERIAL PRIESTHOOD | 17

circumstances of ministry and life may be diverse. It is, therefore, essen tial for all priests and those in priestly formation to understand and to see themselves as engaged in the Church’s ministry, subject to the same formation laid out in the Program of Priestly Formation. 50 Depending on the type of ecclesiastical entity, the details for the stages of formation may differ. For example, the propaedeutic stage for institutes of consecrated life or societies of apostolic life is handled by the postulancy or novitiate. In all cases the applicant, postulant, and so on must meet the benchmarks as noted in each dimension later in this document. Discipleship is a lifelong journey of following Jesus Christ; this is certainly the case for the priest. Throughout his initial and ongoing formation, he continually learns to listen more attentively to the voice of the Master who calls him. Thus, formation serves him best when it can be experienced as an ever-advancing journey of conversion and growth. Gradually, as a disciple on this journey, he is able to make decisions that are permanent and that he will always be called upon to deepen and expand. The first stage of initial formation is the propaedeutic stage. During this stage, the man is introduced to the life of the Church as a community in which excellence of character is nurtured, to the practice of daily partici pation in the Holy Mass, to love for Sacred Scripture, to the prayer of the Church (the Divine Office, or the Divine Praises in the Eastern Catholic Churches), and to the basic elements of the Christian faith as he discerns attentively and purposefully his potential vocation to priesthood in the presence of a supportive community of fellow seminarians and formators. This community is an ideal environment for growth in self-knowledge. In the discipleship stage, systematic formation as a disciple of Jesus Christ is the aim. The seminarian develops his principal strengths and grows to identify, acknowledge, and begin to overcome his shortcomings. In the configuration stage, the seminarian hones his capacity to serve and become a man for others. In the vocational synthesis stage, 51 the transi PRIESTHOOD: A JOURNEY OF DISCIPLESHIP 32.

50 This means not only that diocesan priests form a presbyterate, but that “religious clergy who live and work in a particular church also belong to the one presbyterate, albeit under a different title.” Pastores Dabo Vobis , no. 74. 51 Throughout this document the term “vocational synthesis” is used to identify the last stage of initial formation, described in the Ratio Fundamentalis as “the ‘pastoral stage’ or ‘stage of vocational synthesis.’” Ratio Fundamentalis , no. 57.