Program of Priestly Formation 6th edition

SEMINARY FORMATION: STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS | 69

of the Eastern Churches. 207 The handbook forms the basis of an annual evaluation of the seminarians and is regularly reviewed and updated. In addition to a Rule of Life, the handbook also includes the seminary’s stat utes, mission statement, policies and procedures, criteria for admission and ongoing evaluation, process of evaluation, appropriate calendars and schedules, and a description of seminary community roles and house jobs. A Rule of Life—approved by the diocesan bishop or, in the case of an interdiocesan seminary, the bishops involved—is necessary to regu late day-to-day living and to articulate the common values that give a community integrity and purpose. The Rule adapts the Program of Priestly Formation to particular circumstances and especially determines more precisely the points of discipline that pertain to daily life of seminarians and the order of the community. A Rule of Life addresses the essentials of community living while avoiding excessive detail that would stifle indi vidual initiative or talent. It also seeks to balance freedom, responsibility, accountability, activities, and solitude. The rector’s conferences are especially helpful in aiding seminar ians to interpret rightly their life in common, their discernment of voca tion to the priesthood, and the human and spiritual virtues they strive to appropriate. The expectations and procedures of the evaluation process must be detailed in the handbook and explained clearly to the seminary community by the rector or his delegate each year. Matters pertaining to celibate and chaste living must be included in the seminary Rule of Life. This Rule should also “cultivate the spirit of poverty in practical ways. . . . through simplicity and austerity of life,” 208 encouraging fasting, almsgiving, and the asceticism demanded by a Christian life and the priestly state. In imitating Christ who “became poor although he was rich” (2 Cor 8:9), the seminarian is able to grow in freedom and is able to develop in his heart a special place for the poor and the weak. The seminary environment itself should foster a simple way of life and a spirit of forthright detachment. Seminarians should be made aware that they are accountable for the proper stewardship of material 157. 158. 159. 160.

207 See CIC, c. 243; CCEO, c. 337 §§2-3. 208 Ratio Fundamentalis , no. 111.