Program of Priestly Formation 6th edition

SEMINARY FORMATION: STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS | 71

encouragement to continue their formation and also with wisdom to iden tify ways in which that formation may take deeper root. The Church’s responsibility to discern the authenticity of vocations also implies some process whereby the Church, usually working through the seminary, scru tinizes the seminarian’s aptness and readiness to assume the responsibil ities of ordained ministry. This ongoing evaluation of seminarians, then, affirms, strengthens, and fosters growth in formation while continuing the process of discernment.

NORMS FOR THE CONTINUING EVALUATION OF SEMINARIANS

164. The seminary is responsible for the continuing evaluation of seminarians regarding their progress in priestly formation. The process of evaluation must be clearly described in detail in the seminary handbook. The seminary should have a written statement of the criteria used in eval uating seminarians. Such evaluation is primarily the responsibility of the rector and the community of formators. It should also involve the input of the seminarians themselves, their various supervisors, and their peers. Each seminary must provide a procedure for the evaluation of seminarians. As part of this procedure, each seminary should ensure that seminarians are apprised of their progress as early as possible in their forma tion, particularly if there are concerns; that the priest formator regularly communicates with the seminarians; that the seminarians have a proce dure for responding to matters raised in the evaluation process; that confi dentiality, as articulated by the seminary, is observed; and that all doubts are resolved in favor of the Church. 210 The process of evaluation should be conducted in an atmosphere of mutual trust and confidence. It should promote the continued growth of the seminarian in the four dimensions of formation. Each seminarian should be evaluated on the basis of his actual progress and maturation, not on the basis of the mere passage of time. 211 165.

210 The unity of the good must always be remembered; that is, the good of the Church can never contradict the good of the individual but always implicitly includes it. 211 See Ratio Fundamentalis , no. 58.