Program of Priestly Formation (Ascension)

PPF 371

Program of Priestly Formation

n. Professional standards : Every seminarian must become capable of practicing and promoting the professional standards of ministerial behavior that are expected of all Church employees and volunteers, including ministerial codes of conduct and policies regarding conflict of interest, financial transparency, appropriate boundaries, and the use of social media. o. The cultivation of personal qualities : In the current situation in the United States, parish life is blessed with many people who serve: permanent deacons, consecrated men and women, professional lay ministers, volunteers, and members of parish and diocesan consultative bodies. To direct others and to work well with them, priests need a number of personal qualities. A seminarian who aspires to serve as a priest needs to cultivate these qualities in the process of pastoral formation. They include a sense of responsibility for initiating and completing tasks, time management abilities, a spirit of collaboration with others, an ability to facilitate resolution of conflicts, a flexibility of spirit that can make adjustments for new and unexpected circumstances, an availability to those who serve and those who are served, and finally zeal—or the ardent desire to bring all people closer to the Lord. Pastoral formation depends in great measure on the quality of supervision. To serve as a supervisor of seminarians calls for experience, competence, and generosity. Priests and others who serve as supervisors, mentors, and professors are an extension of the seminary. It is important that this identification with priestly formation become part of the mindset of pastoral staffs who serve to initiate seminarians to pastoral life. When onsite pastoral formation is seen as an integral part of priestly formation, then pastoral staffs must accept a special responsibility in the name of the Church for the direction and help they provide to seminarians. These priests and those associated with them must have certain qualities that include loyal commitment to priestly formation, patience, honesty, an almost 371

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