Program of Priestly Formation (Ascension)

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Seminary Formation: Those Who Accompany Seminarians

right kind of accompaniment that is balanced and respectful of the freedom and the conscience of the other person, and that will help him in his human and spiritual growth. Moreover, those who are marked out to become formators need a specific preparation and generous dedication to this important task. Formators are needed who can ensure their full-time presence and who, above all else, are witnesses of how to love and serve the people of God, giving themselves without reserve for the Church. 160 The Spiritual Director Seminarians must meet regularly with a priest spiritual director, normally biweekly. 161 Spiritual directors must be chosen freely from a list prepared by the coordinator of spiritual formation. They should have proper training and adequate credentials for the work. These priests must be approved by the rector and appointed by the competent authority. 162 In the case of seminarians for an institute of consecrated life or society of apostolic life, the formation director or competent authority of the institute or society offers guidance on an appropriate spiritual director for the seminarians under his care. Seminarians should confide their personal history, personal relationships, prayer experiences, their cultivation of virtues, their temptations, and other significant topics to their spiritual director. If, for serious reason, there is a change of director, the new director should give attention to continuity in the seminarian’s spiritual development. The spiritual director should foster an integration of spiritual formation, human formation, and character development consistent with priestly formation. The spiritual director assists the seminarian in acquiring the skills of spiritual discernment and plays a key role in

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160 Ratio Fundamentalis , no. 49. 161 See Ratio Fundamentalis , no. 107. 162 See CIC, c. 239 §2; CCEO, c. 339 §1.

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