Program of Priestly Formation (Ascension)

PPF 156

Program of Priestly Formation

Each seminary must have a handbook based on the Program of Priestly Formation , approved by the diocesan bishop or major superior, in which the expectations of the formation program of the seminary are clearly stated. These expectations specify the human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral components of that formation program and include a Rule of Life as mandated by the Code of Canon Law and the Code of Canons 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 statutes, 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 regulate 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 individual initiative or talent. It also seeks to balance freedom, responsibility, accountability, activities, and solitude. The rector’s conferences are especially helpful in aiding seminarians to interpret rightly their life in common, their discernment of vocation to the priesthood, and the human and spiritual virtues they strive to appropriate.

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207 See CIC, c. 243; CCEO, c. 337 §§2-3.

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