Formacja przyszłych kapłanów w czasach współczesnych

Abstract

Today, it seems more difficult than even a decade ago for the priest to carry out his pastoral service. Many are the reasons for this situation. The most significant include moral relativism; the complex socio-political situation; the growth of forms of religiosity without God; the rise of sects; fascination with a type of rationalism that weakens any sensibility towards Revelation and divine transcendence; the spread of political and existential atheism; the current crisis that has affected the family; and the negative image of the Church frequently presented in the mass media. The Church community itself also reveals certain worrying factors such as religious ignorance demonstrated by many believers; the weakness and ineffectiveness of catechesis; poorly conceived theological, cultural and pastoral pluralism; loss of trust in the Church’s hierarchy; and the subjectivity of faith. Discouraged by the ‘failure’ of his service, a priest may take a dramatic decision to abandon the priesthood. In this context, providing the future cleric with proper formation stands out as a major task, since it is the priest that fruitfully carries on the mission of Jesus the Good Shepherd in the contemporary world. This formation should be based on the concept of priestly identity consistent with the Church’s Magisterium and encompass four fundamental dimensions: human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral. Such a formative programme should be preceded by a year-long preparatory period necessary to offer seminary applicants a proper introduction into the entire process of priestly formation and a more profound realisation of their vocation as well as to compliment their human, spiritual and intellectual formation. What is also important, the overall assessment of candidates’ suitability for priesthood should take place prior to their admission to the seminary and not be postponed until the time they are ordained.