Fr. Eusèbe M. Ménard, O.F.M., was gifted with a visionary perspective regarding God's call to adults for ministry in the Catholic Church, specifically, priestly vocations. In the mid-1940s, Ménard proposed an innovative idea for training men called to serve God through the priesthood: college seminaries for "belated vocations." As he defined it, a man with a belated vocation had not heard God's call in his early years or, having heard it, did not or could not act upon it at that time. The events leading to the formation and development of Holy Apostles College & Seminary proved challenging and, at times, painful for those people who joined Ménard in this enterprise. Still, it appeared from the start that the "Hand of God" was truly at work in the concept, acquisition, and development of Holy Apostles. This study documents the founding and initial development of Holy Apostles and highlights several significant events from the first forty years of its service to the Catholic Church.

John Paul II on the mission and the formation of the priests of the future

In this statement, the bishops present a pastoral plan to help Catholics advance in their role as disciples, by awakening a renewal in the ministry of adult faith formation and helping all to grow to the full maturity of Christ.

Academic Paper from the year 2020 in the subject Theology - Practical Theology, grade: 1.0, Kwame Nkrumah University, language: English, abstract: This article is about formation as an art and not a science. It is about accompaniment and discernment towards evangelical empowerment driven by the Nazareth Manifesto by mature mentors who are human-spiritual whisperers of their charges. I was beginning to get paranoid at the number of times the word “rotten” or “broken” pops into my head in reference to the priestly formation system until my friend Elizabeth Mphande told me in an email, “It’s really sad and pathetic. It’s like the whole system is rotten and some guys are just out there to do a job to get easy money from parishioners. Taking its point of departure from Pope Francis’ concern about initial formation for the priesthood, I suggest that in the light of the Ratio Fundamentalis, formation must operate on the principle of “small is beautiful” by avoiding mass manufacture of priests. The focus of such formation needs to be accompaniment and discernment. Failure to do this, we risk in the words of Pope Francis, churning out little monsters in circumstances that are akin to policing rather transformative formation. Pope Francis never defined what he meant by “little monsters” but I opine that it has to do with the style of leadership. Little or big monsters would be the equivalent of an ecclesiastical Donald Trump. These monsters eventually grow into big monsters as bishops, archbishops and cardinals with a heart of stone instead of a heart of flesh whose default exercise of authority is hard power rather than soft power. As the Pope says, formation and we might add episcopal oversight “is a work of art, not policing” [è un’opera artigianale, non poliziesca].

The best clerical formation today prepares men to be divinely loved in their humanity. In Configured to Christ: On Spiritual Direction and Clergy Formation, Deacon James Keating shares what makes a priest or deacon peaceful, personally happy, and—to the extent he keeps receiving the love of God in prayer as a man of interiority and sacrament—a minister of God’s love to his people.

The formation of priests means following a singular 'journey of discipleship', which begins at Baptism, is perfected through the other sacraments of Christian Initiation, comes to be appreciated as the centre of one's life at the beginning of seminary formation, and continues through the whole of life.This Ratio Fundamentalis emphasises that formation - both initial and ongoing - must be seen through a unifying lens, which takes account of the four dimensions of formation proposed by Pastores Dabo Vobis. Together, these dimensions give shape and structure to the identity of the seminarian and the priest, and make him capable of that 'gift of self to the Church', which is the essence of pastoral charity.

"A group of leading Catholic scholars respond to a document regarding the future of Catholic priesthood"--

Rooted in the documents of Vatican II, the Program of Priestly Formation offers the normative direction for all seminaries in the United States to meet the challenge of priestly formation in the third millennium. The fifth edition, like it predecessor, was shaped by feedback collected during many seminary visitations. the requirements for priestly formation reflect these informative and significant examinations of the current and future needs of seminary formation. the Program of Priestly Formation stands as the normative guide for seminary formation for the twenty-first century, and it sets the horizon for priestly ministry in the years ahead.

Practical guidance for priests in their lifelong journey of human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral formation Given the demands of ministry, it can be difficult for priests to keep learning and growing without the structure of seminary life. Yet, ongoing formation is essential for effective ministry and evangelization. Written by bishops, the Guide to Ongoing Formation for Priests offers practical guidance on the lifelong pursuit of human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral formation for priests at every stage of their priesthood. This official text from the Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is published here in print for the first time. The Guide to Ongoing Formation for Priests: Describes a holy, healthy priesthood and explains how priests can remain dedicated to lifelong learning and growing Offers solutions to common challenges of living the priesthood today, both within the Church and the wider culture Addresses ongoing formation at every stage of life, including early priesthood, the middle years, and “retirement” Organizes guidance around the four dimensions of formation: human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral Includes appendices for those involved in ongoing clergy formation at the diocesan level on the topics of recently ordained priests, evaluating when clergy need assistance, cultural considerations of formation, and boundary education The Guide to Ongoing Formation for Priests is intended to be a resource that priests review regularly, both in their development of individualized formation plans, and in discussion in spiritual direction, with colleagues, and with mentors. This new edition of the Guide features: A newly designed cover with beautiful sacred art Colored tabs with paragraph numbers at the top of each page for easy navigation Carefully designed pages to make each page readable, organized, and inviting A document summary explaining the intended audience, the document’s origin, and the purpose it seeks to serve within the mission of the Church The official text of this work written by the USCCB Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations This edition is part of The USCCB Collection from Ascension, which features official documents from the United States bishops previously published by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

See Pamphlet 5-383 for duplicate copy.