Introduction:

While reaching almost the end of the Year of Priests, We thought there is a need to share a little bit on the formation in the seminaries. After spending some years in the formation, and hearing from different seminarians all over the world and being eyes witnesses, we made up our mind to put in writing our contribution to the priestly formation. It is not an academic sharing but the quotidian life experience. We are going to touch two points: God’s providence firstly, then and the last, the relationship between the formators and the seminarians.

God’s Providence: In our constitutions, English version, page 142, there is a daily invitation done by our Founder to all of us Consolata missionaries. It is said: “You should thank God who in his goodness inspired the foundation of this Congregation. Each of you should be one of its pillars; those who come after you should see in you a model fit to imitate (…)”. Based on the Founder’s word, it becomes so obvious to realize the continual presence of God in our daily lives. We did not choose one another. It came by the will of God. That is why we have Confreres from different continents, nationalities, race and cultures. It is really the richness in diversities. If God didn’t want, we would not have the Congregation called “Consolata Missionaries”. Therefore, we need to thank God and pray for our Founder every day. Let us now share about the relationship between the formators and the seminarians.

Relationship between the formators and the seminarians: This relation is part of the basic formation. Giving a look at our Constitutions, it is written: “the fundamental dimensions of all stages of formation are: human maturity, intense spirituality, intellectual training, and formation in pastoral ministry and internationality.” (N. 91).

Human dimension: the human dimension should help the seminarian to take responsibility for his own physical, emotional and sexual. In pursuit of this integration, the formator needs to organize several programs which work to develop the strength of character and healthy lifestyle that will be needed to exercise leadership and give service as an ordained minister in the Church. For example, offering opportunities to the seminarians to attend conferences on various spiritual and vocational concerns, including priestly lifestyle, intimacy, sexuality, personal maturity, healthy living and professional boundaries. Spiritual dimension: it helps the seminarians to understand their religious and faith experience by helping them to clarify and verbalize what the Spirit is doing in their lives. Spiritual direction is essential to priestly formation as it fosters, encourages and challenges the seminarians’ growth in Christian life.  Academic dimension: Today’s missionaries need to know and be conversant in the sources of the tradition and the society. All the philosophical, theological studies and pastoral ministry are actually based upon a critical knowledge of Catholic teaching and tradition. In fact, our Founder used to say ‘his missionaries mustn’t be ignorant.’ Pastoral dimension: The University and the formators have a must to prepare seminarians with a comprehensive pastoral outlook which enables them to assume the pastoral duties that their service to God’s people requires. This aspect of formation also fosters the habit of evaluating problems, establishing priorities, and looking for solutions on the basis of faith, through prayer and theological reflection. Based on Post-Synodal Apostolic exhortation Pastoris Dabo Vobis’ to the Bishops, Clergy and Faithful on the formation of priests in the circumstances of the present day, the Sovereign Pontiff asserts in number 43 that the basic of all priestly formation is the human dimension. The relationship between the formators and the seminarians normally is a type of relationship based on the confidence, trust and sincerity to one another. The seminarian should offer and be opened himself to his formator. It is so sad to realize for example that there is a group of seminarians who are not capable to open themselves to their formators. As it is difficult to know the real motivations of someone, some seminarians used several strategies to make themselves loved by the formators without any sincere goals or motivations, just for surviving. Others always ready to create false stories to their formators against other members of the community with the view to being loved and well appreciated by the formators. Some seminarians have already replaced their biologic fathers to the formators; maybe due to some deficiency from childhood or lack of fatherly love. Unconsciously, it is noticed by the way of calling their formators ‘Our father’ in English; ‘Notre papa’ in French; ‘o nosso pae’ in Portuguese; ‘Il nostro padre’ in Italian; ‘Abatatchin in Amharic. After seeing the door of their motivations is opened, they decide to stop their formation for another purpose. The background of each one of us has to be taken into account. The formators are invited to know their seminarians and visit their families if possible... Life in the seminary is not enough to know someone very well. The formators should know where the seminarian is coming from. They should go a little bit deeper into the lives of their seminarians. Sharing with them, they will be capable to know and understand the behavior of the seminarians through their backgrounds. Then, those above information will help them to create harmony in their formation. Otherwise, life becomes masquerade. The institute puts trust in the formators with the view to helping the Institute and the seminarians to grow in the evangelical and human maturity. The relationship between the formators and the seminarians cannot be compared to that one of Cat and Rat in which life becomes impossible and always enmity. In my view, the roles of the formators are not to create enemy on one side and best friends on another side. Then, the best friends will be getting a lot of favors and the enemies always tears and cries. The formators ought to love their seminarians equally without any division and preferences of fulfilling their own passions and sentiments. The formators should help, orientate the seminarians. In many cases, during the formation, some formators do not like the seminarians who challenge their opinions. When this happens, those seminarians are considered not qualified for the religious life. They find their way blocked without any hope of continuing since the admission report is always done by the formators. The formators become the sole determinant. They should not use some divisive psychological methods as means of control since those methods create confusion, disunity and disharmony in the seminary. The formators should not have particular seminarians who give them information about others as means of controlling the community as if they were in a prison. Formators, would you accept your seminarians the way they are; creating friendship with them and orienting them guided by the Spirit? The maturity is a process. It needs some time. The famous transactional analysis of ERIC FROM, s.j. is eloquent. In fact, transactional analysis is a form of psychotherapy that emphasizes the interactions within and between people and classifies these interactions as ‘adult’, ‘parent’, or ‘child’. In a brief way, it means that any person while living behaves as an adult; another time as parent or as a child. It happens to every person. Mastering the above-mentioned analysis, there is hope to understand a little bit more others’ behaviors and be prudent to deal with them or make comment on their lives. It happened in life that some people were qualified the best formators in the world and others, best students or seminarians. In the end, they ended like the ‘birds’. No one knows where they are currently. Those ones who were most of the time in doubt are now good missionaries for the service of God into the World. Formators! Be happy to get a seminarian who willingly and without any fear expresses his opinions. He is not the enemy or an opponent. Do not be in hurried to judge your seminarians. Try to discover the values they have before making last decision. Human dimension is so complex and fruit of patience. “It is important that the priest should mold his human personality in such a way that he becomes a bridge and not an obstacle for others in their meeting with Jesus Christ the Redeemer of humanity. It is necessary that, following the example of Jesus who "knew what was in humanity" (Jn. 2:25; cf. 8:3-11), the priest should be able to know the depths of the human heart, to perceive difficulties and problems, to make meeting and dialogue easy, to create trust and cooperation, to express serene and objective judgments” (Pastoris Dabo Vobis, N. 43). 

Conclusion:

In French, there is a saying which is literally translated into English as “all the truth is not good to be expressed.” I personally think that this little sharing is not an attack to formators or seminarians but as a contribution to the priestly formation knowing that we are almost at the gate of closing the Year of Priests. No one in this world is an angel. We are all human beings who make mistakes. We have so deep respect and great gratitude to the formators. This article is a reminder and a simple advice from a Confrere yours. Believe me or not, some may situate themselves in this little reflection. It is said: “A good Friend is one who has the courage to tell you things even though those things touch your private life.”