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4. Major seminaries are necessary for priestly formation. Here the
entire training of the students should be oriented to the formation of
true shepherds of souls after the model of our Lord Jesus Christ,
teacher, priest and shepherd. They are therefore to be prepared for
the ministry of the word: that they might understand ever more
perfectly the revealed word of God; that, meditating on it they might
possess it more firmly, and that they might express it in words and in
example; for the ministry of worship and of sanctification: that
through their prayers and their carrying out of the sacred liturgical
celebrations they might perfect the work oś salvation through the
Eucharistic sacrifice and the sacraments; for the ministry of the
parish: that they might know how to make Christ present to men, Him
who did not "come to be served but to serve and to give His life as a
ransom for many" (Mark 10:45; cf. John 13:12-17),
and that, having become the servants of all, they might win over all
the more (cf. 1 Cor. 9:19).
Therefore, all the forms of training, spiritual, intellectual,
disciplinary, are to be ordered with concerted effort towards this
pastoral end, and to attain it all the administrators and teachers are
to work zealously and harmoniously together, faithfully obedient to the
authority of the bishop.
5. Since the training of students depends both on wise laws and,
most of all, on qualified educators, the administrators and teachers
of seminaries are to be selected from the best men, and are to be
carefully prepared in sound doctrine, suitable pastoral experience and
special spiritual and pedagogical training. Institutes, therefore,
should be set up to attain this end. Or at least courses are to be
arranged with a proper program, and the meetings of seminary directors
are to take place at specified times.
Administrators, however, and teachers must be keenly aware of how
much the success of the students' formation depends on their manner of
thinking and acting. Under the rector's leadership they are to form a
very closely knit community both in spirit and in activity and they are
to constitute among themselves and with the students that kind of family
that will answer to the Lord's prayer "That they be one" (cf.
John 17:11) and that will develop in the students a deep joy in
their own vocation. The bishop, on the other hand, should, with a
constant and loving solicitude, encourage those who labor in the
seminary and prove himself a true father in Christ to the students
themselves. Finally, all priests are to look on the seminary as the
heart of the diocese and are to offer willingly their own helpful
service.
6. With watchful concern for the age of each and for his stage of
progress, an inquiry should be made into the candidate's proper
intention and freedom of choice, into his spiritual, moral and
intellectual qualifications, into his appropriate physical and psychic
health-taking into consideration also possible hereditary
deficiencies. Also to be considered is the ability of the candidate to
bear the priestly burdens and exercise the pastoral offices.
In the entire process of selecting and testing students, however, a
due firmness is to be adopted, even if a deplorable lack of priests
should exist, since God will not allow His Church to want for
ministers if those who are worthy are promoted and those not qualified
are, at an early date, guided in a fatherly way to undertake other
tasks. The latter should also be given sufficient direction so that,
conscious of their vocation as Christians, they might eagerly embrace
the lay apostolate.
7. Where individual dioceses are unable to institute their own
seminaries properly, seminaries for many dioceses or for an entire
region or for a country are to be set up and developed, so that the
sound training of the students, which must be considered the supreme
law in this matter, can be taken care of in a more effective manner.
These seminaries, if they are regional or national, are to be
regulated according to directives set down by the bishops concerned and
approved by the Apostolic See.
In these seminaries, however, where there are many students, while
retaining a unity of direction and of scientific training, the students
should be conveniently divided into smaller groups so that a better
provision is had for the personal formation of each.
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