St. Cloud seminarians experience revisions to seminary formation in the United States

VOCATIONS AWARENESS WEEK NOV. 3-9  

Every year, the Catholic Church observes Vocations Awareness Week to promote vocations to ordained ministry and consecrated life. This year, it is observed Nov. 3-9. The Diocese of St. Cloud has 15 men in formation for the priesthood.

“I am confident that the seminarians this year will respond to the needs of our hurting world,” Father Doug Liebsch, diocesan director of vocations, said. “They have such a strong belief in Jesus.”

This fall, the men began their second year under the sixth edition of the Program of Priestly Formation instituted by the United States Council of Catholic Bishops, which segments their formation into four stages.

The Propaedeutic stage, the Discipleship stage, the Configuration stage and the Vocational Synthesis stage each provide guidelines and goals keeping in mind the four dimensions of formation: human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral.

Father Liebsch often uses the image of a bridge to help seminarians and those interested in the priesthood visualize the importance of all dimensions.

“The priest serves as a bridge between God and man, and each dimension is a pillar holding the bridge,” Father Liebsch said.

If one pillar or dimension is underdeveloped, it can cause an imbalance, he said. The new stages, which all have unique benchmarks for each dimension, will create a firm foundation to best support priestly life.

The newly-added Propaedeutic stage occurs before men begin collegiate level study. It “seeks to provide seminarians with the basic groundwork they need to engage in priestly formation,” according to the Program of Priestly Formation. The men will spend the year living together in community focusing primarily on growing in friendship with Jesus and each other through prayer and intentional communal life.

“It seems this is how Jesus would have done it,” Father Liebsch said. “Just as he picked the 12 disciples, 10 to 20 men are called to live together in community.”

Father Liebsch shared how this stage has helped the young men in seminary be more aware of themselves, to address faults in themselves and others in healthy ways and become more deeply rooted in the understanding that they are sons of God.

Seminarian Collin Prom, now in his Discipeship I year, described how living in community helped quell a fear he had about pursuing priesthood — living alone and feeling lonely.

“If priesthood is where you are calling me to be, Lord, I will not be alone because I have these incredible men alongside me,” Prom said. “Living in community with guys and getting to share your interior life with other men stirred up a greater desire for the priesthood.”

After successful completion of the Propaedeutic stage and upon receiving the recommendation to move forward in seminary study, the Discipleship stage begins. At its core, this stage focuses on growing an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ through reflection and growth in Christian virtue. The seminarian will begin pre-theology collegiate study, which focuses on coursework in philosophy. He also continues to intensely discern his vocation to the priesthood so that, at the end of this two-year stage, he can clearly articulate his call and desire to be a priest.

At the end of the Discipleship stage, as it is with each stage of formation, each seminarian is reviewed for successful completion of that stage and must receive recommendation to continue forward.

Prom looks forward to continued time in the seminary with the new structure guiding his studies.

“Getting to learn more about Jesus encouraged me to be able to say, ‘Lord, I want to pursue you with my mind. I want to know you more,’” Prom said. “I can do that by reading and discussing, by coming to classes and by applying myself. It’s so cool.”

During the third stage, Configuration, seminarians begin a four-year study of theology and work to model their lives after Jesus. They also work toward ordination as a transitional deacon of the Church.

The final stage, currently being integrated gradually into Minnesota seminaries, is Vocational Synthesis. This stage provides full integration into the life of a cleric in a pastoral setting. The intent is to use this year as a period of adjustment into a life of full-time ministry through the assignment to a parish by the diocese.

“We are still in transition, so no seminarian has completed all stages [as written in the new edition of the Program for Priestly Formation],” Father Liebsch said, “But we are already starting to see the fruits.”

Pictured above: Bishop Patrick Neary visits with seminarians after the Chrism Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral in April. (Dianne Towalski / The Central Minnesota Catholic)

Below is the current poster from the diocesan vocations office.