Last week I linked here to a post at PrayTell on changing perceptions of the ministerial (ordained) priesthood. This report from the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education gives us a notion of how the Church is perceiving priesthood these days and what kind of men we might expect to be the pastors of the future.
Although it's unlikely I'll end up serving with men admitted to seminaries under these new guidelines, I wonder what our perception of priesthood will be once these men are leading our parishes.
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In an effort to respond to a "clear and pressing" need for priests, the Vatican released a set of guidelines to help bishops and church communities promote, recruit and educate a new generation of men for the priesthood.
The church needs "suitable" candidates and must avoid men who "show signs of being profoundly fragile personalities," while helping others heal from any possible "individual deviations" from their vocations, the document said.
"The witness of Christian communities giving account of the faith that is in them becomes even more necessary," because it's a community of believers committed to passing on God's love that "prepares the Lord's call that invites people to consecration and mission," it said.
Read the rest of the report here.
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Hmmm...I wonder what the test for fragility of persoality will be.
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