In Ongoing Synodal Conversations, Seminaries in Africa Cautioned against Misleading “well-researched” Ideologies

About 200 people participated in the event that was held on the theme, “The revision of the Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis in a missionary synodal perspective” based on December 2015 document of the Vatican Congregation for the Clergy translated as “The Gift of the Priestly Vocation”.

Participants at the event explored present-day Seminary formation in Africa, and discussed what is working as well as what seems not to be working based on experiences from different parts of the continent. 

The palaver was pegged on the section of the Synthesis Report that requests that “seminaries or other courses of formation for candidates for the ministry be linked to the daily life of the communities”.

The Synod on Synodality also asks that “candidates for ministry, before embarking on specific paths, should have matured a real, albeit initial, experience of Christian community” and that the formation path should not create “an artificial environment, separate from the common life of the faithful”.

Participants at the palaver said Seminary formation needs to be integrated and embedded in the community, emphasizing that communities must accompany their future Priests in their formation years. 

In his presentation during the July 19 virtual conversation, Fr. Callisto acknowledged the effort of the Catholic Church in Africa to form all-round Priests.

“There is a lot of effort by the Church through our Bishops to make sure we train young men dedicated to God, and young men who are aware of the task that the Lord has called them to do,” the Ugandan Catholic formator said.

Highlighting some of the gaps in the formation of future Priests, Fr. Callisto underlined the need to nurture young men who can apply what they are taught in the Seminaries. He said Seminaries must also nurture the young men to embrace self-sacrifice and detachment so as to effectively evangelize in a materialistic society.

“There is something lacking in our formation that we must face. Unfortunately, there is very little application of the subjects we teach in formation to the concrete life of the people,” Fr. Callisto said. 

He continued, “I teach some subjects which look too theoretical and very isolated. Our philosophy must be taught in such a way that it is not just about learning how to think correctly, but also how to apply what we learn to the real situations of life.” 

He called on institutions of formation to also “deliberately” nurture young people to embrace self-sacrifice and detachment, saying, “Unless there is self-sacrifice, it is difficult to do evangelization in a world where materialism seems to be celebrated. This is an aspect that is rarely insisted upon in formation.”

“We must insist on the virtue of detachment from materialism; detachment from places and detachment from people,” Fr. Callisto said, adding that some Priests frown upon appointments to places they consider poor.

The Catholic don also underlined the need for “synodal formation” to insist on virtue of meekness. 

“We insist on humility. But the virtue of meekness where we learn to live with people of different character is not installed well enough especially in Africa where it is important to live with people of other tribes and nationalities,” he said.

Fr. Callisto added that in institutions of formation, meekness helps a Seminarian to accept other Seminarians and diverse diversity in Dioceses and in Religious communities.

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Also speaking at the July 19 virtual event, Fr. Nicholaus Segeja M’hela, a member of the Vatican Theological Commission of the Synod underlined the need to have a connection between formation of future Priests and what is happening in the society, emphasizing that Priestly formation must be linked to the daily lives of the communities.

Describing Priestly formation as an ongoing process, Fr. Segeja said that the idea of family should be anchored in continued, inclusive and supportive conversations which he referred to as “palavers”. 

“Formation should help candidates mature in the skills of conducting palavers,” the member of the Clergy of Tanzania’s Catholic Diocese of Mwanza, who also serves at the Secretariat for the Synod of Bishops said.

Priestly formation should prepare Seminarians to eventually become faith influencers by fostering and promoting opportunities for palavers in families and in Church, he said.

Fr. Segeja lauded the new way of being church in Africa through the Small Christian Communities (SCCs), saying they lend themselves to the selection of those to join institutions of formation.

The Tanzanian Catholic Priest noted that it is largely within the framework of SCCs that background checks are done to determine suitability of a candidate for Priestly formation.