annus sacerdotalis

Methodological indications   versione testuale


 
 
1. Introduction to the theme, with reference to Pastores dabo vobis (PDV)
 
 
Concerning priestly formation, reference to the origins of the Church is not only useful, but absolutely “obligatory”. In fact, due to its chronological proximity to Christ and the apostles, the Church of the early times is a privileged witness to the formative relationship that Jesus established with his disciples, and which the Church must always refer back to in order to understand the true meaning of presbyteral formation.[2]
In fact, the reference to the Fathers of the Church as teachers of priestly formation is implicit in many pages of the Apostolic Exhortation On the Formation of Priests in the Circumstances of the Present Day (PDV), and also explicitly present, in particular in the citations of Saint Augustine (eleven) and various other Fathers (Cyprian, Beda).
Furthermore, speaking of the theological formation of the presbyter, the Exhortation affirms that the studying of the Word of God, «soul of all theology», must be guided by the reading of the Fathers of the Church and the pronouncements of the Magisterium.[3]
2009 - Anno Sacerdotalis - tutti i diritti riservati