- Priestly Vocations
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- The Four Pillars of Formation
- Pre-Theology Program
- Theology Program
- Course Offerings
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Pre-Theology Program
St. John's Seminary offers a two-year program of initial formation for those candidates who are college graduates and have no prior experience of formal preparation for the sacrament of Holy Orders. The purpose of the program is to introduce candidates to priestly formation in such a way as to enable them to participate fruitfully in subsequent years of formation at the theologate level. The candidates live and work in a community in which vocational discernment is pursued in the context of an integrated process of human maturation, spiritual development, academic learning (particularly in philosophy and undergraduate theology), and pastoral service. In this first period of formation, the Seminary seeks to assist candidates in their commitment to the work of clarifying and responding generously to the Lord.s call, thus preparing them to engage successfully in the priestly formation program at a school of theology.
This program aims to foster the human, spiritual, and academic formation of aspirants to the ministerial priesthood of the Roman Catholic Church. Humanly, those completing the program should evidence an appropriate sense of self, the ability to exercise a healthy degree of self-control, and a pattern of self-giving for the good of others. Spiritually, they should evidence a deepened appreciation of and commitment to their own baptismal call and an initial grasp of the spirituality of the diocesan priesthood, a participation in and mature love for the Church and its sacraments (especially Eucharist and Penance), a commitment to personal prayer, a basic knowledge of the tradition of Catholic spirituality, and an understanding of ways of praying with the Bible. Academically, they should evidence the historical and thematic understanding of the western philosophical tradition necessary for advanced study of the Catholic faith and a knowledge of the liberal arts sufficient to enrich future theological and pastoral experience and reflection.
Designed to cover a two-year period, the Pre-Theology Program has been developed in such a way as to respect prior formational experience that a candidate might bring to the Seminary. It is also possible for qualified candidates to benefit from the different elements of the program in an experience shorter than two years.
