Second Vatican Ecumenical Council
DECREE ON PRIESTLY TRAINING - Optatam Totius
Proclaimed by His Holiness, Pope Paul VI On October 28, 1965
Animated by the spirit of Christ, this sacred synod is fully aware that the
desired renewal of the whole Church depends to a great extent on the ministry of
its priests. It proclaims the extreme importance of priestly training and lays
down certain basic principles by which those regulations may be strengthened
which long use has shown to be sound and by which those new elements can be
added which correspond to the constitutions and decrees of this sacred council
and to the changed conditions of our times. Because of the very unity of the
Catholic priesthood this priestly formation is necessary for all priests,
diocesan and religious and of every rite. Wherefore, while these prescriptions
directly concern the diocesan clergy, they are to be appropriately adapted to
all.
I THE PROGRAM OF PRIESTLY TRAINING TO BE UNDERTAKEN BY EACH COUNTRY
1. Since only general laws can be made where there exists a wide variety of
nations and regions, a special "program of priestly training" is to be
undertaken by each country or rite. It must be set up by the episcopal
conferences, revised from time to time and approved by the Apostolic See. In
this way will the universal laws be adapted to the particular circumstances of
the times and localities so that the priestly training will always be in tune
with the pastoral needs of those regions in which the ministry is to be
exercised.
lI THE URGENT FOSTERING OF PRIESTLY VOCATIONS
2. The duty of fostering vocations pertains to the whole Christian community,
which should exercise it above all by a fully Christian life. The principal
contributors to this are the families which, animated by the spirit of faith and
love and by the sense of duty, become a kind of initial seminary, and the
parishes in whose rich life the young people take part. Teachers and all those
who are in any way in charge of -the training of boys and young men, especially
Catholic associations, should carefully guide the young people entrusted to them
so that these will recognize and freely accept a divine vocation. All priests
especially are to manifest an apostolic zeal in fostering vocations and are to
attract the interest of youths to the priesthood by their own life lived in a
humble and industrious manner and in a happy .spirit as well as by mutual
priestly charity and fraternal sharing of labour.
Bishops on the other hand are to encourage their flock to promote vocations and
should be concerned with coordinating all forces in a united effort to this end.
As fathers, moreover, they must assist without stint those whom they have judged
to be called to the Lord's work.
The effective union of the whole people of God in fostering vocations is the
proper response to the action of Divine Providence which confers the fitting
gifts on those men divinely chosen to participate in the hierarchical priesthood
of Christ and helps them by His grace. Moreover, this same Providence charges
the legitimate ministers of the Church to call forward and to consecrate with
the sign of the Holy Spirit to the worship of God and to the service of the
Church those candidates whose fitness-has been acknowledged and who have sought
so great an office with the right intention and with full freedom.
The sacred synod commends first of all the traditional means of common effort,
such as urgent prayer, Christian penance and a constantly more intensive
training of the faithful by preaching, by catechetical instructions or by the
many media of social communication that will show forth the need, the nature and
the importance of the priestly vocation. The synod moreover orders that the
entire pastoral--activity of fostering vocations-be methodically and coherently
planned and, with equal prudence and zeal, fostered by those organizations for
promoting vocations which, in accord with the appropriate pontifical documents,
have already been or will be set up in the territory of individual dioceses,
regions or countries. Also, no opportune aids are to be overlooked which modern
psychological and sociological research has brought to light.
The work of fostering vocations should, in a spirit of openness, transcend the
limits of individual dioceses, countries, religious families and rites. Looking
to the needs of the universal Church, it should provide aid particularly for
those regions in which workers for the Lord's vineyard are being requested more
urgently.
3. In minor seminaries erected to develop the seeds of vocations, the students
should be prepared by special religious formation, particularly through
appropriate spiritual direction, to follow Christ the Redeemer with generosity
of spirit and purity of heart. Under the fatherly direction of the superiors,
and with the proper cooperation of the parents, their daily routine should be in
accord with the age, the character and the stage of development of adolescence
and fully adapted to the norms of a healthy psychology. Nor should the fitting
opportunity be lacking for social and cultural contacts and for contact with
one's own family. Moreover, whatever is decreed in the following paragraphs
about major seminaries is also to be adapted to the minor seminary to the extent
that it is in accord with. its purpose and structure. Also, studies undertaken
by the students -should be so arranged that they can easily continue them
elsewhere should they choose a different state of life.
With equal concern the seeds of vocations among adolescents and young men are
also to be fostered in those special institutes which, in accord with the local
circumstances, serve the purpose of a minor seminary as well as among those who
are trained in other schools or by other educational means. Finally, those
institutions and other schools initiated for those with a belated vocation are
to be carefully developed.
III. THE SETTING UP OF MAJOR SEMINARIES
4. Major seminaries are necessary for priestly formation. Here the entire
training of the students should be oriented to the formation of true shepherds
of souls after the model of our Lord Jesus Christ, teacher, priest and shepherd.
They are therefore to be prepared for the ministry of the word: that they might
understand ever more perfectly the revealed word of God; that, meditating on it
they might possess it more firmly, and that they might express it in words and
in example; for the ministry of worship and of sanctification: that through
their prayers and their carrying out of the sacred liturgical celebrations they
might perfect the work of salvation through the Eucharistic sacrifice and the
sacraments; for the ministry of the parish: that they might know how to make
Christ present to men, Him who did not "come to be served but to serve and to
give His life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45; cf. John 13:12-17), and that,
having become the servants of all, they might win over all the more (cf. 1 Cor.
9:19).
Therefore, all the forms of training, spiritual, intellectual. disciplinary, are
to be ordered with concerted effort towards this pastoral end, and to attain it
all the administrators and teachers are to work zealously and harmoniously
together faithfully obedient to the authority of the bishop.
5. Since the training of students depends both on wise laws and, most of all, on
qualified educators, the administrators and teachers of seminaries are to be
selected from the best men, and are to be carefully prepared in sound doctrine,
suitable pastoral experience and special spiritual and pedagogical training.
Institutes, therefore, should be set up to attain this end. Or at least courses
are to be arranged with a proper program, and the meetings of seminary directors
are to take place at specified times.
Administrators, however, and teachers must be keenly aware of how much the
success of the students formation depends on their manner of thinking and
acting. Under the rector's leadership they are to form a very closely knit
community both in spirit and in activity and they are to constitute among
themselves and with-the students that kind of family that will answer to the
Lord's prayer "That they be one" (cf. John 17:11 ) and that will develop in the
students a deep joy in their -own vocation. The bishop, on the other hand,
should, with a constant and loving solicitude, encourage those who labour in the
seminary and prove himself a true father in Christ to the students themselves.
Finally, all priests are to look on the seminary as the heart of the diocese and
are to offer willingly their own helpful service.
6. With watchful concern for the age of each and for his stage of progress, an
inquiry should be made into the candidate's proper intention and freedom of
choice, into his spiritual, moral and intellectual qualifications, into his
appropriate physical and psychic health--taking into consideration also possible
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