Overview: According to Pastores dabo vobis, no. 43, an appropriate human formation is the necessary foundation for the whole task of priestly formation and, as such, the Seminary seeks to assist the future priest in developing his personality in such a way that he becomes a bridge for others in their meetings with Jesus Christ. The Seminary assists the priesthood candidate in knowing the depths of his own heart, understanding his own gifts and difficulties, learning trust and cooperation, and exercising serene and objective judgment, all the while guiding him to become the man and image of God only he can become.

Community: In the mystery of his unfolding life, God calls each priesthood candidate to be a “man of communion.” As such the future priest will be responsible for a community of faith. Such a call and trust requires that during his seminary years he learn to be affable, hospitable, sincere, prudent, discreet, approachable, generous, ready to serve, capable of opening himself to fraternal relationships, and quick to understand, forgive, and console (Pastores dabo vobis, no. 43).

Affective Maturity: Human formation builds upon affective maturity. Affective maturity itself presupposes the awareness that love has a central role to play in human life, a love that involves the entire person and is not impoverished by a social and cultural atmosphere that links it solely with the body and selfish pleasure (Pastores dabo vobis, no. 44).

Celibacy: It is in this context of responsible love and affective maturity that formation for celibacy takes place. In view of the commitment to celibacy, affective maturity brings to human relationships a love for Christ, which overflows into a generous dedication of oneself to Christ, the Church, and the whole of the human family. Candidates for the priesthood need to learn to be prudent in their relationships and to renounce anything that is a threat to celibate chastity, so that as future priests they will be able to live celibate chastity with faithfulness and joy (Pastores dabo vobis, no. 44). This requires a clear and strong training in freedom, which allows the future priest to be master of himself, open to others, and generous in service to his neighbor (Pastores dabo vobis, no. 44).

Simplicity of Life: A priest is called to live a life of simplicity and detachment from the world. He is called to be generous and responsible in the stewardship of earthly goods, especially in service to the poor. He is entrusted with being conscientious in the use of parish resources for the sake of building up the parish community.

Program Components:

• Each year students have a formation evaluation profile written of them, which is comprised of faculty, peer and self evaluations.
• Each student is assigned a formation advisor with whom he meets a minimum of 3 times a semester to discuss any human formation and external forum issues that may arise.
• Every semester a day-long conference is presented on a topic related to human formation, including celibacy (once a year) and then other topics such as sexual addiction, substance abuse, nutrition and exercise, and time management.
• Pre-theologians have a year-long human formation conference that covers a variety of topics such as the virtues, sexual integration, personality type (e.g. Myers Briggs), manners and etiquette, and leadership qualities.
• Throughout the year a variety of community events provide opportunities for students to work together for a common purpose and interact with the wider Saint Vincent community. Each event presents the occasion to provide service to others.
• Virtus: Protecting God’s Children, a national program that all new students are obliged to attend, and for which they register to receive updates.