New report warns against priests placing themselves above laity
KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter
February 5, 2019
by Peter Feuerherd
First comes baptism, then comes holy orders, a Boston College report about forming new priests reminds seminary educators and others in a study released in December 2018. The paper, titled "To Serve the People of God: Renewing the Conversation on Priesthood and Ministry," argues that sacramental doctrine is a starting point in transforming seminary formation.
Priests in today's church need skills in forming communities and working with all the baptized faithful, particularly women, the study proposes.
It warns against priests placing themselves above laypeople.
"If priesthood becomes a path to power, priests can understand themselves as gatekeepers of 'discipline, rules and organization,' rather than as disciples among disciples," it says. The document, created out of a series of meetings of a dozen religious educators, theologians and church ministers, both men and women, cautions against "a concentration on functions unique to priests" which can "appear to create a gulf" between them and the laity.
For Thomas Groome, professor in theology and religious education at Boston College and a member of the panel who authored the report, the future of seminary formation could be seen in his classroom when a grandmother took a fellow student and Jesuit scholastic under her wing, becoming a spiritual mentor. Priesthood, the study says, is not an excuse to rule over laypeople but should provide an opportunity to be part of collaborative ministry, through which priests and laypeople learn from each other.
National Catholic Reporter
February 5, 2019
by Peter Feuerherd
First comes baptism, then comes holy orders, a Boston College report about forming new priests reminds seminary educators and others in a study released in December 2018. The paper, titled "To Serve the People of God: Renewing the Conversation on Priesthood and Ministry," argues that sacramental doctrine is a starting point in transforming seminary formation.
Priests in today's church need skills in forming communities and working with all the baptized faithful, particularly women, the study proposes.
It warns against priests placing themselves above laypeople.
"If priesthood becomes a path to power, priests can understand themselves as gatekeepers of 'discipline, rules and organization,' rather than as disciples among disciples," it says. The document, created out of a series of meetings of a dozen religious educators, theologians and church ministers, both men and women, cautions against "a concentration on functions unique to priests" which can "appear to create a gulf" between them and the laity.
For Thomas Groome, professor in theology and religious education at Boston College and a member of the panel who authored the report, the future of seminary formation could be seen in his classroom when a grandmother took a fellow student and Jesuit scholastic under her wing, becoming a spiritual mentor. Priesthood, the study says, is not an excuse to rule over laypeople but should provide an opportunity to be part of collaborative ministry, through which priests and laypeople learn from each other.
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