VATICAN - Seminaries: Dicastery for Evangelization organizes refresher course for professors in Rome

Tuesday, 11 October 2022 congregation for the evangelization of peoples   pontifical mission societies   missionary animation   formation  

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - After a 2-year break due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the refresher course that the Dicastery for Evangelization has been organizing since the 2012-2013 academic year for the Professors of major Seminaries resumes, in collaboration with the Pontifical Urbaniana University and the Pontifical Mission Societies. On Friday, October 7th, Archbishop Protase Rugambwa, Secretary of the Dicastery, opened the 13th course, attended by 22 Professors from 12 Asian and African countries. They mainly attend lectures in their respective disciplines at the Pontifical Urbaniana University, while the program also includes a Seminar on Synodality and a series of lectures on various themes, as well as days of spiritual retreat.
In addition to deepening certain aspects of various disciplines (theology, philosophy, canon law, missiology), the course also offers the opportunity to exchange experiences about the circumstances in the respective Seminaries and local Churches. For this reason, Archbishop Rugambwa encouraged priests to understand the course as an experience of spiritual, intellectual, community and cultural growth. This time in Rome, in contact with the universality of the Church, will give them new energy and strength to carry out their mission with renewed enthusiasm.
Archbishop Rugambwa also emphasized in this context that the course expresses the importance that the Dicastery reserves for priestly formation. A constant focus is on the formators and professors who dedicate themselves to this important ministry. For this reason, since 2019, the Dicastery has been offering a semester (October-February) for the refresher course for lecturers, while another specific offer (mid-February to mid-May) is dedicated to the training of formators. During the Eucharistic celebration that opened the course, the secretary of the Dicastery, following the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, invited the priests to follow in the footsteps of Our Lady and to consider themselves instruments of salvation and lovers of prayer. (SL) (Agenzia Fides, 11/10/2022)


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