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Pastoral Department
Director of Pastoral Formation: Rev. David
Kelly, MM
E-Mail:
dckelly57@yahoo.com
Ext: 3013
Co-Director of Pastoral Formation: Sr. Theresa Marie Tran, SCC
E-Mail: transcc@nds.edu
Ext: 3017
Department Secratary: Mrs. Sharon Mason
E-Mail: SMason@nds.edu
Ext: 3011
The Pastoral Orientation of Seminary Education
The Second Vatican Council Decree on the Training of Priests
emphasizes the pastoral orientation of seminary education, stating
that a pastoral concern "should characterize every feature of the
students’ training." The goal of seminary formation is to prepare
priests with a comprehensive pastoral outlook, ready to assume the
pastoral duties which their service to the community requires.
Pastoral service extends to all individuals and groups, including
all social classes, with special concern for the poor and those
alienated from society. "Pastoral Formation certainly cannot be
reduced to a mere apprenticeship, aiming to make the candidate
familiar with some pastoral techniques. The seminary which educates
must seek, really and truly, to initiate the candidate into the
sensitivity of being a shepherd, in the conscious and mature
assumption of his responsibilities, in the interior habit of
evaluating problems and establishing priorities and looking for
solutions on the basis of honest motivations of faith and according
to the theological demands inherent in pastoral work." (PPF #397).
Objectives of Pastoral Field Education
- To enable the
seminarian to acquire a consciousness of being a shepherd ; to
help him see pastoral ministry as a communion and participation
in the charity of the Good Shepherd; to give him the knowledge
and skill to articulate and model his own priestly identity; to
help him develop his sense of self, to acknowledge his
strengths, his ideals and what he needs to work on.
- To enable the
seminarian to establish connections between faith, theology and
pastoral work; to help the seminarian develop his communication
skills so that he can effectively communicate to others what he
has learned in the human, spiritual and intellectual formation
at the seminary; to help the seminarian to synthesize what he
has learned and to foster an awareness and need for further
education and synthesis.
- To enable the
seminarian to insert himself into the living pastoral tradition
of a particular church and into the missionary dimension of the
Church’s life; to enable the seminarian to relate with and
respond to the human and religious needs of a particular church
and to its presbyterate; to enable the seminarian to relate
positively to supervision and feedback in his work with
communities and church authorities.
In summary, the
seminarian will develop the ability to articulate his priestly
vocation; he will be able to integrate and synthesize the various
pillars of the formation process; he will be able to communicate and
relate with others. Cf. Pastores Dabo Vobis, # 57-58.
Pre-Theology
FE 001/FE
002
Supervised Pastoral Ministry
In order for a student to
understand adequately the meaning of ministry, he should have some
exposure to and involvement in community services. The goal of
pastoral work during Pre-theology is to give the individual the
opportunity to realize better the needs of a community and his gifts
as related to those needs.
First Theology
Fall/Spring
PT 101
Pastoral Theology
HSP 101 Teaching and
Preaching the Word
Field Education
Students are neither required nor
encouraged to engage in pastoral field work during first theology.
This year is viewed as a time of transition to graduate studies and
an atmosphere that will provide time for personal reflection and a
strengthening of one’s prayer life. ANY EXTRA-CURRICULAR PASTORAL
MINISTRY MUST BE APPROVED BY THE DIRECTOR OF PASTORAL FORMATION AND
FIELD EDUCATION.
Pastoral Exposure Program (PEP)
During first theology students are
to participate in the Pastoral Exposure program that will provide
students with special ministry concerns.
Mission Experience
Students are required to visit the
missions during the Christmas break as part of the "Acompaño
Program."
Summer
FE 200
Supervised Parish Ministry
It is required that each student,
during the summer of the first year of theology, work and live
full-time in a parish setting. The purpose of this field experience
is to provide exposure to the work of a parish priest, and the
opportunity to develop skills in pastoral care. The student should
assist in parish programs such as liturgy planning, visitation to
the hospital/shut-ins, organization of religious education programs
and involvement in their activities, exposure to the Parish
Council/School Board, and participating in the Liturgy according to
the ministry he has received. Such experience will give a different
perspective to one’s seminary training. If a student is not able to
fulfill this requirement during the summer, he must work in a parish
setting on weekends during his third year of theology.
Requirements for this ministry are
one reflection paper and an evaluation at the end of the
summer/school year. Students are to complete a profile of their
diocese and of two church parishes within the diocese.
Second Theology
Fall/Spring
PT 202
Pastoral Counseling
HSP 202
Homiletics Practicum I
FE 201/202 Supervised Ministry
of Religious Education
Supervised catechetical ministry
is selected according to the individual’s previous experience and
present interests. Possibilities include: elementary or high school
religious programs or parish programs for elementary, high school or
adult participants (i.e., RCIA). Seminarians select a teaching site
in consultation with the Assistant Director of Pastoral Field
Education. On-site faculty supervision and an evaluation are
required each semester. (All students are expected to fulfill this
requirement in field education. Previous experience in religious
education will not necessarily provide exemption. Teaching is an
opportunity to articulate the knowledge gained in theological
studies and to enable one’s faith stance to be more clearly
defined).
Summer
FE 300
Clinical Pastoral Education (C.P.E.)
The seminary does
not offer C.P.E. programs but uses this course number to register
degree credit for C.P.E. done in approved centers, upon receipt of
certification from the responsible officials of the centers. The
minimum requirement for the Master of Divinity and for other
seminarians seeking the seminary recommendation for Holy Orders is
one basic unit of C.P.E. The ordinary time for satisfying this
requirement is the summer after the second year of theology. In the
choice of an institution for C.P.E., the students are to obtain the
approval of the Director of Pastoral Formation and Field Education.
Third
Theology
Fall/Spring
PT 303
Liturgy and the Celebration of the Sacraments
HSP 303
Homiletics Practicum II
Fourth Theology
Summer/Fall/Spring
FE 400
Summer Parish Internship
FE 401
Fall Parish Internship
PT 403
Church Administration
PT 404
Global Church Workshop
PT 407
Eucharist/Penance Practicum
PT 513
Pastoral Reflections on Marriage and Family
The summer and fall semesters for
the 4th year intern will be spent in a parish
where he will engage in full-time ministry. The interim remains in
his parish assignment from June through October. This will provide
continuity for both the intern and his "Teaching Parish," while at
the same time providing an extended opportunity for the intern to
develop his skills and abilities in pastoral care and in the
administration of parish programs. The intern returns in October as
a full-time student to continue the formation and academic
requirements of fourth year of theology. In the second semester of
his fourth year, he will engage in the necessary proximate
preparation for the 4th year priesthood retreat, graduation in May
and for his eventual priestly ordination. Ordinarily, diaconate
ordination will take place in January after the intern has
successfully completed his parish internship. If a deacon wishes to
be involved in ministry during the spring semester, he is to present
a written proposal to the seminary administration seeking approval.
Theological/Pastoral Reflection Units
In theological
field education, reflection and integration are closely related.
Theological reflection is critical for practical learning in a
formation context. Students perceive how theology and the tradition
of the church shed light on the pastoral situations they experience.
Theology is illumined in the process. Academic work and pastoral
ministry come to reinforce one another. This mutual interaction also
helps seminarians to sense the presence of God in these experiences
and to relate their life in Christ to the service of God’s people.
Such learning can represent a significant moment of personal
integration for seminarians as well. (PPF #402).
Each
core course in the Master of Divinity curriculum is to include
specific classes for "theological/pastoral reflection" in order to
insure this integrative process.
The Acompaño Program
All
seminarians during the first year of theology are required to visit
a mission country, specifically in Granada, Nicaragua, in order to
become better acquainted with the missionary activity of the Church.
The mission
experience will involve living in a mission country for a week to:
- Reflect theologically on the mission of Christ and the
Church.
- Become aware of the universality of the Church.
- Pray for the mission of Christ in the world today.
- Study issues of social justice.
- Live and work with missionaries.
- Be introduced to another language and culture.
- Learn from the people.
- Provide manual labor to improve the living conditions of the
people.
- Make pastoral home visits.
The Global Church
Notre Dame Seminary has diverse
cultures represented by the seminarians and faculty. This diversity
of cultures is also present in the dioceses and religious
communities served by the seminary. Recognizing the need to give
seminarians a more adequate preparation to do priestly ministry
among groups of different people within the Church, the seminary
sponsors the Global Church Workshop.
- Each year during a four-year cycle, one day will be given to
a cultural immersion in one ethnic or other group.
- The focus will be on theological, liturgical and spiritual
understandings prevalent in the ethnic community and the current
pastoral needs.
- The seminary community will be required to participate in
the prayers, devotions, liturgical style, meals and customs of
the ethnic group.
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