VOCATIONS CENTRE
ARCHDIOCESE OF BIRMINGHAM
Priesthood
Preparing
We use the word “formation” rather than “training” to describe what happens in a seminary. That is because it involves more than imparting knowledge and learning skills. Formation is about enabling you to become more fully the person that God has created you to be, and moulding you to reflect more closely the person of Christ in whose name you will celebrate the sacraments and serve God’s people as a priest. This has various aspects, but fundamental to all of them is an underlying human formation – leading you to a degree of maturity and self-awareness that will enable you to understand and relate to people across the whole spectrum that you will encounter as a priest, so that through you they may recognise and draw closer to God.
Discernment of your vocation doesn’t end when you enter the seminary. Rather, the life there provides the setting in which you can continue to deepen your sense of calling as you prepare for the realities of life as a priest.
The staff of the seminary are entrusted by the Archbishop with the task of discerning on behalf of the Church whether you are truly being called by God for that ministry.
More about priestly vocation
