2022_Len_Kofler_MHM_A_Way_Forward_for_Leadership_and_Formation


2022_Len_Kofler_MHM_A_Way_Forward_for_Leadership_and_Formation



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A Way Forwardfor
Leadership and Formation
in the Church ofour Time
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mu/ JnJUnal:ion o)JlltJ.JJnalihj.
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Len Kofler MHM

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A W-ay Forwardfor
Leadership and Formation
in the Church ofour Time
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.and }JJJUn.aiw.n o)JlltMJ.n.alihJ.
Len Kofler MHM

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Cover page image artist - Oswald Blassnig
1" Edition in German
Published by R. G Fisher Verlag Frankfurt/Main April 2022
ISBN 978-3-8301-9518-4
2"d Edition revised and enlarged in English
10 May2022
Printed at Tipografia Salesiana Roma, Via Umbertide 11, Rome
Registered in England Registered Company No. 2010021 - Registered Charity
No. 294625 Italy: Legal Entity Al N.1262/2018 CF. 90088730586

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CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
06
Foreword
07
Development of the Leadership and Formation
Personality
09
What is this new focus of formation all about?
17
Why do leaders and formators need to be properly trained in
this additional approach to formation.
19
1. Young people especially, but people in general, need role
models.
20
2. We need a clear vision for our formation in our time.
Pope Francis has provided us with this vision in his
simple statement of "having the smell of the sheep':
21
3. I was pleased to read the interview with Cardinal Stella
on lOth May 2021.
22
4. The tasks ofleadership and formation have become much
more difficult due to many changes in society.
23
5. We are very much aware how we have contaminated
our environment, but we are hardly aware how we have
contaminated our psyche and our souls.
25
Diagram. Holistic Dynamic Structure ofPersonality Towards
Transformation in Christ, the Alpha and the Omega.
27
6. In the last decades we have become familiar not only
with IQ, but also with EQ and with SQ.
28
7. Leaders and formators need to be able to help those
entrusted to them to you be able to forgive and to be
reconciled, a central aspect of Christian living. This can
be very challenging.
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8. We need mercy and compassion together with an ability to
challenge and also allow due reparation in line with laws
when appropriate. As Christians we need to be willing
to take responsibility for our life and behaviour. This
requires in formation the skill of "caring confrontation".
30
9. To learn to live in process and to do deep process work
are new skills which formators need to learn and teach,
since they were not part of past formation, having been
learnt naturally in the family.
31
10. Leaders and formators need to acquire a good level of
self-awareness.
33
11. Leaders and formators need deep faith.
34
12. Leaders and formators need great confidence - in order
to lead their flock from all sides as well as in the midst of
them.
35
13. Leaders and formators need to be aware of the different
values in our society and Christian values.
36
14. We need leaders and formators who have a solid
commitment to renewal ofthemselves, their congregation
or diocese and the church and society as a whole.
38
15. Most of the work of formators and leaders will be
accompaniment.
40
16. Leaders and formators have a tremendous positive
or negative influence on the future of the province,
congregation, diocese, parish, church and state.
42
17. Leaders and formators need to be people of peace and
justice.
42
18. If leaders are not aware of their woundedness, stemming
from their past, they can become abusers unintentionally
and sometimes unconsciously acting out abusive
behaviour. Woundedness is a part of every human being.
We are all in need of healing and redemption.
43

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19. Leaders and formators need to be able to establish healthy
relationships with those entrusted to them.
45
20. Leaders and formators would need not just to function,
but to be enthusiastic to build up God's kingdom in .
themselves and those entrusted to them.
47
21. Leaders and formators need to learn to respect
themselves, look after themselves and be compassionate
with themselves. When they lead a healthy life style it is
very good modelling for those in formation.
49
22. Leaders and formators need to enter the journey of
becoming mystics.
50
23. Leaders and formators must never forget the message
of Revelation (1:8) "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the
Lord, who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty:' 51
Conclusions
53
Glossary
55
Appendixes
57
Article on Institute of St. Anselm millennium year 2000
57
Some Concerns and Hopes
66
Formation for the Religious & Priests of Today -
Fr. Pascual Chavez SDB
72

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First and foremost, my thanks go to God who in an extraordinary
way led me into formation work which was the last thing I wanted
to do. God's ways are very different from our ways. I have learnt to
listen to what He wants me to do.
Secondly, I am most grateful to Thalia, Claire, John, Wijnand
and Therese, who supported me in many ways in the Institute of
St. Anselm and without whom I could not have managed it for so
many years. It is at this institute that most of my ideas of the book
originated. Staff and team members contributed to the richness of
the programmes which I very much appreciate.
Thirdly, without the participants of the programmes coming
from many countries in the world, formation, in such a rich setting,
would not have been possible.
My wish is that not only leaders and formators in the Church
may profit from this book, but everybody who reads it and applies it
to his/her life. I hope it is a contribution towards a better world.
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FOREWORD
Formation, as a term used for the preparation for Priesthood and
Religious Life, is a child of the Second Vatican Council. Prior to that,
one simply spoke of 'entering' or 'going to' the seminary or novitiate.
And as for those appointed to prepare candidates-seminarians or
novices-there was little or no training for what we now know as
'Formation. Appointments to the seminary meant an appointment
to teach-Philosophy, Theology, Scripture-and preparation for that
was strictly academic. Appointment to 'direct' novices was little more
than that: an appointment, for which there was little or no training;
in fact, there were no training programmes.
It was in the immediate aftermath ofVatican II, in the late 1960's/
early 70's, that questions began to be asked, urgently, about 'Formation'
as something more than 'Education: Something more than, and
different from, an academic qualification to teach was needed to
accompany [another new word coming into use] seminarians and
novices during their years-not just of study, but of discernment and
preparation for a life of ministry, of celibacy, of community living.
The Missionary Institute London [MIL] proved to be one of the
nurseries for this new venture. In 1969, several Missionary Societies
closed their respective seminaries and combined to form one
Institute. They formed their own 'Houses of Formation' around the
Institute, and while they provided teaching stafffor the Institute, each
also had to appoint a rector/'formator' for their House of Formation.
These latter, withdrawn from 'the missions' and with no training for
what was asked of them, quickly found themselves struggling, often
floundering.
As President of the Institute in the early 1980's, Fr Len Kofler
saw the need to provide in-service training courses for them, and
these quickly expanded into the more ambitious project of a full-time
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training programme which would focus on fostering and developing
maturity on all levels, particularly emotional and spiritual, in
prospective formators, with a view to equipping them with the skills
to accompany seminarians and novices in their own process of
human-emotional and spiritual-growth and development. In this
way, the Institute of St Anselm was born in Mill Hill in 1985, moving
to Margate the following year, and re-locating to Ciampino in 2017.
In this book of reflections, Fr Len draws on nearly 40 years of
experience in developing and adapting St Anselm's to the needs and
changing challenges in the Church today. He is grateful to find Pope
Francis urging the same priorities, and encouraged to believe that the
approach pioneered at St Anselm's will continue to have its part to
play in preparing men and women to serve as Formators and Leaders
in the Church going forward.
JMcCluskey mhm
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Development of the
Leadership and Formation Personality
Pope Francis has summarized in one paragraph in his address
to the Friars Minor Conventual on Monday, 17 June 2019, what
I wish to develop in this booklet.
"An appropriate formation is necessary. A formative path that
favours in brothers an ever-fuller conformity to Christ; an integral
formation, which involves all the dimensions of the person; a
personalized and ongoing formation, as it is a lifelong itinerary; a
formation of the heart, which changes our way of thinking, feeling
and behaving; a formation in faithfulness, well aware that today we
are living in a transient culture, that 'forever' is very difficult and
definitive choices are not in fashion. In this context, there is a need
for solid formators, experts in listening and in the road that leads to
God, capable of accompanying others on this journey (cf. Saint John
Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation Vita Consecrata, 65-66); formators
who are skilled in discernment and accompaniment. Only in this way
can we contain, at least in part, the haemorrhage of abandonment
that besets the priestly and consecrated life:'
Pope John Paul II in Pastores Dabo Vobis stresses the
Importance of a suitable human formation in Article 43.
"The whole work of priestly formation would be deprived of
its necessary foundation if it lacked a suitable human formation."
He continues later "They need to be educated to love the truth,
to be loyal, to respect every person, to have a sense of justice,
to be true to their word, to be genuinely compassionate, to be
men of integrity and, especially to be balanced in judgement
and behaviour." Later on he says: "Of special importance is the
capacity to relate to others:'
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A Guide to Formation Advising Seminary Faculty Deacon
Edward J. McCormack.
"Let me conclude ........ .. ... by highlighting four important
features of that (formation) process that have emerged from
recent magisterial teaching. The first is conviction that human
formation is the foundation of all other dimensions of formation.
Almost every person enters seminary carrying with him wounds
received from his family of origin and life experience. He will
also bring with him assumptions about himself and how to find
meaning as well as distorted ways of behaving that are contrary
to the gospel. Human formation must be a top priority in the
early years of formation. When these wounds and issues are not
addressed, priests can be a slave to them rather than a servant of
Christ. It can undermine his relationship with Christ and with
others and impact his ability to engage in pastoral ministry and
pastoral leadership no matter how much he prays. The emphasis
on human formation has taken on greater importance in recent
years in the light of the sex abuse scandal. It is also important as
we see so many people leaving the Church because a priest was
unkind, rude, or controlling rather than kind, loving, and free to
let Christ work through him.
A second feature of seminary formation that deserves attention
is the conviction that the priest is a lifelong disciple of Jesus. Pope
Francis reminds us that "formation is an experience of permanent
discipleship, which draws one close to Christ and allows one to be
ever more conformed to Him. Therefore, it has no end, for priests
never stop being disciples ofJesus they never stop following him:' All
the baptised are called to live as disciples ofJesus within the life of the
church as she cooperates with the mission of Jesus. The seminarian
is a disciple who has discerned a call to live out his discipleship in
public ordained service to the People of God. Seminary formation
offers an intense training in discipleship where men are formed into
invisible signs of the merciful love of God the Father:' ...... .
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A third feature worth highlighting is how the priest is called to
conform himself to Christ as Head, Shepherd, Servant, and Spouse:'
....... "It involves a cruciform process of the seminarian ridding
himself of all behaviours, attitudes, and vices that are contrary to
Christ while growing in union with Christ so that the Lord is the
dominant influence in the life ofthe priest. Conformity to Christ also
involves character development and the cultivation of Gospel virtues
known as the fruits of the Spirit. The goal of character formation is
always other directed-complete giving of oneself in tender love to the
People of God.
The final feature of formation, follows from the previous one
and its implications for the model of leadership a pastor adopts in
the parish:' . .... .. "He will adopt the model of servant leader that
is expressed in joyful generosity and a freedom to put the needs of
the other ahead of his own. This form of leadership is contrary to
the popular forms that emphasize power, control, and prestige. It
requires self-awareness and often a real conversion from power to
service he must become a man of discernment who lives from a high
level of self-knowledge, a deep interior life, and a mature capacity
to enter relationships with others. This form of leadership calls for
transformation that renews the heart and mind of the person so that
he can discern what is the will of God. In this way he will be able to
choose, decide, and act according to the will of God:'
From the above quotations it becomes clear that a thorough
human continual development is necessary for our candidates and
a provision of practical, experiential, lived, residential programmes
for training formators and leaders is an essential way forward for
the Church. Above all it is a path towards renewal in the Church.
It begins with personal renewal of leaders and formators which is
passed on to those for whom they are responsible.
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INTRODUCTION
In this short booklet I am looking beyond our academic
training of priests and religious. Many efforts have been put into
academic training to produce a very high standard of academic work.
Many years ago, Cardinal Winning invited me to give a talk to all
Scottish bishops and the formators of their seminaries on the subject
of integration. I started my speech by stressing that I would not talk
about the integration ofthe various subjects, but about the integration
where it needs to take place, that is in the life of the student themself.
I wish to refer to the Vatican II document on priestly formation
where it clearly states that all seminary staff should take part in
courses of special institutes of a pedagogical nature which would
prepare them better for their work. Reading the document, I felt the
type of institute they envisioned did not exist and when Cardinal
Hume, to whom I was seconded, mentioned to me: "Do something
different from what is being done", I founded the Institute of St.
Anselm under his auspices with a very different approach, with stress
on the development of the leadership and formation personality in
a lived and in a very practical way. Our courses became process-
orientated to help people to personalize and live out what they have
learned in their academic subjects.
If seminary staff followed the courses at the Institute of St.
Anselm, their lectures would help the student to integrate and
personally practise the lectures they attend.
For the rest of this booklet, I am focusing on the people who
are specially appointed to be formators in seminaries and religious
formation. My conviction is that we need to invest more personnel
and more time for better formation for those people who are involved
in the most delicate work of accompanying students and candidates.
We would need more qualified staff who are able and confident to
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accompany their students on their bio-psycho-spiritual journey on a
deep level. Such investment will pay off through more relational and
more effective priests and religious who are equipped to bring about
a deep renewal of our Church by modelling and witnessing deep and
authentic spirituality and faith in those entrusted to them.
The abstract, theological language which students necessarily
learn is alien to most people in our parishes. Therefore, we need to
learn to relate to the people in our proclamation of the good news,
to speak from our lived truth. When I came as a young curate to
Rotorua in New Zealand, I thought that in Rotorua, a famous tourist
place, I would have to use a more polished language in my sermons.
I prepared my sermon and showed it to my parish priest. He said
to me: "Use the language of simple people in the congregation!". He
mentioned one person. I have never forgotten her name. I learned
much from this comment and rewrote my sermon.
For several decades we have reflected on what our formation
of priests and religious should impart. Many good suggestions have
been mentioned. I just call attention to some of them. Formation
needs to include a focus on sexual, emotional development,
intercultural living, the vows of consecrated life and mission in the
context ofthe world today. It needs to be more pastoral and practical.
Relationships would need to be at the heart of formation. We need
to train candidates and students how to be more responsible with
money, use of time, telephones and general behaviour. Under pining
all this it is essential to help them to develop a deep relationship with
the Trinity, manifest through a practical, lived spirituality.
The focus of the Synod on priestly formation was very much
on personal formation. After the Synod, a bishop, later Cardinal,
Medardo Joseph Mazombwe RIP who had taken part in the Synod
and followed the Programme at the Institute of St. Anselm, told
me: "Every day we were asking the question who will train the
formators. Here I see you are exactly doing that:' I have done that
for 37 years and wish to pass on what I have learned over the years
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when I was responsible for formation in a minor seminary and later
in the Missionary Institute, London, a major seminary. Besides this
I studied in the universities of three different countries. I spent 55
years of my priesthood studying formation work and practising it.
Now it is time for another to take the Institute of St. Anselm into
the future.
I am convinced that formation and vocation work are priorities
for the church, for priests and every religious congregation. Money
spent to train formators, vocation directors and leaders is the best
investment for the church and society. Renewal in the church and
in society can only come about by personal renewal of individuals. I
started with the renewal ofleaders and formators. Primary formation
and ongoing formation are the best places to achieve renewal. Both
need essential additions to complement their formation. We have
focused in our formation mainly on content, input. Now we need
to focus in addition on process, on helping people to personalise
and integrate the input they receive. For redemption, knowledge is
one essential aspect; however, applying this to our lives is the second
essential aspect which needs more attention than we have given it.
It may help to understand why the "hidden apostacy" has
happened in Europe and in other countries in the last decades and
find a way forward. One ofthe main reasons is the physical paradigm
science has developed, that matter is the only thing that matters and
exists, leading to atheism and agnosticism. Therefore, we need to
find a new paradigm which includes the spiritual and is evolving. My
new programme of formation is based on this new paradigm. More
about this will be in a later book.
I have taught people process work and deep process work over
many years. One of my principles is that what I teach I try to practise
myself. Most of what I teach comes from my experiences. Being
connected with the indwelling God makes an enormous difference
to my life. I have a clear vision of what I want to do with my life; to
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spend the rest of my life witnessing to Christ and helping others in
that process. This gives me tremendous meaning and purpose.
It is a challenge to live according to the Gospel values in a
materialistic, controlling, manipulative, atheistic, selfish, egoistical
world. I also know that there are many people who do not agree with
the values of our society. I think it is true to say that these values
are a consequence of our physical paradigm which was applied to all
scientific work and thus did a lot of harm to society and the church.
By trying to follow the Gospel values in the context of daily
living, I find I experience a freedom which many people do not
have. I also find that I have much more energy in spite of my age.
I am convinced that focus on trying to live the Gospel values is a
most healthy way of living. "I have come that you may have life and
may have it abundantly" Jn 10:10. Obviously, Jesus wants us to have
a full life.
The only way to fully participate in our lives, in who we are and
desire to become, is to use all our faculties, mind, body, and spirit and
to bring our unconscious selves to awareness in our conscious selves
- this requires using and integrating messages from our bodies, mind,
feelings, intuition, reflections etc., together with our values and above
all our spiritual convictions in relationship with the Trinity.
How many aspects of the above list have been developed in
our priestly and religious formation? We live in a world where
strong emphasis on thinking and abstract knowledge has led to
disembodiment. This has brought about an inability to receive and
understand a large portion of information that is available to us. We
are not operating on all cylinders. We are not using a vast amount
of the information and knowledge which is there waiting for us to
draw on.
For example, 1986, the Institute ofSt. Anselm had an event in the
House of Parliament. Cardinal Hume was the guest of honour. One
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MP said to Cardinal Hume: "We need to be guided by you in many
matters. Your input for making decisions is essential to us:' I was so
surprised by the wisdom of that MP that I still remember it. This
man was aware of the importance of spirituality even for politicians.
Spirituality is important for every aspect oflife and particularly as we
prepare to be born into a new life with God.
When it comes to facing death, as I did with Corona virus, I
was not afraid. I was able to surrender to God. I was ready to die or
continue to work to take the Institute into the future in the way He
wishes. I felt at peace to go to Him or continue my work here.
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WHAT IS THIS NEW FOCUS OF
FORMATION ALL ABOUT?
It is about our inner process. In our formation we have strongly
focused on information, on content. Obviously, that is important
and remains an essential part of formation, but of its nature it
remains largely abstract. Most people are not able to translate that
content into their own personal lives. They learn to know what they
should do, but they do not know the "how" to do it. They need to be
able to personalize and integrate the knowledge they have learned,
leading them to a deeper lived spiritual life in God. This new focus
does not replace what is being done but rather it runs along-side it as
an essential companion.
In our old paradigm, which is based on physics and which is
part of our scientific thinking, because of its very nature, we become
alienated from ourselves, from others, from the environment and
from God, self-centred, materialistic, mechanistic, agnostic or
atheistic, and static in our thinking. The old paradigm has brought
many good things, the whole technological development, but at the
same time due to many factors we have lost essential aspects of who
we are as human beings and have become directionless.
The new paradigm and new focus for formation are essentially
process-orientated. "Panta rei': Everything is in flow. We are in
process; we are not static. People need to learn in daily life how
to live in process and in the present moment. They become aware
of their emotions, their sexuality, their beliefs, their needs, their
values. They learn to challenge themselves to live according to their
Christian values by facing their lived values, unredeemed emotions,
unredeemed belief systems and need systems, and replacing them
with Christian values, redeemed emotions, redeemed beliefs and
needs. They also learn to deal with deep processes which pop up in
many different forms like hurts, unforgiveness, loss experiences and
many other unredeemed emotions.
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Living in process reconnects us with self, others, environment
and God. Without these connections, we cannot live a wholistic life,
to which God has called us. "I have come so that you may have life
abundantly': This new focus of formation teaches us how to live
'in process' and how to teach others to live in their process. It is a
life-long work and we can learn the tools to continue this process
throughout our life. Because of the deep processes, memories will be
triggered and surface which need to be worked through.
We are all influenced by the effects of the world we live in. It is
not surprising that many people have given up their faith, because it is
alien to the values of our world: money, power, control are constantly
put before us. We understand that young people find it difficult to
see any meaning in religious life or even priesthood. Therefore, they
need accompaniment to find how the values of the Gospel make
it meaningful to lead a happy life. To achieve this, the person who
accompanies them needs to be happy, content and at peace and to
manifest this in his/her whole being by who they are.
The essential aspect for this focus of formation is that it
reconnects us with the great mystery of the Blessed Trinity as our
model, inspiration and strength. It leads us into the eternal process
of the self-giving love of God the Father to the Son in the Holy Spirit.
Through baptism we are taken into the community life of the Trinity
and through the frequent participation in the Eucharist we slowly
become divinized and healed from our woundedness. In this way, at
the end of time, Christ will reign over everything and everybody and
hand His Kingdom over to God the Father.
The additional focus for formation shows us in detail how this
process needs to unfold by dealing with our emotions, sexuality,
values, wounds, beliefs and needs. This in turn will clearly reveal who
is suitable and who is not suitable for religious life and priesthood. If
students or candidates do not want to enter this process, they are not
suitable for religious life or priesthood, because they do not want to face
themselves, a necessity, to become part of the Trinitarian community.
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Why do leaders and formators
need to be properly trained in this
additional approach to formation?
How many Bishops and Superiors struggle to help their
members with problems in the parish, community, etc? Sometimes
good people, who are trying to do their best, see everything differently
from those responsible and cause many difficulties. These issues
from the past need to be dealt with during the years of formation.
Without in-depth training formators usually are not able to handle
such issues. With a shortage of vocations and pressure to obtain
the maximum of vocations, these problems are overlooked, in the
hope that they will resolve themselves; they rarely do. With good
formation, understanding and skills, more can be healed through
the years of formation and good discernment made with those
who are not suitable. This will save a lot of trouble for dioceses and
congregations in the coming years, and their ministries will become
rich and fulfilling, attracting in turn many more vocations.
Obviously, ifwe want an effective deep renewal in the church and
society, it will be through the leaders and formators. Some people have
gone through this process in the family setting, or are well integrated
gifted people from their own formation. Most people, however, need
to find a sound appreciation of the values of the Christian faith for a
commitment to spend all their energy for building up God's kingdom
in themselves and others. Many have taken in the values of society in
which they grew up. They need to discover the new, true Christian
values. This will take time, accompanying them with understanding,
skills and empathy, supporting and challenging them in their journey.
Moreover, there is a great lack of maturity in our younger
generation due to their exposure to so many stimuli which takes time
to digest, and to discern the 'wheat from the chaff'.
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Good, solid Christian families have become a rarity. In former
times, solid faith foundations were established in the family: prayer
life and their Christian attitudes and values.
Due to many circumstances, people in our time have undergone
deep painful wounds which are in need of healing, as otherwise
they can behave in a way they would rather not, but they do not
understand why. (I am referring to 'normal' people, not to those with
major issues needing counselling or therapy: these would not get the
help they need in this setting.)
Candidates for priestly and religious life need sound
accompaniment, which leads to bio-psycho-spiritual healing.
All kinds and forms of mild, addictive behaviour, such as the
perpetual use of phones, are ruling our lives yet are destructive to a
healthy life style. Most people are not even aware of these addictions.
They make living in the presence of God difficult, and acquiring a
deep faith which is necessary for priestly and religious vocations.
Another addiction is a strong desire for money and material goods
which can become the focus. A misguided attitude/approach towards
money can often lead to monetary abuse.
1. Young people especlally, but people In general, need role
models.
When I was president of the Missionary Institute London, an
international training centre for missionaries of seven missionary
societies, not infrequently students said to me: "I don't want to
become a priest like this lecturer': If we want more religious and
priestly vocations, we have to invest the best members in formation
and give them an opportunity ofrenewal/updating and learning skills.
Formation in our time is much more demanding than decades before.
Formators need to be capable of establishing healthy relationships
and to have acquired a deep spirituality.
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As a chaplain to sisters in Salzburg, I noticed that they had a
novice mistress who had deep faith and was very able to relate to
people. The congregation always had novices and newly professed
sisters, whereas other congregations did not have any novices. This
novice mistress became superior general. The next novice mistress
was not so good in relating and they no longer got vocations. From
this experience I learnt that formators who have a deep faith and good
relating skills, inspire followers; modelling is of great importance.
Sound accompaniment regarding process throughout the years
of formation will have a big impact and reduce many potential future
problems.
2. We need a clear vision for our formation in our time. Pope
Francis has provided us with this vision in his simple
statement of "having the smell of the sheep".
I interpret "smelling the sheep" with being close to the people
entrusted to our care. For many priests and religious this request to
be close to those entrusted to them is very difficult. They may be
shy or are afraid of men or women or authority figures. Thus, their
ministry suffers. From my experience, these emotions of shyness and
fear are very common. As we help them to deal with their shyness
or fear, they start enjoying human relationships with people ofwhom
they had been afraid before. It is wonderful to see people blossom
using more of the potential which we all have.
Many people have authority problems. They are afraid of
authority and act this out with their authority figures in the parish
and often with their bishops. This can be worked through during the
years of formation. These authority problems cause a lot of waste of
energy, which could be used for positive purposes. Parishioners often
tolerate such priests because they are priests, but they are not models
of a Christian way of relating. Many of these people are not even
aware that there is a problem on their part, but blame the parishioners
or the authorities.
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"Smelling the sheep" gives priests and religious the opportunity
to find out the potential of those entrusted to them. Many would be
most willing to use their potential for the good of the parish. When
I was in New Zealand, in St. Mary's parish in Rotorua, I suggested to
my parish priest that a parishioner could cut the lawns of the school
grounds and presbytery and I could use the time to visit the families
of the parish. He straight away agreed.
Many priests and religious are not assertive when they express
their needs or wants and become aggressive instead, not intentionally
and not understanding why. This can be dealt with in formation and
will in turn build their confidence. As a young priest, I suggested to
my parish priest we give some of our work to the laity and that we
give more time to visiting the parishioners. He was very open. We
developed a plan and visited all families of the parish, even those
who did not come to Mass. Through our visits, these parishioners
reconnected with the parish and parish life and even started
supporting the parish financially.
"Smelling the parishioners" also helps us to deal with difficult
parishioners in a constructive way. We all have our negative sides,
but by getting to know them better, we learn "to carry one another's
burdens"; we become aware of their burdens and are not surprised
when we encounter them and they appear difficult and aggressive,
because we understand they are suffering deep within themselves.
Knowing this helps us to be empathic with them.
3. I was pleased to read In the interview with Cardinal Stella,
on the 10 of May 2021: "A seminary Is a "laboratory"
where not only the Intellect Is formed, but especially the
heart, every fibre of the person that is human prior to being
Christian, of men called to become pastors of souls."
Frequently in my lectures I have pointed out that "this
programme is a "laboratory': I also like the stress on the "heart". Very
often the emotional formation is still very limited. Academic lectures
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on emotions are insufficient. People need to experience them and
learn how to handle them constructively as a gift of God. Most of us
know what we should or shouldn't do, and what our behaviour should
be, but few of us know 'how' to achieve what we would like to be. The
first step in dealing with emotions is to help people to become aware
of them. Many people are not aware of their emotions. Two years ago,
a participant asked me: "What are emotions?" He was destined to be
in charge of formation. He said that he had never heard of emotions.
I have given many lectures on emotional development and it
helps participants to slowly get in touch with their emotions and
feelings. Often participants are alienated from their emotions. This
causes many difficulties, as we have repressed them-because-we do
not know how to handle them constructively. It is from our emotions
and feelings that we receive many messages and we need to learn to
respond to them in a Christian way.
Many years ago, I gave a week's workshop on 'Leadership in State
and Church', near Innsbruck. At one stage I asked the participants to
write down all the problems they encountered in their work, then to
reduce the statements which they had written down. After several
reductions only emotions and feelings were left. This showed me
how important it is to help leaders and formators to become aware of
their own emotions and to be able to deal with their own and others'
emotions constructively.
4. The tasks of leadership and formation have become much
more difficult due to many changes In society.
The whole formation in the past was rule-orientated. As long
as you kept the rules, you were OK. If you transgressed the rules,
particularly in serious matters, you were sent away. This generally
is no longer the case. We have moved from a rule-orientated to a
relational orientated formation, mostly with little preparation. It is an
exciting but challenging task to do this.
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Vatican II stressed the importance of relationships,
particularly also for formation and ministry. Many candidates
today come from broken homes, homes of little or no spirituality,
homes with little family life or interaction. This means formation
needs to compensate for this and make up for the gaps in
candidate's upbringing. Other basics may be missing, cleanliness
both personal and for their living quarters, good manners,
sensitivity and common sense. These need to be taught and can
no longer be taken for granted. All need to be taught as a matter
of routine, not to expose anyone, and all need to be monitored
and encouraged.
In the 1980s in the Missionary Institute London even those who
were excellent lecturers struggled in their formation houses and gave
up, broke down or sent their students away because they could not
cope with them. It was painful for me as president of the Missionary
Institute London to see formators and students damaged or lost in
the process of formation. This was the reason why I started to train
formators at the Institute of St. Anselm.
Students have become very different since the sexual revolution
in the 1960s when the younger generation took over from the older.
They are more outspoken and say what they feel they should say.
Formators were not used to this. In their time as students, they
would not have dared to do that. I introduced an in-service training
course for the rectors/formators of the halls of residence of students,
at the Missionary Institute, in 1983.
The essence of these courses was still input on relationships,
communication and the three vows- poverty, chastity and obedience.
Besides the lectures, there were discussions on these topics in smaller
groups. The focus was still on content and not process.
Family life has changed drastically. The younger generation
goes its own way. Much of the Christian Family tradition has been
lost such as the daily rosary and frequent Mass attendance. Thus, the
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faith of the students, needs much more attention, for which rectors
are not prepared.
I also noticed that an in-service training course was not enough
for supporting the rectors. Often mistakes are made at the beginning,
which are difficult to remedy later on. Much more emphasis needs to
be on the process of training the formator' and leader' personality.
They have to learn to cope with the new generation of students.
The students need more personal attention and accompaniment for
which the new generation of formators are generally not prepared.
5. We are very much aware how we have contaminated
our environment, but we are hardly aware how we have
contaminated our psyche and our souls.
We live in a materialistic orientated world. Very little attention
has been-given-to the contamination of our psyches and souls which
is paramount for our work as priest and religious. The contamination
ofour psyches shows itselfin the many addictions: power, money, sex,
alcohol, drugs, music, books, clothes, shoes, food, phones, even pious
devotions, perfectionism or a scrupulosity, and old trappings which
adorned priests in the past, to mention but a few. These addictions
may not make us dysfunctional or need therapy, as is often required
for drug and alcohol addictions. Nevertheless, if we are unaware
and do not work with them ourselves, they may well have a negative
impact on our life, work and general wellbeing. When we are aware,
we can do something, so we do not need 'therapy: We are a product
of an addictive society and have not had the 'know how' to work to
redeem the addictions.
We need a deep conversion and basic skills to become a truly
healing Church. We need leaders and formators who have the
knowledge and who have entered their process and are working to
heal their own contaminations and can therefore enthusiastically
share these skills with those whom they accompany.
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If we work to deal with the contamination of our psyches and
souls through living in process and doing deep process work, the
contamination of the environment will reduce, as with the tendency
of some towards sexual abuse and other inappropriate behaviours
which will surface. The old physical paradigm contributed much to
these contaminations. Nobody intended it. There is nothing wrong
with that paradigm except that it was applied generally to all sciences
and all sciences wanted to follow it, including psychology and even
theology.
When society lives according to the physical paradigm,
overtime, people take on the attractions, pleasures, materialism,
control, mechanics, abstraction, individualism, and other
by-products of that mentality. How does this affect their
relationships? The human being is more than just matter. My
personality model is a basis for a wider vision of what it means
to be truly human.
Psychology wanted to be accepted as a science and sacrificed
its very essence in that process by treating the human being as a
machine. Of course, the old paradigm had no place for theology
and metaphysics and they were pushed out. What we have
forgotten is that the old paradigm originated from mathematics
and physics. The paradigm I am suggesting is very different and
allows for psychology and theology. It does not replace the old,
but it complements it. Both are important for us. They need each
other to lead to fuller understanding oftruth, to balance each other
and to avoid one-sidedness. It is wholistic and brings together the
mind, body and environment into the heart of spirituality - the
Trinity.
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Wholistic Dynamic Structure of Personality towards Transformation
in Christ, the Alpha and the Omega.
Conscious Self
Mind
Intellect
Will
Emotions
Attitudes, values, needs,
defence mechanisms, love,
greed, motivations.
Social /Environment
Spiritual Self
Made in the image and likeness
of God.
The Blessed Trinity dwells in us.
N
-...J
Unconscious Self
Freudian Unconscious:
Jungian Unconscious:
The Self
Social /Environment
Social Environment
Family, village/town, country, culture, class, tribe.
Rituals, religions.
e mechanisms, needs,
motivation etc.
Body
The whole body
Speech
Communication
© Len Kofler MHM

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Psychology wanted to be accepted as a science and sacrificed
its very essence in that process by treating the human being as a
machine. Of course, the old paradigm had no place for theology and
metaphysics and they were pushed out. What we have forgotten is
that the old paradigm originated from mathematics and physics. The
paradigm I am suggesting is very different and allows for psychology
and theology. It does not replace the old, but it complements it.
Both are important for us. They need each other to lead to fuller
understanding of truth, to balance each other and to avoid one-
sidedness. It is wholistic and brings together the mind, body and
environment into the heart of spirituality - the Trinity.
6. In the last decades we have become familiar not only with
IQ, but also with EQ and with SQ.
Emotional intelligence (EQ or EI) has come to more
prominence in the business world, because they have become-aware
that those with a high EQ are more effective than those with a high
IQ yet lacking EQ. Spiritual intelligence (SQ) is also beginning to be
acknowledged. What do we develop in our formation programmes?
In most programmes we still develop mainly IQ and some SQ. IQ
is extremely important for universities and therefore needs to be
fostered for further developments on all levels, so that candidates can
understand more fully their faith and even enter debate with those
looking for better intellectual understanding. However, we need
to develop EQ and SQ so those very people see we have that extra
something which they lack, and that gives us the special 'raison d'etre'
of life that they are looking for: a deep contentment, serenity and
peace despite the chaos often encountered in our world.
For practical life, EQ and SQ development are essential. SQ
gives us the direction in which to move in our personal and daily
living situations. SQ without EQ can lack the "groundedness"
which we need to be truly authentic. Applied EQ development
shows us the individual path each one needs to develop to become
who they are meant to be. In our formation we aspire to find the
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right balance between these three types of intelligences to produce
the best opportunities for growth and personal integration for our
candidates to priesthood and religious life. Seminary staff, formators
and leaders need help and guidance to become more familiar with
their own process and to become more familiar with development
in EQ and SQ to be able to model and give guidance in Christian
living and behaviour to those for whom they are responsible. Leaders
and formators want to help those they are responsible for but have
not had the opportunity to learn and develop the skills and art of
this delicate work of affirming and building up each on their unique
journey.
My experience is that-we have fostered, rightly, a high IQ; we
have lacked the development and knowledge of applied EQ and SQ.
Prophetically, the document on priestly formation mentions that
seminary staff should go to Institutes (like St. Anselm's) to acquire,
develop and apply EQ and-SQ.
7. Leaders and formators need to be able to help those
entrusted to them to be able to forgive and to be
reconciled, a central aspect of Christian living. This can
be very challenging.
Conflicts are unavoidable and are part of community life,
leadership and formation. Many conflicts arise from intra-psychic
conflicts. The more leaders deal with their own intra-psychic conflict
the fewer conflicts they will encounter in interpersonal relationships.
Leaders and formators need to be experts in forgiving and
helping others to forgive the hurts which were inflicted upon them
from distant past or recent times, and everything in between. Many
priests and religious who have been hurt carry these wounds for
years and years. Every Christian would need to become an expert in
forgiving. There is a tremendous need to teach and model for people
how to forgive. Jesus is our model and has taught us that we need
to forgive again and again. There is a difference between emotional
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forgiveness and forgiveness as an intention. Leaders and formators
need to learn the art of emotional forgiveness,which brings about
true forgiveness. Leaders and formators need to learn to forgive and
to be reconciled where possible. They need to become emotionally
robust. Hot emotions will be thrown at them and it is important to
deal with their own emotions constructively, to be proactive rather
than reactive.
Many priests and religious waste a lot of energy in living in
unforgiveness and even bitterness, because they don't know how
to forgive. Some tell me there are persons in their life they cannot
forgive. Forgiveness was a big concern of Jesus to teach his disciples.
Many people forgive only 'intentionally' those who have hurt them.
When I gave a talk on forgiveness in Ireland, a lady said: "I have
forgiven everybody, but I would not like certain people to come to
my funeral': Obviously, she had forgiven them 'intentionally', but not
emotionally.
Emotional forgiveness is true forgiveness. Most people don't
know how to forgive emotionally. Students and candidates would
need to learn in their years offormation how to work at fully forgiving.
Unforgiveness is a heavy burden to carry. It is poison to our system.
It blocks our psycho-spiritual journey towards union with God. To
be able to forgive must become part of all our lives.
8. We need mercy and compassion together with an ability to
challenge and also allow due reparation in line with laws
when appropriate. As Christians we need to be willing to
take responsibility for our life and behaviour. This requires
in formation the skill of "caring confrontation".
Caring confrontation is a tool for psycho-spiritual growth. One
of the main purposes of formation and leadership is to help people in
their psycho-spiritual journey towards union with God, which is the
main purpose of every human being whether they know it or not, but
particularly of priests and religious.
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We need to be able to use the skill of caring confrontation to
guide those in formation and also parishioners, particularly those
who have made a commitment to each other, and parents who are
struggling in their families.
This is a challenging skill and art, and it has to be done out of
genuine love and concern for the person and their wellbeing if it is
to be effective for them. The opportunity to learn and practise this is
paramount.
It sounds very simple. That is what I thought, too, until I
discovered that some were completely unable to do it, because they
had serious problems with any confrontation. On the other hand,
some people did it in a way which was anything but caring. There are
the two extremes. Some people need a lot of time to work through
their problems, their fears with confrontation. Others need to work
through their anger which goes into confrontation and makes
confrontation a destructive process.
The focus in confrontation is that it is done caringly and out
of love. That is why I talk about caring confrontation. Some will
do it in a way that the person hardly gets the message, or remains
unaware of the need to do something about his/her behaviour.
Without such awareness the person cannot change their behaviour.
Awareness is the first step in changing one's behaviour. Many priests
and religious, as well as the general population, have not learnt about
self-awareness, only about 'my rights, me, myself', without any regard
for the other and the impact their behaviour has on them. We have
become so alienated from our body and our behaviour, from others,
the environment and God.
9. To learn to live In process and to do deep process work are
new skills which formators need to learn and teach, since
they were not part of past formation, having been learnt
naturally In the family.
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Learning the skills of process is best done in the context of
community living, allowing trainees for formation to practise their
new-found skills in a safe and supportive environment. This can
provide a safe environment where they learn to encourage and
affirm each other as well as practice new skills. It will also provide
opportunities to learn the art of reconciliation and forgiveness,
essential for all settings.
At the centre of community is the self-giving love of God,
particularly shown in the creation, incarnation and in the self-
giving of Jesus on the cross and in the Eucharist. God's love is the
model for our love. God's self-giving is the model for our self-
giving.
Through living daily in community in process and doing deep
process work we learn the self-giving love as it leads to living in the
presence of God. We no longer remain products of the old paradigm
which fostered self-centeredness and individualism. The process
work helps us to acquire the Christian values which we know from
Sacred Scripture. Since we are living under the strong pressure of
the old paradigm, living in daily process is a necessity to survive as
authentic Christians.
In this daily living process, we connect with the Blessed Trinity
which lives in us and we work together with the Holy Spirit to heal
and divinize our frail and wounded human nature. This brings
meaning, purpose, enthusiasm and sometimes pain. Many have to
learn that suffering is part of a deep spiritual life.
Life is exciting, because we discover new things of our personal
history nearly every day. This gives us a chance to integrate our past
life with our present life and make sure that past negative experiences
are properly worked through and become assets for our future life. In
this way our life becomes richer daily. This is what living in process
and doing deep inner process work does for us. We will experience
more and more God's guidance and illuminations in our lives.
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Leaders and formators need to be enthusiastic and full of life and
joy. Through this process work anybody can achieve that, because it
brings us in deep contact with God on a daily basis by establishing
more and more God's kingdom in ourselves.
10. Leaders and formators need to acquire a good level of
self-awareness.
Growing in the sound knowledge of our strengths and
weaknesses will be a rich bank to help us in our lives of personal
processing, integration and life with and in the Trinity.
For example, where am I, in myself, at this moment? What are
my thoughts? What are my expectations? What are my feelings? Are
they positive or negative? Am I angry, disappointed, fearful? How
do these emotions affect what I am going to do? How does it affect
my decisions which I have to make today? How does it affect my
relationships with people?
Am I optimistic about the future of my congregation? Am I
overworked? Am I in too much stress? How can I deal with these
situations? Am I constantly irritated? What do I do about that? Am I a
Christian example to the people entrusted to me? What is happening
to my faith and prayer Life? Have I got a deep relationship with
Christ? Do I keep on fostering it in spite of my workload? What are
my expectations of my students? Are these expectations reasonable?
Are they too high? These are just some areas of which I need to be
aware and do something about it, if I see it is necessary or good for
the benefit of those entrusted to me.
Professor Revers in Salzburg University used to say, "If I
am aware that I have holes in my socks, I am not surprised when
somebody tells me. When I am surprised, I may react angrily instead
of responding prudently to the situation': As a leader or formator I
am bound to receive much anger from those entrusted to me because
of their authority problems and other difficulties learnt as a result of
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childhood back grounds and past circumstances. They are often not
aware of what is happening and see things in a negative light rather
than a positive message for better understanding, an opportunity
to learn - a grace from God to a better and richer life. If I react
inappropriately, I may feel guilty and ashamed and overcompensate
by trying to make up for my mistake and avoid doing caring
confrontation. Thus, I may reinforce the inappropriate behaviour of
those for whom I am responsible.
Awareness is the first step of change and growth. The awareness
of how we come across to others may invite us to change our
behaviour. Often others notice our negative behaviour and can give
us feedback, if we elicit it. I used to comb my hair backwards. At one
stage, someone, said to me: "You look so severe:' That was the last
thing I wanted to communicate to the participants and I changed
the way I combed my hair. Even now, I frequently ask a friend how
I come across in my lectures or in meetings, so that I can learn from
the feedback which I receive. The danger is that people in authority
positions don't get feedback from those under them, so we have to
elicit it, if we want to grow.
Living in the present moment, living in the presence of God,
living in process will help us enormously to become aware of what
is going on in us. The bio-psycho-spiritual journey facilitates the
process of living in the present moment and in God's presence. It
also shows us how to live the Trinitarian community life of love
in our daily lives. It becomes the tool for living a contemplative
life in an active ministry in parishes, formation centres, religious
communities etc. In this way we are not just 'talking the talk: but
we are 'walking the walk'.
11. Leaders and formators need deep faith.
We may have a great deal of knowledge about Theology,
doctrines, the Church as a whole, and spirituality, rituals etc. but
this is not of itself sufficient to ensure a deep faith. We need to
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experience it and live it, have time to work with questions and even
doubts to bring it to a greater depth.
Without deep faith we cannot enjoy our ministry as leaders and
formators. It is essential that we have enthusiasm for our ministry.
Without joy our ministry is limited. Deep faith gives tremendous
meaning to our life. We all need to have meaning and purpose in
our lives.
Our society needs help to become reconnected with God.
Many people are alienated from God. To achieve this, they need to
be reconnected with their bodies, their feelings, their deepest values.
We all need healing and this happens as we learn to live in process.
It happens through establishing a living relationship with God and
healthy relationships with people.
As people learn to establish more authentic relationships
with God through many tools and skills, we can see that an inner
revolution takes place -the God image appears more and more in
their behaviour. They see life very differently from the way they saw
it before so that they often say: "I should have had a programme
like this before. Then my life would have been very different, much
more fulfilling". Deep faith is a great gift from God, but there is also
a responsibility to share this gift with others who may be struggling
or even in despair, who have not had the opportunity to develop such
deep faith.
12. Leaders and formators need great confidence - in order
to lead their flock from all sides as well as In the midst of
them.
Confident leaders are not threatened or fearful but will inspire,
affirm and build up their flock with deep faith and trust in the power
and guidance of the Spirit. They are able to take the opportunity for
help and support from human resources and above all through their
relationship with the Trinity.
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This confidence comes out of deep faith and working to
develop a healthy self-esteem. Many people lack a healthy self-
esteem due to negative experiences in childhood. I have often
seen how people grow enormously in healthy self-confidence if
they are given and learn the skills and tools and apply them to
their daily life. If they have a deep faith and see it as an asset for
their living, this experience will provide the confidence to share
it with the people entrusted to them. People pick up very quickly
whether a leader or formator is confident. If they are not, some
people take advantage and abuse such a formator or leader who
may then, in order to survive, turn into an authoritarian leader
and/or formator.
When I was formator in a minor seminary, the rector of the
seminary called a meeting of the boys and among many other
points he said: "You are not allowed to receive girls into your room".
One of the boys asked him: "Why not?" In his insecurity he replied:
"I am telling you as rector, that you are not allowed". The student
wanted him to give a reason whereas the rector in his insecurity
pointed to his position. The student was very hurt and wanted to
leave the premises that day. I explained to him that the rector means
it well for him and gave him several reasons for understanding the
rector's request.
13. Leaders and formators need to be aware of the different
values in our society and Christian values.
We live in a multicultural, secularized world and are constantly
influenced by the values of our society which, in part, are opposed to
our Christian values. Therefore, leaders and formators benefit greatly
from an understanding of value clarification for themselves and
those entrusted to them. How can they live a Christian life? Their
values need to show they have something more to offer the world - it
is advantageous to be a Christian, priest and religious; our values give
an extra richness to life.
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We have a great opportunity in Europe and other countries to
proclaim the values of the Risen Lord and bring about a personal
renewal in the church and in society. One way to achieve this is to
train our leaders and formators in a thorough and personalized way.
They need to become mystics in action.
Many have naturally taken on societal values and we need to
help them to bring these in line with the values of our Christian faith.
Just to mention one value: money. They may have the vow of poverty,
but do they live by this value or are they always looking for money,
material possessions etc.? In formation, we need to inspire our
candidates to live the vow of poverty and not just follow the norms
we find in society.
What about love and service, being at the service of each other?
Are our religious communities built on service or the values ofsociety,
such as "I am important; I want to be the centre of community; I need
to be consulted in every change which takes place in community". In
our egocentric society, how do we help people to move to a Christo I
Trinitarian centred life which is initially less attractive or gratifying?
Only through modelling peace, serenity in suffering, greater joy
and harmony can we convince people that it is worthwhile to be a
Christian.
Jesus said: "I have come to do the will of my Father". Do I say
the same and live it in my daily life? Most have this intention and
genuine desire but they don't know 'how' to achieve it. I need to grow
in confidence that if I do my will, it may not be for my greater good,
but if I do the will of God, it will definitely be for my ultimate good
and for all others around. I can say that I sincerely want to do the will
of God, because I am convinced that it is the best for me. That is why
I constantly add to my petitions: "if it is your will, God': What does
the vow of obedience mean to me? This is a question we must ask
ourselves frequently.
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Being a leader and formator is challenging. We need to lead
by modelling an authentic life: trying to be congruent with what
we believe, advocate and expect of others whilst recognising and
accepting we too are human and will not succeed every time, which
is also important modelling. Perfection comes in the next world.
Value clarification is essential for each Christian, for each priest
and religious. What are the values which I profess and what are
the values by which I live? Are they the same? How authentic am
I? When I live an inauthentic life, I damage not only my soul, but
also my psyche. I start contributing to the contamination of society
and the environment. We may not see these connections but it still
happens. Our renewal starts by paying attention to how each one
of us contributes towards polluting our psyches, our souls and our
environment.
As we contaminate our psyches and souls, we become less
sensitive towards our environment. These processes are very subtle
and obviously we are not aware of them. We would not want to do
that, but we do it. Once we have been made aware, we can choose to
heal our psyches and souls again. As we do that regularly, we become
more sensitive to what God wants us to be. We can work then with
the guidance of the Holy Spirit in his work of sanctifying us.
14. We need Leaders and formators who have a solid
commitment to renewal of themselves, their congregation
or diocese and the church and society as a whole.
Much contamination of our psyches and souls has taken place
over the last decades in our society. We who are priests and religious,
as well as our candidates for priesthood and religious life, are part
of that contamination. We all are in need of healing. Saying prayers
alone will not achieve this. We need to cooperate with the healing
work of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. We know this from the
Bible, but do we really relate to the indwelling Trinity, or is it just a
doctrine we know about?
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If we have a true relationship with the three persons of the
Trinity, we are aware and open to their guidance for healing to
happen in us. We listen to the daily inspirations on how to relate to
ourselves, to others and the universe and to the Trinity. This is what
living in process means. It is a skill/art which we need to develop and
practice daily. It is similar to living in the present moment and being
aware of the indwelling Trinity with whom we work together in the
daily work of building up God's kingdom in ourselves and in others.
Renewal is achieved when we follow Christ on a daily basis and
help others to do the same. In that process they will experience what
Christ has promised us: "My burden is light", but also "take up your
cross': This daily work of building up God's kingdom makes each day
precious and meaningful.
Thus, there is no boredom in such a life. On the contrary, it
is a daily challenge. If we practice living in the presence of God in
our relationships, our whole community will be involved in a process
of renewal. If priests practise living in the presence of God in their
relationships with parishioners, the whole parish will get involved in
a process of renewal. If they teach the parishioners to practise living
in the presence of God, all people of that parish will be involved in a
process of renewal.
This personal renewal work involves particularly our emotions.
It means learning to use our emotions constructively. This is a whole
area necessary for renewal.
There is a lot of searching by many people in our world for a
better, happier and deeper life, but mostly they look in all the wrong
places: drugs, alcohol, sex, money, power, new clothes, faster cars,
better things than the neighbour has etc. We can witness to them
by our life, happiness, security and contentment that a profound
relationship with our God gives us just what they are looking for.
Things will change radically and people will gradually flock to a
Church giving meaning and hope to their life. People are searching
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for fulfilment in life. The only ways many think that they can find it is
by having more money, power, control, pleasure and entertainment.
Quite a few are searching for spirituality in all kinds of ways. We
know that ultimately only the Christian spirituality will lead to this
fullness of life we are longing for. If leaders, formators and many
Christians find that fulfilment and show it in their daily living, that
might help many people to look once more to making Christ the
centre of their lives.
15. Most of the work of formators and leaders will be
accompaniment.
Accompaniment is delicate sensitive and challenging work.
Those asked to do this work deserve the opportunity of thorough
training and on-going support. The way they practise this mission
will determine the kind of Church and Religious Congregations
we will have in the future, as well as vocational prospects. Excellent
formation helps people to become more fully the person they are
meant to be for God. This in turn attracts other candidates as they
witness the worthwhileness of a life in Christ and a life of service to
others. Training in living in process and deep process work, besides
acquiring helping skills, is necessary for learning to accompany those
in formation. They need accompaniment in their psycho-spiritual
journey in order to acquire an understanding of what this psycho-
spiritual journey implies. It is not just spiritual information but rather
learning to live a spiritual life. It is not just prayer and meditation
it means helping them to overcome obstacles in this process, such
as hurts, unforgiveness, bitterness, authority problems, unfinished
loss experiences, passive aggressive behaviour and other baggage we
bring from the past.
To accompany people, we need to be very much aware of
our own process. If we are not aware of what is going on inside
ourselves, we might become abusive without even knowing it. We
would have no chance to remedy this situation. Abusive behaviour
is very common. Not all abusive behaviour is a crime. All abusive
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behaviour is damaging ourselves, our psyches and souls, as well as
those towards whom it is directed. This can be verbal abuse, physical
abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, power abuse, monetary abuse,
spiritual abuse, etc. For example, are politicians aware of their
monetary abuse by allowing firms to charge highly excessive prices
for testing corona virus before flights?
As leaders and formators, we need to be knowledgeable and
observant, able to detect and recognise inappropriate behaviour, some
serious and some minor, which can otherwise develop into more
destructive behaviour. If we have learnt to do caring confrontation,
motivated by love for the person, it can only bear fruit, leading them
further on their journey or sometimes to a different life. This is a
whole area in which we all can grow and become better Christians
and build up God's kingdom of justice and peace in ourselves and
others.
Don't think for a moment that you do not belong to this category
of abusers. During last year's course I noticed that I had been abusive
to a participant in my reply to a passive aggressive statement he
made. When I did become aware, I apologized to him. He, too, had
been abusive to me in his statement, but was not aware of it.
All passive aggressive behaviour is abusive. However, most ofit
is unconscious.-It is an area with which a leader and formator would
need to be familiar. Pope Francis has mentioned several times the
damaging effect of gossip. How common is it in our communities?
What do we do in our formation to help candidates to become
aware of it and avoid it? It is very much against charity. Cynicism,
sarcasm, coming late, forgetting things, and gossip are just a few
forms of passive aggressive behaviour. In our accompaniment we
can facilitate those entrusted to us to become aware, so that they
can work on themselves to avoid this type of destructive behaviour.
Pope Francis refers to gossipers as terrorists. Like terrorism it splits
and divides.
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16. Leaders and formators have a tremendous positive
or negative influence on the future of the province,
congregation, diocese, parish, church and state.
As leaders and formators we can build up or destroy a parish,
congregation, diocese and people. We have a great responsibility
to-affirm those entrusted to us. We need to be fully aware of this
responsibility. It is a great challenge for us. We must not underestimate
our positive or negative influence. We are called to build up God's
people which necessitates building up God's kingdom in us.
Onlyby continuallygrowing in our connectedness with ourselves
and God can we gradually achieve the building up of God's people.
By working on ourselves to be at one on all levels of our being, we
can help others to become harmonious in themselves. Many people
are split in themselves. Some function mainly from their head, others
mainly from their emotions. Both are important. Splitting, though
mostly done unconsciously, is of itself evil: "divide and rule': It can
be destructive when leadership and leadership teams are split, and
people will capitalise on the split. We learn this as children: Mother
says 'no' so we try Father and he says 'yes' - we have split and won.
We bring our "splitness" into our relationships with people and
into our teams and communities to get our own way. When we do
this, we are no longer working for building up God's kingdom, we
enter the diabolic sphere and work for evil in the world.
Most people want to work for a better world. We can rally
these good intentions and move in the right direction to work for
unity, peace, justice and fulfilment in our own teams, communities,
dioceses, institutions.
17. Leaders and formators need to be people of peace and
justice.
We live in a disunited world and need leaders and formators to
show us 'how' to live in peace and bring justice into a dark and unjust
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world. Leaders and formators must be people of peace and justice.
Without justice there will never be peace.
It is not enough to have the intention to live in peace and justice.
Each one of us needs to become aware ofthe unjust structures and the
turmoil in ourselves. As St. Gregory of Nyssa says: "We should also
bring together the warring factions within us". He goes on to state:
"The definition of peace is that there should be harmony between
two opposite factions. And so, when the civil war in our nature has
been brought to an end and we are at peace within ourselves, we may
become peace".
To bring about this harmony in ourselves takes time and is
a lifelong process. Learning to live in process and do deep inner
process work will facilitate this work. Nobody can establish this inner
harmony ALL AT ONCE and for ever. It is a process which needs to
go on until we die.
Gregory of Nyssa continues to say: "When we consider that
Christ is the true light far removed from all falsehood, we realize that
our lives too should be lit by the rays of the sun of justice, which
shine for our enlightenment': If we live in process, the Holy Spirit
will enlighten us so that we discover our internal unjust structures.
We learned these in childhood and are most likely not aware of
them. Taking time to deal with our own unjust structures helps us to
become more authentic and more Christ-like. The more we are able
to remove our own internal unjust structures, the more peaceful we
become in our dealing with life and people.
18. If leaders are not aware of their woundedness, stemming
from their past, they can become abusers unintentionally
and sometimes unconsciously, acting out abusive
behaviour. Woundedness is a part of every human being.
We are all in need of healing and redemption.
Living in process and doing deep process work will help us to
become aware of our own woundedness and to deal with it.
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There are many forms of abuse, of which most people have no
knowledge, but commit them all the same. Just to mention one. I
may be invited to have breakfast with someone. After a few words
of greeting, the person turns on their mobile phone and spends the
rest of time playing with it. I sit in silence for the rest of my breakfast.
However, there are many more serious areas of abuse. Carol
Glatz, Catholic News Service on August 6,2021 states: "Spiritual
abuse occurs more frequently than believed, Vatican official says':
Archbishop Jose Rodriguez Carballo, secretary of the Vatican
Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies
of Apostolic Life, refers to abuse of power, conscience, financial
corruption and problems associated with affectivity. Affectivity
includes many emotions and sexuality. Emotional abuse has many
facades. This includes the emotion of anger, inculcation of fear or
guilt, acting out jealousy or envy, passive aggressive behaviour which
is unconscious, like the 'terrorism' of gossip, and many more.
The archbishop goes on to state: "It should also be noted
that there have been some cases in which, after the necessary
investigation, the female founder has left consecrated life or the male
founder has been reduced to the lay state. All of this does a lot of
damage to consecrated life and to the church itself. Therefore, much
more attention should be paid when discerning the need, benefit
and usefulness for the church when approving associations whose
canonical recognition is underway':
It is the right of bishops to approve such association, the
archbishop said, "but also a grave responsibility. Much discernment
is needed':
We need to provide solid training and on-going support through
Pastoral Accompaniment, that deals with all these areas. Thus, well-
intentioned people have the opportunity to learn how to do things
differently and more effectively.
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19. Leaders and formators need to be able to establish healthy
relationships with those entrusted to them.
Healthy relationships are central to community life. To improve
our relationships, we have to learn to deal with our emotions
constructively and develop good communication. In relationships
people have been hurt, in relationships they can be healed. To build
up a good community, we need to facilitate good communication
and a healthy use of emotions. This is a challenging task, since many
people are not aware of their emotions, or if they are, they have a
belief that they are bad and should be avoided. Emotions give life its
richness and colours. All emotions are good and a gift from God. We
need to help people see this and give them the opportunity to learn
and practice how to use them constructively.
Leaders and formators need to learn how to handle more than
one role. They may be the superior of a community; they may have to
assess the members ofthe community and they need to have their own
social relationships. Several "roles" become more difficult, because of
different perceptions: by some they will be seen as a father/mother
together with all the expectations they have of a father/mother;
to others they will be the authority figure to be feared or rebelled
against; yet others will see them as a brother/sister, on an equal level;
or the superior may be seen as the head teacher whom they disliked,
and so forth. Whilst all of us are equal in the eyes of God, we have
different competences which need to be respected. It is demanding
to do justice to these roles and expectations. Their job may be to
accompany members of the community in their bio-psycho-spiritual
journey towards union with Christ. At the same time, they may well
have to be involved in having to assess their growth journey and to
challenge them.
Leaders and formators need to be good listeners, so that they
pick up what those who come to them mean when they share their
problems. They need to be able to "smell" those entrusted to them
for lots of reasons. One reason is to be able to discern vocations
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and to foster vocations. When a member of the community goes
through a mid-life crisis, he/she may need help to understand what
is going on in them. I am sure we have lost many good members by
not understanding the meaning of mid-life crisis. Mid-life crisis is a
normal part of every one's journey and a positive call to a deeper life
in God. Formators and leaders need to understand this process so
they can facilitate others through yet another gift of God, to grow in
maturity and integration on our journey to fullness in Him.
To help people to become aware of the meaning of crisis in
general and of mid-life crisis in particular, I gave a one-week course
in 1986 on "Crises - opportunities for growth" to remedy the attitude
that "this priest is in crisis, he will leave the priesthood". I am sure
we lost many priests and religious in those years due to a lack of
understanding of what the purpose of a crisis is. Basically, crises
are opportunities for psycho-spiritual growth. Most people do not
understand this and so they cannot help their members. I spend
quite some time on our courses to make clear what crisis means.
Leaders and formators need to deal with their own mid-life
crisis or at least understand it.
They also need to be able to take conflict and use it as a tool
for their personal growth as well as for fostering growth in those
entrusted to them. Most people have serious problems with conflict
and try to avoid it at any cost. It takes much time to learn to use
conflict as a tool for growth.
Some members of the community may have problems with low
self-esteem and become frequently aggressive. They need help to
improve their self-esteem. The low self-esteem may cause them and
other members of the community much suffering, tension and even
inefficiency.
In our communities, members become often co-dependent
and lose their healthy independence. Some members may have
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the tendency to care for others too much. Other members may
have authority problems. All these issues need to be challenged
and facilitated in order to establish a healthy growth-producing
community.
Living in process will help us to live the Trinitarian life, by
being aware of the indwelling God in our daily life. We can help
those entrusted to us to do the same. The relationships in the Blessed
Trinity are perfect; ours, however, will never be perfect, but they can
be improved on a daily basis. "Become as perfect, as the Heavenly
Father is perfect".
20. Leaders and formators would need not just to function,
but to be enthusiastic to build up God's kingdom in
themselves and those entrusted to them.
How can we get vocations and enthusiastic members, if the
leaders and formators are not enthusiastic? Enthusiasm is contagious
and inspires people. Lack of enthusiasm deadens people. Today we
need enthusiastic witnesses, like the Apostles, to the Risen Lord.
This enthusiasm,comes from being connected with the indwelling
Trinity, by living in process, in the presence of God.
Formators would need to inspire our candidates for priesthood
and religious life. Academic studies don't normally achieve this
by their very nature of being abstract and as such only feeding our
heads.-The lives of leaders, vocation directors and formators need
to inspire those for whom they are responsible to follow them and
learn from them as they see their leaders witness the sort of life they
themselves want to live. Academics who are able to relate well and
make their teachings very relevant to daily life, facilitating a deep
lived spirituality, stand out in the crowd and are admired. They
inspire others to emulate them.
Formators need additional specialised training, where they are
led into the bio-psycho-spiritual journey which leads to union with
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the Blessed Trinity. The Mystery of the Blessed Trinity, Incarnation,
Baptism and Eucharist are at the centre of the transformational
process which they learn and live in their daily life with enthusiasm,
and which they pass on to their students during the years of
formation, so that future priests and religious can do the same with
the lay people entrusted to them in their parishes. As the richness
and depth of their lives are witnessed, others will want to become
part of the same process which will lead to a deep ·renewal of the
church and slowly of society.
We need to be fully aware that it is not only our environment
that has been contaminated by the value system of society as a
consequence of the physical paradigm, but our souls and psyches as
well. These internal distortions are the causes of our environmental
contamination. Thus, we need to deal with these internal distortions
to achieve a continuous contamination-free environment. These
contaminations have taken place over decades or even centuries.
Now we need to work for a healthy inner world based on the teaching
of Christ, the Son of God, who came into this world to redeem us and
show us how to live healthily.
The bio-psycho-spiritual process will help people to acquire
a Christian value system which will counter the process of inner
damage by substituting truly Christian values where the recipients
will experience inner freedom, joy, fulfilment, peace and deep
meaning for their lives.
Once people have been introduced to this bio-psycho-spiritual
process, they can practice this process on a daily basis in order to
deal, step by step, with past issues that still impact them, and find
healing for these scars from childhood or later in life. Slowly they
will experience the freedom of being children of God and part of the
Trinitarian Community, where they experience fulfilment, have joy
and a purpose in life in spite of physical, psychological and spiritual
suffering. They will see it as being involved in the Paschal Mystery,
where "the burden is light': The deeper we go in this process, the
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more we find fulfilment and meaning. It is a life-long process, but it
can be learnt by living it with the help of people who have practised
this process for some years and keep up the practice.
21. Leaders and formators need to learn to respect
themselves, look after themselves and be compassionate
with themselves. When they lead a healthy llfe style It Is
very good modelling for those in formation.
Respecting ourselves, taking care of ourselves, listening to
ourselves and our own process, does not lead to self-centeredness.
The opposite is true, because it connects us with ourselves and with
God. When people are self-centred in their addiction, they are out
of touch with themselves, others and God. When people begin to
respect themselves, they begin to be aware of their connection with
all things and God.
Self-care is important for leaders and formators. They need to
be in good physical, psychological and spiritual health to be able to
do justice to their demanding work. Since leadership and formation
work have become more challenging, it is necessary that those going
into leadership, formation and vocational work have the opportunity,
through thorough training, to turn their stress and pressure into
personal bio-psycho-spiritual growth by seeing them as external
graces and using them within reasonable limits. Often, leaders and
formators finish with burnout or leave their congregations, which is
counterproductive to getting future vocations. Leaders and formators
can learn to enjoy their work and grow through it on a psycho-
spiritual level. When leaders are under pressure those around them
often unconsciously take advantage of their fragility for their own
gain. Good boundaries need to be set up to ensure each one has
the necessary space and time for themselves. Emergencies are an
exception. No one should be available 24 hours. Our society expects
everything instantly, but we can help people to learn that waiting can
be good for them and can give them the opportunity to reflect and
pray. Boundaries are very important for us to learn we can't have
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everything we want when we want it. We also need to learn gratitude
for all we have. Many have basic needs that are not met. Our wants
in the bigger picture are miniscule. We can learn that we can survive
with less.
Leaders and formators need to learn tools and skills they can
use to work through the hurts which they receive in their work.
If not, they will finish with burnout, lack of enthusiasm, anger,
bitterness or even with feelings of revenge, which are all negative and
not constructive for priestly or religious life and ministry. They may
even become physically ill.
22. Leaders and formators need to enter the journey of
becoming mystics.
To become a mystic, we have to learn to enter deeply into our
bio-psycho-spiritual process. We need to become aware of what is
going on in our bodies, psyches and souls. Thus, living in process and
doing deep process work are essential to discover the Trinity dwelling
in us.
We need to be constantly connected with the God in us, and keep
on working with the Holy Spirit, to become more and more sanctified
by removing the obstacles which block us from experiencing the
presence and working of God in us, so that we can co-operate more
with the work of the Holy Spirit in us. There needs to be a constant
process of purification, so that we experience then the illuminations
and unity with God and the whole universe.
The mystical way will make sure that we do not become swamped
in our pluralistic society, but that we can be the leaven in this society
and help it to be again more connected with God, ourselves, the earth
and the universe. Unity is an important factor in holding together a
split society. Love and respect for every person, every culture, every
faith, or people with no faith, are essential for unity. As a mystic this
is not only possible, it is a basic characteristic of what it means to be
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a mystic. The mystic is so deeply rooted in God, that he/she is no
longer afraid of the otherness of people.
Just imagine if every member of your presbytery, or of your
congregation, would be a mystic, how different life would be. This
additional formation aims at fostering active mystics who become
the leaven in our society by witnessing to the Risen Lord in their very
happy, fulfilled and joyful being.
23. Leaders and formators must never forget the message
of Revelation (1:8): "I am the Alpha and the Omega, says
the Lord God, who is, who was, and who is to come, the
Almighty".
It is our privilege to work with Christ who is moving the
universe towards Omega, which He is. We and the universe have
come from God and will go to God. He is evolving the whole universe
into his body. The body of Christ is being formed in us each time we
receive the Eucharist, the Risen Body and Blood of Christ. Matter is
divinized. We are already, through baptism, in an embryonic risen
state. Day by day this embryo develops in a more mature member
of the Body of Christ in the church which administers the Eucharist
through his priests. We cannot overestimate the importance of the
Eucharist in our daily lives, and the work of redemption, and as such
the importance of the church, which provides the ministers of the
Eucharist and the other sacraments.
The sacraments, particularly the Eucharist, nourishes us daily,
providing the motivation to keep us in constant process and to do
deep process work so that God's kingdom of love, peace and justice
becomes more and more a reality in our personal lives, and thus in
our social and physical environment.
We are members of the mystical body of Christ, who through
his Spirit leads us daily to give glory to God the Father by whom
we become more perfect through the work of his Spirit with whom
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we co-operate daily. This is our calling as Christians and at the same
time our contribution to a better world These may be small steps,
but they are important steps. If many people make these small steps,
they become big steps and will make a difference to the church and
to society.
In the history ofthe development ofthe universe it took millions
of years until, according to God's plan, life entered the universe; and
it will take millions of years until the whole universe is divinized and
has divine life in abundance. We as members of the mystical body
of Christ are involved in this process of bio-psycho-spiritual growth
and transformation. What a privilege!
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CONCLUSIONS
I have tried to keep this to a concise picture of why I think that
our leaders and formators need solid training, allowing those with
many demands on their time the possibility of reading it. I hope I
have shown you how our formation can be richly enhanced for the
benefit of everyone by teaching the positives, both psychological and
spiritual, that are sadly no longer automatically learnt in the family.
Ideally, I would suggest for formators three or four years to
equip them as best as we can for their most important and challenging
work. On their work depends the future of congregations and the
witnessing of the church to the Risen Lord. If the wrong people are
ordained or enter religious life, damage is done to the congregation
and the church. On the other hand, if the formators help candidates
who are struggling, and save more vocations and foster enthusiastic
priests and religious, this will back the investment ofmoney and time
put into them.
Learning to live in the constant presence of God will provide us
with the necessary enthusiasm which is needed to make an impact on
people in our society. Jesus inspired the apostles with this enthusiasm,
he will also inspire us when we keep in daily contact with him by
living in process. Again and again, I experience the helplessness of
people who do not have a relationship with God. I feel a sadness,
because for them death means the end of their existence, whereas for
me death is the door to a new full experience with God.
This booklet explains the importance of training leaders and
formators. I focused on these two groups of people because of their
central and influential position in the church for a deep renewal.
My sincere conviction is that all people are searching for
fulfilment and happiness as they understand it. This understanding
of happiness comes from their childhood experiences and education.
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Unconsciously, education has been too much influenced by a limited
physical paradigm which needs to be complemented by a paradigm
which does justice to the full human being. Even psychology in
its efforts to be scientific, as most people understand it, bowed to
the 'goddess' of what is scientific and produced a very limited
understanding of the human personality.
My concern is to bring God back into our society and build
our future culture on the solid foundation of the teaching of God,
which is expressed in the ten commandments and summarised in
love of God, our neighbour, ourselves and the environment. I believe
that every person is somehow searching for God, but some find only
a limited satisfaction as they are stuck in their search for power,
money, status, possessions etc. My wish is that those searchers have
the opportunity to go deeper until they find the true God that the
majority of people believe in.
No wonder that John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge
wrote the book 'The Wake Up Call' (2020). This book is about how
the West and USA handled the pandemic due to the lack of a unified
approach. We need the model of the Blessed Trinity for our way of
living and functioning. That is one of the reasons why Jesus revealed
this mystery to us. Our beliefs are not just doctrines, but meaningful
models for healthy living. One lesson we can learn from the mystery
of the Blessed Trinity is unity, which can only come about through
lived trinitarian relationships.
In an Appendix at the end of the booklet you will find some
information on the Institute of St. Anselm which was founded under
the auspices ofthe late Cardinal Basil Hume OSB in England in 1985.
I would like the Institute to become an Alma Mater where people are
trained and after 3 to 4 years return to their own countries and set up
a simpler version of the Institute to facilitate their own people, such
as pastoral workers, teachers and many other professions on full or
part time basis according to the needs.
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GLOSSARY
Bio-psycho-spiritual journey:
I see the human person coming from God and going to God. It
is a journey of the body, mind and spirit, and all three are involved in
this journey. It is a journey of purification, due to original sinfulness
and personal sinfulness. This journey finishes in union with God.
As we work through more and more areas of woundedness and
sinfulness on our journey, we become freer and experience more
illuminations and moments of union with God. Mind, body and
spirit become again more united in ourselves. They are interrelated
and have an influence on each other. Conceptually we separated
them and believed that in reality they are separated.
Deep process work:
Deals with painful emotions, hurts, traumas, loss experiences
etc., which pop up from time to time. We must take the opportunity
to work with them. In this way we clear out much unfinished business
and become more integrated and more alive.
Intra-psychic conflict:
These conflicts are within ourselves. For example, I want
to lose weight, but I also want to eat sweet things. We carry many
intra-psychic conflicts into interpersonal relationships and thus
they become interpersonal conflicts. We bring these intra-psychic
conflicts into our communities and into our workplace situations.
The more we work through our intra-psychic conflicts, the less we
bring them into outside situations.
Living In process:
Means being aware of what is going on in us with regard to
emotions, feelings, desires, wishes, hurts, pains, thoughts. In this way
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we connect not just with our head, but with our body and our spirit.
We get connected with the indwelling God in us. He guides us from
moment to moment in what to do with our emotions, desires, wishes.
We learn to live life fully, with purpose and enthusiasm. We develop
a sensitive awareness to be able to choose how we act in certain
situations, rather than reacting perhaps in a way we would rather not.
E.g. Once we become aware of our anger, we decide what we will do
according to our Christian principles.
Paradigm:
A general understanding of what scientific work is, within
which a study or enquiry is done. One can also call it a world view.
This view becomes the foundation of theories and methodology of
scientific work. It also means a model or an example. Our present
paradigm comes from physics, where we measure things, control
them and come to clear results by doing that. Because it is exact and
clear in its research, it became the model for all sciences.
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APPENDIXES
Article written by Fr. Len Kofler MHM
in the Millennium Year 2000
THE INSTITUE OF ST. ANSELM: MEETING THE NEEDS OF
TODAY, TAKING ON THE CHALLENGE OF THE FUTURE.
How to take the Institute of St. Anselm into the future:
In this article I try to give as clear a picture as I can of the
function that the Institute of St. Anselm fulfils and could fulfil, within
the Church. First, a short history of the Institute of St. Anselm will be
presented. Then the reasons will be given why I believe it is crucial to
ensure that it be taken into the future. Thirdly, ideas will be developed
for establishing structures to enable this to happen.
Short History ofthe Institute ofSt. Anselm.
When I was president of the Missionary Institute London, I
noticed how staff and students were struggling with relationships.
In one year we lost three rectors of halls of residences and several
students. I became more and more aware that we needed to do
something to change that situation. Moreover, when students came
to see me and shared some of their problems, I asked them: "How is it
that you did not deal with this issue during the noviciate?" The reply
was: "Father so and so was very nice and kind, but we never looked at
these issues:' These and many other similar experiences encouraged
me to think of doing something to improve this situation.
In 1983 I put this problem to the Trustees of the Missionary
Institute London. They suggested starting an in-service training
course for the rectors of the halls of residence. We did so in 1983 and
ran two such courses. However, I soon realised that this venture was
not enough. I became aware that formation personnel need to be
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trained before they take on responsibility. I was aware that at least
a year was needed for such training, but preferably three. However,
I was also convinced that no bishop or major superior would free
a person for three years. Thus in 1985 I started the first course for
leaders and formators in Damascus House, Mill Hill London. This
was a tremendous learning experience for me. The late Cardinal
Hume was the first president and encouraged me enormously to
start this venture in this country. He said to me: "Do what you have
shared with me, but don't repeat and copy what others do:' I took
this seriously and developed, independently of any other institution,
a programme from my experience and training, which I thought
would help the formators and leaders in the Church.
The basic structures of the Course were embryonically there
even in the first year in 1985. The experiential dimension of such
a programme was so clear to me that I dropped all academic
requirements within the first fortnight of running the Course after
a long discussion with the participants. Similarly, I was convinced
that we needed both spirituality and psychology. Therefore, I tried to
integrate the two right from the beginning. The Courses were very
well attended and became very popular so much so that the President
ofMissio said: "Your Course is the most popular Course:' The number
of participants grew from thirty to over hundred in a very short time.
From many letters received over the last fifteen years, I can say that
the Course meets a need which from feedback we get, does not seem
to be met in other Courses.
Besides the original Course for leaders and formators,
many other Courses have developed within the framework of the
Institute. After the first year's Course, we now offer an integrative
spiritual counselling Course where we try to integrate psychology
with Christian spirituality. We train Christian counsellors,
psychotherapists, trainers, supervisors, group counsellors and group
psychotherapists. We are currently in the process of being validated
by Greenwich University so that we can confer: A postgraduate
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Certificate in psycho-spiritual individual and group skills, a
postgraduate Diploma in individual and group psycho-spiritual
counselling in a Christian context and a Master's degree in psycho-
spiritual individual and group psychotherapy.
Besides all these Courses there is also an intensive programme
for human development. We have at present 23 participants on this
programme, divided into three groups.
Reasons for taking the Institute ofSt. Anselm into the future.
The Institute of St. Anselm has trained over 2000 priests and
religious in the last fifteen years of its existence, thus fulfilling an
important need for the Church. It provides leaders and formators
with the necessary personal psycho-spiritual formation and tools to
fulfil their tasks much more effectively. The many letters from former
participants clearly indicate how the training they received in St.
Anselm's helped them to cope much better with their work. Many
participants are worried that the Institute might die with me. Thus, I
am writing this article to stimulate discussion and commitment from
the Vatican, bishops and major superiors to help us take the Institute
into the future. I am now over 65 years old and I think it is wise to
train the people now who will take the Institute into the future. This
will take some years, since the nature of the Courses is so different
from other Courses.
Our priestly and religious formation in general has too
much input and is not enough growth-oriented. Most staff of
our seminaries and formation centres on their own admission
are unable to accompany students or candidates on their psycho-
spiritual growth journey in a meaningful way, not having received
training for this themselves. The consequences are that, after the
many years of formation, our priests and religious have a deep
knowledge of our faith and moral teaching, but don't know how to
grow as a spiritual and moral person. They lack a sound psycho-
spiritual understanding of their growth process. Therefore they can
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neither use the knowledge for themselves or for others. Thus, we
lose parishioners whose needs are not being met and who are not
able to understand our theological language used in the pulpit and
in liturgical celebrations.
We have lost the young people in many countries in Europe.
From my research in Salzburg I came to the conclusion that we need
to train pastoral workers in a way that will prepare them to understand
our young people and to help them in their psycho-spiritual growth
journey. Our young people have a right to a meaningful proclamation
of the "Good News". Vatican II was clear how priests should be
prepared for priesthood. Have we implemented the guidelines for
priestly formation ofVatican II? Have we introduced centres to train
our trainers? Here at the Institute of St. Anselm we have seriously
tried to implement the spirit of Vatican II with regard to priestly
formation. The Church cannot afford to neglect such fundamental
instructions.
Over 15 years a very serious reflection on the integration of
psychology and spirituality has taken place in the Institute of St.
Anselm. It has been tried out in a practical way. As I write this article,
I am pleased to discover an article about the seminary in Bovendonk
in the Netherlands. "Tutors are carefully selected for their ability to
integrate spirituality and psychology, for teaching is based on an
understanding of Christian anthropology which avoids the artificial
split between the things of the soul and the things of the body and
mind:' This thinking is very much in line with my personality model
and the integration which I have worked and reflected on over 20
years, and which we try to implement in the Institute of St. Anselm.
I am hearing from so many that it would be a loss for the Church
and society, if with my death as founder, this accumulated experience
would be lost, particularly since many problems the Church is facing
at the moment could be solved, if, as our past and present participants
testify priests, religious and lay people could come and share in the
insights and the experiences that are part of St. Anselm's Courses.
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For two thousand years the Church has taught us admirably
what to believe and to do. For the next two thousand years the
Church needs to show us how to believe, and to do what we believe
in. Doctrines and morals have been developed in an astonishing way,
but the "how" ofliving and communicating what we believe needs to
be developed. In the Institute of St. Anselm much thought has been
given to these topics. Many ways are discovered, on how to achieve
these goals. After the Synod on priestly formation, an African bishop
said to me: "Every day we were talking about who trains the trainers.
You have got it here, you are doing if'
Many priests and religious are not given enough help to be
able to live what they believe in. They don't understand themselves,
neither therefore are they able to understand deeply those
entrusted to them. Surely formation must mean that we gain self-
understanding, self-awareness, self-knowledge and start a process
of integrating what we learn and believe in during the years of
formation. Priestly formation implies that we learn the necessary
skills for running a parish, a parish council etc., but how many
priests understand group dynamic processes? How many priests
feel safe enough to run a parish council? How many priests are
able to listen actively and deeply to members of the parish council,
without feeling threatened?
A vicar general said to me two years ago: " We don't learn how
to treat people and how to relate to people in the seminary. As soon
as we are ordained, we are put into a parish and we don't really know
how to relate with ease in our new role. We feel insecure and we
become authoritarian and tell people what to do. One of us is then
made bishop and he feels even more insecure and becomes more
authoritarian. Thus, people are afraid of the priest or lose respect
for him and priests are afraid of the bishop:' Obviously, this is not
a healthy situation. A rector of a seminary came to see me, because
he was worried about the negative fearful atmosphere within the
seminary. We looked at some structures and procedures and found
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that they were triggering fear in students. Surely an atmosphere of
fear is not growth producing.
We experiencing a rapid change of consciousness, and our
religious congregations and priests, bishops and all Church leaders
need to be tuned into these changes so that they are not 'reacting'
to situations, but they may become proactive. This is not achieved
by input and knowledge, but by personal growth in psycho-spiritual
sensitivity. Here at the Institute of St. Anselm we have trained many
people in acquiring this psycho-spiritual sensitivity so needed in our
time. Mere fostering of knowledge of theology, scripture, canon law,
church history, psychology, sociology is no longer sufficient for the
pastoral workers in our time. Students need to go through a longer
process of psycho-spiritual growth.
The Church needs our support by providing trained personnel
to lead it meaningfully through the third millennium. We need to use
the depression that seems to be part of some countries due to priestly
and religious child abuse. By listening to the deep feelings of child
abuse that are expressed by the mass media, society as a whole and
responding to them in a constructive way we can turn this crisis into
a source of renewal for the Church and society. We must not think
that child abuse is just a problem of the Church, it is a problem of
society. The Church in some measure is being scapegoated, possibly
to take away the focus from incest that is much more common than
we realise.
We need to learn a language that people, and particularly
young people, understand. We need to find a way out of the vocation
crisis that exists in many countries in Europe. For this we need
happier and more enthusiastic priests and sisters. The "Good News"
must be proclaimed with more enthusiasm and conviction. This
can be achieved through a longer period of renewal for those who
proclaim the "Good News", in Courses that we offer in the Institute
of St. Anselm. At the concluding mass this year a participant stated:
"I came depressed to St. Anselms. I saw no meaning any more in
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religious life. I am now energised again and go with full enthusiasm
back into mission:' Have we become too work-oriented and not
enough growth-oriented? Why did Our Lord spent thirty years in
the family and only three years in ministry? Are there some lessons
for us to learn? My opinion is that many priests and religious are
so worn out that they are no longer able to be true witnesses to
the Risen Lord. A thorough Course of renewal and energising
has brought back many priests and religious to new vigour and
enthusiastic ministry.
The perceived insensitivity of the Church needs to be overcome
by a different form oftraining our priests and religious. Our teaching
on sexuality needs a presentation that is understood in our time. For
example, speaking of integration of sexuality as a process. We have
still not overcome our legalism. In our teaching and living we have
not found the balance of the place of suffering and joy in a Christian's
life. We need to make sure that we are less frequently misunderstood
when we make a stand with regard to many issues. Often it is a matter
of using the right language. Theological language is not understood
by most people, psychological language is now part of our culture.
The Church is a sign of Christ's presence in the world. Christ's
message is essential for the people of our time. Christ's message of
reconciliation, of bringing two people together, is the unifying force
that most people will accept out of their deepest desire and need
if, proclaimed empathetically, and followed through by sensitive
facilitation of the process of reconciliation. The Institute has
developed Courses for Reconciliation and we have started training
people as leaders for reconciliation. This to me is Christ's essential
mission into our world. This is the most needed message in our time.
The Courses given at St. Anselms will help to achieve in one
way or other the many goals set out above and thus will contribute
towards the Church becoming more compassionate, caring,
understanding and lovingly challenging. Is this not a needed Church
for our millennium?
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Some possible structures.
I have tried several ways to take the Institute into the future:
training early-retired lay people, setting up a religious society,
entrusting the Institute of St. Anselm to one congregation. None
of these attempts have been successful enough to take the Institute
into the future. Possibly the necessary structures for the Institute
of St. Anselm need to be similar to those of the Missionary Institute
London which belongs to seven missionary congregations. There
may be a need for a much wider basis to carry these ideas and
venture into the future. Thus, I appeal to lay people, bishops, bishops'
conferences, major superiors, provincials, past participants and the
Vatican. There may be lay people who would like to spend their life
for such a purpose. In fact, there are some that do exactly this at
the moment. I am sure if all the above-mentioned are interested in
taking this venture seriously, together we can achieve what I set out
below. My hope would be that many dioceses, congregations, orders,
would generously commit themselves to providing one staff member
or support this venture financially, and the Institute of St. Anselm
will train the members for this specialised work.
Many times participants, bishops and superior generals have
approached me to start an Institute of St. Anselm in other countries. I
am convinced that it is needed in any country in the world, however, I
have no personnel at my disposal. Therefore, with this article I appeal
to all those I have listed above to consider how they might provide
personnel whom we train at the Institute of St. Anselm, and who then
set up a centre in their own country, so that in years to come only
those who receive training as trainers need to come to St. Anselms in
England. It is important that these Courses should be given in other
languages, too.
My suggestion is that a congregation or a bishops' conference or
even an individual bishop takes responsibility for establishing such a
centre, and invites other congregations, dioceses to get involved in
providing trained staff. If they send the right person, the Institute
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of St. Anselm will be able to train them well at a low cost in the
span of four to six years. This is already being modelled here in the
Institute. It is a collaborative ministry for the Church, particularly
for the missionary Church. The Courses provide a deep conversion
experience that generates new energy and enthusiasm in priests and
religious.
I look forward to receiving many replies to this appeal from
bishops, bishop's conferences, major superiors, lay people from all
over the world so that we can implement what I consider an essential
ministry for the Church and society as a whole. I see the present 'St.
Anselm's as the alma mater for many 'St. Anselm's' all over the world.
This could be an enormous new spring for the Church and religious
life. People need to undergo this process of psycho-spiritual growth
in order to be able to foster it in them and in others. We must not
forget we have a powerful intercessor with God in the Late Cardinal
Hume for this ventures who told me in 1984: "Do it, do here, next
year!" I trusted God and started the Institute. Let us trust God and
enter this new venture together. What a wonderful millennium gift
to the church.
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SOME CONCERNS AND HOPES FOR
PRIESTLY AND RELIGIOUS FORMATION
Introduction
Since Vatican II most likely no topic has been more the centre
of attention in meetings of seminaries and chapters of Religious
than the topic of formation. Surely, many changes have been
introduced into the process of formation, particularly in the area
of human sciences. Subjects like psychology, sociology, economics
were introduced into the seminary curriculum. Structures have
changed. There was a move from a rule-oriented to a person-oriented
approach. Formators are being prepared in short courses of several
weeks or a year's course. Some may even prepare for several years to
become formators. Candidates are being assessed and now and again,
these assessments are being used and followed up in the process of
formation. Sometimes, ifthe candidate is not ready, a year outside the
formation centre or seminary is recommended and counselling and
therapy are provided. Documents on formation were produced and
many articles written on this topic. All these are signs of great hope.
Why do I think that there is still a need for further work or even more
articles? The title expresses it. The author is still concerned about the
present state of formation, in spite of all the changes introduced since
Vatican II.
Personal history of the author
I have spent most of my priestly ministry working in formation.
From 1968 to 1974 I was in a minor seminary as formator after five
years' experience in a missionary setting in two parishes in New
Zealand. In those most difficult years from 1968 to 1974 I saw the need
for further training for myself and inscribed in a course of sociology
in Trent, in northern Italy. After having received a doctor's degree
in sociology, I went to Salzburg University and studied psychology
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and updated my theology. At the same time, I was chaplain to sisters
and, for a short time, even novice master for the novices, since the
novice mistress was sick in hospital. I finished with a doctor's degree
in psychology and pastoral theology. Then I was appointed lecturer
of pastoral theology to the Missionary Institute London and after two
years I became the president. During this time, due to a crying need
the idea originated to provide some training for the various rectors
of the halls of residence. I introduced an in-service training course
for formators. However, I felt it was not enough just to support the
rectors. They needed to be better prepared for their work. Thus,
in 1985 under the auspices of the late Cardinal Hume I started the
Institute of St. Anselm to train formation personnel. Since then, we
have trained around 6500 priests and religious from many countries
in the world. The Institute that I founded over 35 years ago and of
which I am still the director has developed enormously since its
beginning. It is from this background of experience that I write.
Introduction of new subjects Into the curriculum
In many meetings and discussions about improving formation,
people became aware of the importance of the human sciences such
as psychology, sociology, economics, communication, etc. Thus,
they were introduced into the curriculum. Students would study
developmental psychology, social psychology, sociology, economics,
communication etc. The expectation was that they would complement
the studies about God with the studies about the human being and
society. Thus, the students did acquire besides the knowledge about
God knowledge about human beings and about human society. Did
this knowledge make them better priests or better religious? No, it
just made them more knowledgeable religious and priests. Did it
help them to relate better to God or to human beings? Some might
think, it did. I have serious reservations to answer that question with
'yes: If the knowledge helped them to improve their self-concept,
then obviously they became priests and religious with more self-
confidence.
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Constant abstract thinking a process resulting In alienation
from relationships to persons
The process of constant abstract studies, even of theology
and psychology, instead of facilitating the relationships with God
and human persons, may alienate them. People who are involved
in abstract thinking for years, lose because of their activity contact
with concrete reality. They see things in abstractions, rather than
in their concrete reality. They learn to relate to abstractions and
not to the persons of God or human beings. They may acquire
much knowledge about God and human beings. This abstract
knowledge, however, does not help them to relate better to God
or to human beings. On the contrary, they may turn away from
God because this abstract way of relating to God leaves them cold,
empty and unfulfilled. I am not surprised that some people who
study theology end up being agnostics or atheists. The object they
look at -God- is an object in their experience and not a person
unless they spend a considerable amount of time in meditation.
If they meditate, then their experience becomes an experience
of a person rather than an object. Thus, the very process of
abstract study of God can be a process of 'deformation' rather
than formation, if by formation we mean establishing a personal
relationship with self, others and God.
Just as the abstract study of theology by itself does not help
us to establish a deeper relationship with God, neither does the
abstract study ofpsychology help us to establish better relationships
with human beings. Thus, what we need is experiential theology
and experiential psychology or applied theology and applied
psychology. However, this is not what students receive in
seminaries or universities. Very few professors or lecturers can
apply their abstract knowledge to concrete reality and concrete
situations. This applied theology and applied psychology is what
religious and priests and those entrusted to them need. Thus, it
is necessary to train our seminary and formation staff to present
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their material in a concrete way, applied to concrete reality, in
a way that students can use it for their personal growth and
proclaiming the Good News.
Personal formation
It is important for those who come into formation that they
experience personal spiritual renewal or conversion. Thus, our
teaching needs to be presented in such a way that it nourishes the
students, candidates and novices spiritually and psychologically.
They need to undergo a spiritual psychological growth experience.
There are, however, few centres that provide this opportunity of a
deeper personal conversion on a psycho-spiritual basis. Some are
mainly spiritual and neglect the psychological dimension. Others
are mainly or exclusively psychological and neglect the spiritual
dimension. Both are important for a holistic formation. At the
Institute of St. Anselm, we have struggled to find the right balance
for this integration of psychology and spirituality. Several years ago,
18 Indian bishops followed a month's course justifying their coming
to Europe by acknowledging the fact that their courses in India
are either spiritual or psychological. "Here;' they said, "we find the
integration of the two in an experiential waY:'
The integration of psychology and spirituality needs to be done
in an experiential way by accompanying students on their psycho-
spiritual journey. Students, candidates and novices need to go through
this process of psycho-spiritual integration by accompaniment. Who
trains the trainers? Archbishop Madardo Mazombe from Zambia,
after the synod on priestly formation, came to the Institute of St.
Anselm to follow a seven weeks' course. Several times he mentioned
to me: "Often during the synod we asked who will train the trainers.
You are doing it here at the Institute:' Yes, we are doing it at the
Institute. However, a one- year course is not enough for this delicate
work of formation.
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Duration of formation of the formator
From my experience over fifty years, I am convinced that a three
years training and formation of the formator would prepare them
and equip them much better to help those entrusted to them in their
psycho-spiritual integration and growth. This was my original plan
when I set up the Institute of St. Anselm. However, I was aware that
most congregations and dioceses would not allow their personnel to
spend more than one year to prepare them for this most important
work. Now, fifty years on, I propose that three years preparation is
needed for most persons who go into formation to have the security,
integration, confidence, skills, awareness, spirituality which they
need as formators.
The first year helps them to acquire self-awareness and the
necessary skills for helping professions or formation. Many people
are passive aggressive and often completely unaware ofthis fact. Thus,
they can do much damage to other people without ever realising it
and being able to take responsibility for their behaviour. For priests
and religious this will no longer be tolerated by society in the future.
Thus, in our formation we need to help students to become much
more self-aware of the process which is going on in themselves and
how they relate and communicate with people. I could give many
illustrations about parish priests' behaviour towards parishioners and
parishioners reactions to them. "Father, our parish priest never greets
us. It would be so nice if only he would say 'Good Morning'. I know
he is shY:' "Our parish priest is a good builder, but don't contradict
him. He does not take it lightlY:'
In the second year they will consolidate what they have learned
in the first year and try to apply it in supervised accompaniment. In
addition, they familiarise themselves more with group work. After
many weeks of hard work, they become confident to accompany
people and to run growth groups. For some people this takes
a whole year, for others several months. When they become
a novice mistress or a rector of a seminary, they need to have a
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certain security, otherwise the strain becomes too much for them.
Obviously, individuals differ greatly.
The focus in the third year is the integration of psychology and
spirituality. Part of the training exists in integrating psychology and
spirituality. When they accompany people, they need to be aware that
the accompaniment needs to happen on both levels- the spiritual and
psychological. To know when to move into the spiritual and when
to move into the psychological level is a fine art and takes time to
learn. Both levels need dealing with in formation. There are many
psychological obstacles which block spiritual development. Pure
psychological development can become directionless without the
spiritual dimension. It will be deprived of its spiritual resources
and ultimate values. Therefore, we need the integration of both.
Pure spirituality often becomes a form of spiritualising everything
people encounter in their lives without working it through. However,
after years of spiritualising things the cost to health and growth is
enormous. There may be much repressed anger or sadness, lack of
zeal and enthusiasm. There may be a feeling of not being fulfilled
and happy. They may be terribly disappointed with God to whom
they gave their lives expecting some happiness and fulfilment in
return. Instead of that they feel "I am in the wrong place. Did I make
a mistake by becoming a priest or a religious?"
This integration of psychology and spirituality needs to happen
in an experiential way by accompaniment on both levels. To become
efficient in accompanying students and novices, formators need
much time. However, if the formator is able to accompany people
well, the diocese or congregation may get a hundredfold return in
more priests or religious and more fulfilled and happier people. Thus,
it is worthwhile to experiment with this venture of the Institute of St.
Anselm.
© Len Kofler
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Formation for the Religious and Priests of Today
I would like to thank Fr. Len Kofler for inviting me to speak
to all the participants of this important and significant encounter,
organised by the Institute of St. Anselm.
I accepted the invitation willingly because I have had the
privilege of knowing and deeply appreciating all the sterling
work this Institute is performing in the field of holistic formation
for religious and priests, particularly in the area of human and
spiritual formation. They are not only enriched in their own
personal life by what they receive here but they are then also able
to adequately prepare themselves in becoming formators, leaders
and evangelisers.
From this point of view, it seems to me that the Institute is
answering well to what the Church, Religious Orders, Congregations
and Institutes are requesting as regards the formation of their
members and also as regards the preparation of their formators. An
intervention by Pope Francis addressed to the Minor Franciscan
Conventuals on Monday, 17th June 2019 clearly outlines these
expectations and their modality within the present context.
"An adequate formation is necessary, a formative journey
which helps brothers to conform themselves more fully to Christ, a
holistic formation which touches and includes all the dimensions of a
person. It has to be a personal and permanent formation because is a
way of life. It is to be a formation of the heart which will change our
mode ofthinking, feeling and behaving. It is to be aformation towards
fidelity, well aware that nowadays we live in a transitory culture were
'the forever' is very difficult to come by and permanent choices are no
longer in fashion. As such, in this context, well grounded formators
are required. They are to be experts in listening and in knowing the
path which leads to God, capable in accompanying others on this path
(cf. St. John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation on Consecrated Life n.
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65 -66). They are also to be formators who are able to discern and to
accompany others. Only in this way will we then be able to partly halt
the haemorrhage of abandonment which has grasped hold of priestly
and Consecrated Life:'
Evidently, it is no longer a question of principles which are clear
in their objectives in all documents on formation and in the Ratios of
various Institutes but rather a know-how as to actually how to help
formation become transformation and not only information so that
in so doing, it may not only instruct but also build up.
It is still clear that formation is aimed at moulding the person
in such a way as to help him I her gradually conform more to Christ
by assuming his thoughts (1 Cor. 2, 16) and his feelings (Fil. 2, 5).
This is ultimately the result of following Him and imitating Him.
In this delicate and important task of the formation of Christ's
disciple, one can rightly affirm that the only Formator is the Holy
Spirit. Those who collaborate with Him are called to assume His
way of acting by means of a journey which does not impinge on
one's freedom in any way, which passes through the heart and
which aims towards those motivations which can liberate the
best capabilities within each person. However, they also must
have the capability of identifying and dealing with negative
experiences which can be traced back to the maternal womb or
to one's experience at birth or in one's infancy. They are to be able
to identify those possible wounds which hamper or condition the
human and spiritual growth of the individual even to the point of
leading him I her to a crisis in his I her project of life, that is, in
his I her fidelity to God. They are to help the person in question to
know himself I herself and to understand why he I she has certain
attitudes and reacts in the way he I she does.
This is exactly what the staff and team at St. Anselm works
upon and knows how to do so well, that is, to assist the person to get
to know himself I herself, his I her emotions (fears, desires, anger,
violence etc) and the reason behind certain types of behaviour and
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reactions. In so doing, the person learns how to positively integrate
them in such a manner as to help one's life become more whole,
serene, good and happy.
Listening to the participants and reading some of the written
testimonies left by persons who have either done part or the entire
program offered, I have remained truly struck by the very positive
opinion of the experience done. I have also remained impressed by
the benefits which the course also had within the Institutes to which
the participants belong to, which afterwards offer to collaborate
within the field of formation, both initial and ongoing.
This is why nowadays many congregations recommend
psychological help during the prenovitiate stage so as to get to
know their candidates better. This has become even more necessary
when one bears in mind that the new generation of Religious come
from a deeply fragmented culture, sometimes even beginning from
their own family of origin. Therefore, one's background formation,
which previously was of great importance because almost by natural
osmosis, it passed on certain values, attitudes, ways of relating etc,
alas nowadays this is not always the case. Hence, a personal and a
personalised formation process has decisively become very important.
It has been two generations since the chain of transmission of values
passed on by the family, which were then further developed at school
and the Church and which society also supported, has been severed.
The dramatic consequence of this scenario is the development of
more fragile persons who have many parts within themselves which
need integration.
We cannot forget the fact that the youths who come to knock
on our doors today, are youths of today with all their qualities and
virtues but also with their deficiencies and defects.
There is an ecclesial document on formation which although
not recent, is still magnificent. It goes back to 1990 and is still very
meaningful in many aspects, perhaps even more so today. It obviously
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refers to Religious Life in general rather than to Consecrated Life.
What I am referring to is the document Potissimum Institutioni.
n. 86 "Young people are "the hope of the Church:'(175) She
has "so much to talk about with youth, and youth have so much to
share with the Church:'(176) Although there are adult candidates
to the religious life, the majority of candidates today are between
eighteen and twenty-five years old. To the degree that they have
been influenced by what is conveniently called "modernity;' it seems
that some of their common traits can be identified with sufficient
accuracy. The portrait reflects a northern and western model, but
this model is tending to become universal in its strengths and
weaknesses, and each culture will add touches to it that are required
by its own uniqueness..:'
n. 87. "The sensitivity of young people profoundly affects their
perception of the values of justice, non-violence, and peace. Their
hearts are disposed to fellowship, friendship, and solidarity. They
are greatly moved by causes that relate to the quality of life and the
conservation ofnature:'(177) Likewise, they have a thirst for freedom
and authenticity. Generally, and at times ardently, they aspire toward
a better world; there is no lack of those who are engaged in political,
social, cultural, and charitable associations in order to contribute
to the betterment of humanity. If they have not been corrupted by
totalitarian ideologies, they are for the most part keenly interested
in the liberation of humanity from racism, underdevelopment, war,
and injustices. This attitude is not always -- at times is far from being
-- motivated by religious, philosophical, or political principles, but
the sincerity of these youth and the depth of their generosity cannot
be denied. Among youth may be found some who are marked by
profound religious sentiment, but this sentiment itself needs to be
evangelized. Finally, there are some, and these are not necessarily in
the minority, who lead a sufficiently exemplary Christian life and are
courageously engaged in the apostolate, already experiencing what it
means to "follow Jesus Christ more closelY:'
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n. 88. "Though this is so, their doctrinal and ethical frames
of reference tend to be relative, and to such an extent that they do
not always know very well if there are solid points of reference
for attaining the truth about humanity, the world, and things.
The lack of the teaching of philosophy in schools is frequently
a reason for this. Young people hesitate to say who they are and
what they are called to become. If they have some conviction
about the existence of good and evil, the meaning of these words
seems to be at odds with respect to what it was for preceding
generations. There is frequently a gap between the level of their
secular knowledge, which can be highly specialized at times, and
that of their psychological growth and their Christian life. Not
all have had a happy experience within their family, considering
the crises which have afflicted this institution, either where the
culture has not been deeply influenced by Christianity, where the
culture is of a post-Christian type where there is an urgent need
of a new evangelization, or even where the culture has long been
evangelized. They learn much through images, and the present
system of education encourages this at times, but they read less. It
thus happens that their culture is characterized by a nearly total
absence of an historical dimension, as if our world began today.
They have not been spared by consumerism, with the deceptions
which it begets. Succeeding, at times with difficulty, in finding
their place in the world, some let themselves be seduced by
violence, drugs, and eroticism. It is becoming less and less rare
to find young people among the candidates for religious life who
have had unhappy experiences in this last domain:'
n. 89. "One thus has an indication of the problems which
the variety and complexity of this human background poses for
vocation promotion and also for formation. It is the discernment of
vocations that is the concern here. Above all, in certain countries,
some candidates for the religious life present themselves because of
a more or less conscious search for social gain and future security;
others look upon the religious life as an ideal place for an ideological
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struggle for justice. Finally, there are others of a more conservative
nature who look upon the religious life as if it were a place for saving
their faith in a world which they regard as being hostile and corrupt.
These motives represent the reverse side of a number of values, but
they need to be corrected and purified.
In the so-called developed countries, there is perhaps above
all a need of promoting a human and spiritual balance based on
renunciation, lasting fidelity, calm and enduring generosity, authentic
joy and love. Here, then, is a demanding but necessary program for
those religious who are charged with vocation promotion and with
formation:'
Here we have a precious analysis with many enriching
elements, even though it is not systematic and even less
etiological in its layout because it does not seek out the causes
and furthermore, it reflects the situation of more than thirty years
ago (1990). It also ignores a not yet so evident issue ever present
in the field of formation. I am here referring to the exponential
growth of the means of social communication, especially as
regards possessing one's own personal mobile phone, with all the
immense implications this brings with it.
Without any doubt, it would be possible to continue to analyze
the "phenomenology of initial formation today", particularly as
regards the candidates for Religious Life. However, it would not be
right to solely delve deeper in the qualities and limitations of the
new generation of Religious candidates in their first formative years
and in their living out their vocation ... It is just as necessary to
tackle the issue of the persons who are to accompany them - the
formators.
Analogically, as regards to what has been said above, there
is a precious ecclesial document addressed to the persons who
are dedicated to accompany Religious candidates in their initial
formation stage. Although this document too was written some
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years ago, actually it is dated 4th November 1993, feast of St.
Charles Borromeo and addressed specifically to the Seminary
formators, it can undoubtedly be found useful to all formators.
It is entitled "Guidelines for the Preparation of Formators in
Seminaries". In listing the main characteristics which those who
dedicate themselves to the formation of priests and religious
should have, it quotes seven:
-A spirit offaith
-A pastoral awareness
-A spirit ofcommunion
- Human maturity and psychological balance
- Clear and mature capacity to love
-A capability to listen, dialogue and communicate
-Positive and critical awareness of the present culture
These seven elements are then obviously amplified, albeit
briefly, but in a very enriching manner. I will simply choose
one, among others, as an example. With reference to the "clear
and mature capacity to love" it affirms: "He I she does not refuse
gratitude, appreciation or affectivity but lives them without any
strings attached and without even conditioning his I her availability
to serve. Whoever is actually mature, will never tie others to himself
I herself. On the contrary, he I she will be able to cultivate in others
an ablative affectivity centered and based on the love received from
God in Jesus Christ. It always has to be in definitive reference to
Him:' (n. 35)
It is certainly not an exhaustive list. In fact, I would add a
fundamental element for every person dedicated to formation within
the Church: the capability to discern authentically and in a mature
way, which is never limited in adopting 'courses of action' which can
even lead to hamper freedom.
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Well, in this demanding field of formation and in the
qualification of formators, the Institute of St. Anselm is a point of
reference which deserves to be further known, appreciated and
sustained.
It is enough to look at the present courses, in spite that by going
back to the original ideas of training leaders and formators, the
number of courses has been considerably reduced.
- Diploma in Human Development, Leadership, Formation and
Community Building: this course is meant for bishops, major
superiors, parish priests, community and group leaders,
rectors of seminaries, members of formation teams, pastoral
workers ,,,, and it can be considered a foundation course
for all professional training. Students learn to improve their
helping skills.
- Sabbatical Course: similar to the programme of the Diploma
in Human Development, Leadership, Formation and
Community Buildingm, except for the skills training, the
course last six months and is meant for ex-superiors general,
ex-provincials, priests and religious who need more time for
reflexion on their work and rest before taking on another
assignment. They need to learn to let go of their old job,
before they are ready to start another one
- Certificate in Community and Pastoral Leadership: a seven
week Summer Course, it is an intensive course with people
from all over the world to study on this course.
- Diploma in Integrative Psychospiritual Growth Facilitation of
Groups: for a small group of the second year, it is run on an
apprenticeship-based system where trainees work alongside
senior members of staff as co-facilitators.
- Diploma in Transformational Pastoral and Community
Leadership and Individual Growth Facilitation: offered in
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the third year of the diploma course and whose purpose is
to prepare competent leaders and formators who can foster
growth in those entrusted to their care.
- EQ Body- Work Therapy: a two year's training course for body-
work therapists, which deals with the repressed emotions
which will be released through this form of therapy.
As you can see, it is an experience we cannot let die! Institute of
Saint Anselm needs all our support to continue to live and be a great
gift for the formation of formators and religious leaders!
Rome, lst May 2022
Fr. Pascual Chavez, SDB
Cover art copyright© Oswald Blassnig
Copyright ©2022 by Len Kofler MHM. All rights reserved.
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Fr. Pascual Chavez
Rector Major of the Salesians 2002 to 2014
Fr. Chavez is a Mexican, born in Real de
Catorce (San Luis de Potosi), a mining area in
the heart of northern Mexico, on 19 December
1947. On 8 December 1973, he was ordained a
priest. From 1975 to 1977 he studied in Rome at
the Biblical Institute where he obtained a licentiate
in Sacred Scripture. From 1989 to 1994 he was
the Provincial of the same province that included all of northern Mexico as
far as the United States. In 1995 he began his doctorate in Biblical Theology
and lived in Madrid-Carabanchel where he remained until he obtained his
degree at the Pontifical University of Salamanca (Spain). He has served as
the Regional Councillor for the Interamerica region, and participated in
many General Chapters in various capacities. He speaks several international
languages fluently and after his term as the Rector Major, he dedicates his
time to preaching of retreats and in spiritual animation.
"I have had the privilege of knowing and deeply appreciating all the
sterling work this Institute is performing in the field of holistic formation
for religious and priests, particularly in the area of human and spiritual
formation. They are not only enriched in their own personal life by what they
receive here but they are then also able to adequately prepare themselves in
becoming formators, leaders and evangelisers:'
"It seems to me the Institute is answering well to what the church,
religious orders, congregations and institutes are requesting as regards the
formation of their members and also as regards the preparation of their
formators:'
"Listening to the participants and reading some of the written
testimonies left by persons who have either done part or the entire program
offered, I have also remained truly struck by the very positive opinion of
the experience done. I have also remained impressed by the benefits which
the course also had within the Institute's to which the participants belong
to, which afterwards offered to collaborate with the field of formation, both
initial and ongoing:'
"In this demanding field of formation and in the qualification of
formators, the Institute of St Anselm is a point of reference which deserves is
to be further known, appreciated and sustained:'

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Fr. Len Kofler MHM D.Soc., D.D., PhD.
Supervisor, Accredited Psychotherapist, Group
Psychotherapist, Trainer of Supervisors and Accompaniers.
Father Len Kofler is Austrian by birth and was ordained
as a Mill Hill priest in 1959. He has been a counsellor for
40 years caring for clients with many different problems.
In 1985 he was seconded to Cardinal Basil Hume OSB, by
his General Superior, to found the Institute of St Anselm in
England where priests, religious and lay people came to train
to be leaders and formators. In 2018 after 33 years in the
UK the Institute of St Anselm moved to Ciampino Rome.
The Institute is accredited by ASIC and the programmes are
validated by NCFE in the UK.
ISBN 979-12-210-1309-2
f
9 791221 013092