Goals

“Permanent formation is a requirement of the priest’s own faithfulness to his ministry, to his very being. It is love for Jesus Christ and fidelity to oneself. But it is also an act of love for the People of God, at whose service the priest is placed.”

(Saint John Paul II, Post Synodal Exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis, n. 70)

The goals of the Institute for Continuing Theological Education are the same as the Pontifical North American College: Excellence in Human Formation, Spiritual Formation, Intellectual Formation and Pastoral Formation (the four pillars of priestly formation). This is because, according to Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis, “the term ‘ongoing formation’ is a reminder that the one experience of discipleship of those called to priesthood is never interrupted” (The Gift of the Priestly Vocation, IV.b.80).  Of course, on-going formation in a house of priests, such as is ICTE, has the highest respect for the wisdom and experience that each priest brings. Indeed, the wisdom that each priests brings and shares with his brother-priests is itself the irreplaceable feature of on-going formation of priests.

The Four Pillars of ongoing formation: