Rome, May 10, 2006.  The XVI course for seminary faculty will take place from June 24-30, 2006 in Leggiuno, located in the province of Varese in northern Italy. 

An optional retreat, the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, is offered at the beginning of the course.  This is followed by a three-day seminar, which this year will focus on the theme of “The Mission and Profile of a Seminary Instructor.”  Afterwards, pastoral, theological, organizational, and pedagogical themes proper to the seminary will be addressed.

An ordinary day’s schedule includes a concelebrated Mass, communal recitation of Lauds and Vespers, three conferences, a group study, and a case analysis, as well as moments of fellowship and healthy relaxation.

A Short History

The seminary formators’ course began in 1991 in response to a desire of His Holiness Pope John Paul II.  To date, 1,073 faculty from over 90 countries and 492 dioceses have participated, including 5 bishops, 264 rectors, 54 vice-rectors, and 750 spiritual directors or formators.  31 of the priests who have attended the course have since been named bishops.  These include 2 archbishops, 18 bishops, 9 auxiliary bishops, 1 coadjutor bishop, and 1 apostolic nuncio, who are currently working in Mexico, Cuba, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, Colombia, Peru, Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Italy, Poland, Croatia, Slovakia, Romania, Belarus, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Burundi, Nigeria, Tanzania, Iraq, and the Philippines.

Besides the summer courses held in northern Italy, which are organized on the same dates each year, 11 national courses have also been held in Brazil, Columbia, the Philippines, Ghana, Peru, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Tanzania, and Venezuela.  About 350 formators have participated in these national courses.

For more information, contact:

The Sacerdos Institute, Regina Apostolorum Pontifical Athenaeum

Email: cfs@arcol.org