Vatican to host international conference on priestly formation

Vatican News

Around a thousand individuals from around the world will gather in Rome in February for a conference on clerical formation.  

Brazil will be the most represented nation, followed by Mexico, Italy, Poland, and the Philippines. Priests, consecrated individuals, and laity from Iceland, Burundi, El Salvador, China, Guatemala, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine, and over 60 other countries will also be present.

The conference – which will have the theme "Rekindle the Gift of God That Is Within You" – is being sponsored by the Vatican’s Dicasteries for the Clergy, Evangelisation, and Eastern Churches.

Collaboration with local Churches

The International Conference, aimed at diocesan, regional, and national coordinators for priestly formation, as well as those interested in the field, aims to initiate a process of collaboration with local Churches around the world.

The conference will take as its starting point a survey sent to all Episcopal Conferences in recent months, and the contributions made by participants before and during the conference.

A key text will be Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis, "The Gift of the Priestly Vocation," a foundational document on priestly formation from 2016.

Synodal methodology

Each theme to be discussed will be introduced with two or three brief presentations, followed by the sharing of good practices and discussions in smaller language groups.

With this workshop-like approach, the conference hopes to offer a paradigmatic experience of ongoing priestly formation, which is increasingly being conducted in a participatory and synodal style.

The proceedings, taking place at the Auditorium Conciliazione - directly underneath Vatican News' headquarters - will be spread over five days, from the 6th to the 10th February.