The Integral Human Formation of Candidates for the Priesthood At the request of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, a working group of priests and laity studied the programmes of priestly formation operative in the country. Almost all the members of the group had already been involved in the formation of priests or religious. Some of them had also been specially trained in the area of human growth and development or in the helping profession.
The document which this group elaborated proposes a vision of formation that pays particular attention to human maturation and the process of growth towards it. In the past, it might have been possible to presume that account was being taken of such aspects of growth and development in explicit, theoretical or systematic ways. In seminaries or houses of formation, efforts were made to treat aspects of human maturity, as well as possible, in keeping with the insights, generosity and talents of those entrusted with this responsibility. As it looks toward the future, the committee's report offers a definition of its conception of what integral human formation is. In doing so, it offers guidelines for fostering a renewal of the ways in which candidates for the priesthood and religious life are trained.