Fabio Favata PIME
Introduction
Besides the decreasing number of vocations to the priesthood in the Catholic Church and the reduction of the number of faithful attending the Sunday Mass, it is evident that one fundamental issue is the caliber of priests. The reports and empirical studies regarding the scandal of sexual abuse of children by Catholic clergy in Western countries (among them: Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse 2017; Dressing et al. 2021; French Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church, CIASE 2021) confirmed the presence of serious problems among the priests and stressed the urgent necessity to have a radical reform of Human Formation in the training to priesthood. Similarly, during the 76th General Assembly of the Italian Episcopal Conference (Vitale 2022), besides the Christian education of youth, four areas emerged as extremely urgent: ongoing formation of priests, formation of seminary formators, the preparation of the new document regarding the seminary formation (Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis), and the protection of minors and vulnerable persons. Previous studies on seminarians and priests (i.e., Parappully 2006; FABC 2010; John Jay College of Criminal Justice & Catholic Church 2011; Rosamma – Thomas 2012; De Pieri 2015) showed weak self-identity, low self-esteem, lack of commitment, severe depressive and anxious traits, affective and psychological immaturity, including psychological addictions (i.e., sex, alcohol, gambling). Seminarians and priests are youth and men living in this society, sharing the same psychological fragmentation typical of post-modernity (Baumann 2007; Raush 2021). Every seminarian and priest carries his psychological background and personality, being influenced by his own family of origin, childhood experiences, and environmental factors (i.e., cultural, social, and political situation). Hence, when investigating the seminary formation for the priesthood it is important to consider and respect the complexity of the issue. My doctoral research at the Institute of Psychology at the Pontifical Gregorian University (Rome, Italy) was part of a project of the Centre for Child Protection (CCP) which aimed at investigating the status of the Human Formation Programs in the Catholic seminaries around the world, to improve them and contribute to the prevention of sexual abuse of minors perpetrated by clergy. Specifically, my research was conducted between 2019–2023 and explored the current status of the Human Formation (HF) in the priestly formation in Mainland China. In this paper, I will just present and discuss some of the main findings, together with their limitations and possible implications for the formation in the seminaries in the future.
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