OMAHA, Neb. – In an effort to support Pope Benedict XVI’s proclamation of the Year for Priests, a designated time to encourage and foster “spiritual perfection” in priests, the Institute for Priestly Formation will offer a 10-week summer program to equip diocesan seminarians and priests with ways to further guide the people of their parishes and dioceses.
Father Richard Gabuzda, executive director of the Omaha institute, described the program as an initiative to “help diocesan seminarians and priests learn how to pray in such a way that they meet God in the midst of everyday busyness.”
The institute, located at Jesuit-run Creighton University, is expecting a record 175 diocesan seminarians to participate in the program.
The pope, in announcing the special yearlong observance, stressed the importance of seminarians and priests passing down, especially to the younger generation, a “correct reading” of doctrinal texts.
He went on to say that priests also must be “present, identifiable and recognizable – for their judgment of faith, their personal virtues and their attire – in the fields of culture and charity which have always been at the heart of the church’s mission.”
The institute, now in its 14th year, offers multiple programs in spirituality and theology and works to support vocations.