St. Joseph Seminary Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Pastoral Formation The Seminary, from the first year of formation, favours a progressive initiation in concrete pastoral experiences. This aspect of formation is one of the fruits of the renewal of Sulpician pedagogy. These pastoral experiences encourage seminarians to be open to the lives of men and women, to the questions of faith and morals that they pose and to the important pastoral problems which priests and pastoral agents are called to confront on a regular basis. These experiences should insert a practical element in the seminarian’s prayer life and incite a new interest in studies, seeing their importance in the pastoral life of the Church. The pastoral formation attempts to facilitate, for the candidate, the acquisition of the heart and mentality of a true pastor as well as the development of a certain familiarity with the ministry and life of a diocesan priest. Pastoral activities contribute to the candidate's integration of his theoretical knowledge, to his acquisition and development of pastoral skills and to his progressive appropriation of the ministerial identity as pastor in the image of the Good Shepherd. (Pastores Dabo Vobis 57) The following elements are part of that process:

1. Courses The following courses offered at NTC provide pastoral formation in an academic setting: the Field Education Program, Theology and Practice of Preaching, Liturgical Theology, the Practice of Christian Ritual, Seminars in Religious Education, Practice in Ministry and Spiritual Direction. 2. Practice Preaching Before their internship, seminarians are asked to take the course on the Theology and Practice of Preaching. As well as the practicum exercises during that course, during his senior years of theology, the seminarian is asked to preach regularly to his fellow seminarians at Evening Prayer. 3. Pastoral Placements In the first year of theology, seminarians follow the Christopher Leadership Course. In the second and following years, seminarians are given a pastoral placement in a parish, school, hospital or other center where they are able to acquire and exercise aptitudes for pastoral ministry. 4. Pastoral Internship Year After two years of theology studies, the candidate will normally enter into a pastoral internship period of twelve months.  The candidate lives in a parish in his home diocese and undertakes different forms of parish ministry, under the direction of his diocese, pastor, and seminary internship directory. 5. Clinical Pastoral Education Seminarians are encouraged to enroll in a Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) unit or an Urban Pastoral Education (UPE) unit as part of their pastoral formation. This is usually done at the beginning or at the closure of the Pastoral Internship Year, but does not replace the normal requirements of the seminarian’s presence in the parish setting. Back to Formation Overviewhttp://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_25031992_pastores-dabo-vobis_en.htmlFormation.htmlshapeimage_2_link_0shapeimage_2_link_1