Education in Catholic Seminaries

Because of our rapidly changing society, it has become increasingly important, said the new rector of Taejon seminary, recently interviewed by both Catholic papers, to teach today's seminarians that despite all the societal changes there are truths and values that do not change. Korea has seven seminaries and although there is a drop from the past they are still doing well.
 
While engaged in the formation of priests as imitators of Christ, as persons who can respond to the times, the seminary cannot be oblivious to the many changes occurring in society, the rector said, but must strive to convey to its students what is unchangeable. Particularly important for priests are the unchanging goals of self-emptying, learning and service, which will continue to motivate our teachers and students, he said, with even greater emphasis placed on improving the quality of the educational and spiritual formation of the candidates. As the world has become more technologically sophisticated, the priests also must keep up with these recent advances, and our seminary professors, he added, will provide a mirror to our students so they can more clearly discern and respond to our changing times.This will be especially helpful for students here from abroad, who have the added burden of adjusting to a new culture.

Since the Korean Church has grown and prospered in recent years, the Church felt it was time to cooperate in the formation of seminarians from other countries. And today, Taejon seminary has the most foreign seminarians in the country, with most coming from Asia. After ordination; they will return to their country, and in this way the Korean Church is helping in the evangelization of many Catholics in these countries.

This year the seminary will sponsor a school for teaching courses on marriage and the family, which will be similar to those taught at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family. The students, future teachers of marriage and family studies, will be concerned with long-standing, troublesome problems in Korea such as suicides, abortions, bullying--in a word, violence.  

The rector hopes that priests, religious and laypeople who have completed their theology courses will be motivated to take these special studies in marriage and family, in preparation for leadership roles in these fields. The objective of the school is to pass along the ability to see sex and sanctity from a Gospel viewpoint, to discern in every human encounter a "theology of the body," and to strengthen the family, where many of our problems are unknowingly nurtured, and subsequently spread throughout society.