Tower Topics ~ Spring 2002

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Finding forgiveness in seminary formation

Forty-five seminary spiritual directors from across the nation came to Conception Abbey Nov. 1-4 for the annual conference of the Federation of Seminary Spiritual Directors. Jesuit Father George Aschenbrenner, author and director of the Jesuit Center for Spiritual Growth in Wernersville, Penn., was the keynote speaker. His topic was forgiveness in seminary formation. Father Aschenbrenner from 1985 to 1991 directed the Spiritual Formation Program at North American College in Rome. Before that he served as director of novices for the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus. Following the conference he sat down for the following interview. His answers have been condensed.

Why is forgiveness in spiritual direction so important in this day and age?

There’s a natural shyness and bashfulness about owning up with any specificity to sinfulness. As long as there is this confusion and bashfulness around sin, then we’ve taken the heart out of forgiveness.

I wonder how many people in the world today say, “I’m pretty good. I don’t have much I need to be forgiven for.” But my point is that it is forgiveness that determines an appropriate attitude in the mind of a priest as he serves. It gives him a positive presence – not an overwhelming presence or a clerical, domineering presence. A lot of people say, “Don’t get into sin so much; you’re overstressing it.” But that’s very unhealthy. To throw sin out and downplay it is going to have serious effects in the attitude and presence of young priests.

What tangible results will we see if young priests don’t have that forgiveness in their formation?

Clericalism can be born of that. A priest may give off an attitude that says, “You all are here to respect me. You stay in your place. I’m in charge here.” Again, this can be a good man. He may not even be aware of how he’s coming across. I think if he recognizes that he’s as sinful as anyone else and that he has also been as blessed as much as anyone can be in the forgiveness of God, he’s going to present himself in a different way.

For example, there are people who never apologize. They’re not even aware of it. Well, if you never apologize then you haven’t failed; it’s always somebody else’s fault. Again, this is an unconscious dynamic.

Someone who really experiences forgiveness, that individual knows he’s weak, that he’s failed, but he also knows that God has been good to him. He will be stirred to serve, but not in a domineering, controlling way.

Are we seeing a lack of understanding of God’s forgiveness in the Church today?

I think we are. I need to stress that I’m talking about something more than just trying to get people to go to confession more frequently. The topic is much larger and has greater implications than that, but confession is certainly part of it.

We have to ask, Why aren’t people going to confession as much? I think they are thinking, “Why do I want to keep thinking about my sins,” or “I don’t want God to get mad at me.” There’s a very unhealthy sense of how God views a sinner. That has led people to stay away from the sacrament. They don’t take God’s love seriously enough, so they don’t have a healthy sense of sin. We are looking at the effects of that.

I think we are also looking at priests who were raised on an unhealthy overstress on sin, and that may come out in their preaching.

Father George Aschenbrenner

You have mentioned it’s proper in some cases to suspend the sacrament of confession.

Yes. I think you have to be ready for confession. There are a lot of people, young and old, who really feel bad about themselves. They feel lousy. They feel they are terrible sinners. That’s unhealthy. They’re not ready to confess sin. They don’t have enough of a sense of God’s love.

How can those people prepare for confession?

They have to have a more detailed, particular, unique, lived experience of how much God loves them, to know that every single breath they breathe is a gift from a loving God. Most people will say, “I know God loves me,” but it’s not very concrete, it’s not very detailed, and therefore their sense of sin is not very concrete. That’s a hard and fast principle: If you have a lively sense of God’s love, you have a lively sense of sin.

If forgiveness is a healthy part of priestly formation, how will Catholics experience this in the parishes?

They’re going to have priests who preach God’s love more than condemnation for sin. They’re going to have priests who are not arrogant, who are much more humble, priests who will meet them as a brother. They’re going to have priests who are kind and loving rather than standoffish. It’s going to affect parishes because if they like the way Father is with them, they might be that way with their children, with their families. It will just keep growing.

You’ve mentioned that forgiveness in formation will help make better confessors. What is a good confessor?

It would be interesting to find out what seminary spiritual directors think a good confessor is. I think sometimes in days past, and I don’t want to exaggerate this, there was a view that crept in that a good confessor is someone who won’t let people get away with things.

A good confessor is an imitation of Jesus, and Jesus is always forgiving – always. He is not a pushover, but always forgiving. Therefore, a good confessor is a good forgiver. He’s always able to facilitate the forgiveness of God in the presence of Jesus. That means he understands the dynamics of God’s forgiveness.

Is there something dioceses can do to better prepare young men for seminary?

Yes. We need a pre-seminary preparation program. In religious life we have an associate program. They start to see a spiritual director and get into some of this stuff before they enter the novitiate.

There are vocation directors in every diocese. I don’t know if each diocese has a clearly delineated pre-seminary program that will take the guys where they are and get them ready for seminary.

It doesn’t make sense if a guy comes along and says he feels called to be a priest and then we send him right to seminary. There needs to be quite a bit of preparatory work before starting seminary.

How can seminaries help the dioceses with pre-seminary formation?

They could ask for it. They could point out the need for it. If spiritual directors haven’t already done it, I urge them to be in contact with the vocation directors and bishops. They could tell them that the men showing up at their seminaries are basically good people, and in the long run they should be in the seminary and will eventually become good priests. But it would be better if some work would be done before they show up on the front steps. Seminary formation directors could sit down with the vocation directors and talk about what should make up that program. I think the vocation directors and bishops would listen.

Isn’t there a tension between the need for this pre-seminary formation and the drive to recruit priests and get them into understaffed parishes?

I’m sure there is. That comes up in my conversations with spiritual directors. It varies from diocese to diocese.

I’m not a bishop; I don’t sit in that chair and I don’t know all the pressures of that position, but I think it is very short-sighted to rush a seminarian through seminary so that we can get as many priests as we can as quickly as possible. To do that rather than lay serious, spiritual foundations isn’t going to pay off in the long run.

One final question. How does the future look for seminary formation?

I see signs of development, growth, hope, optimism. In certain dioceses numbers are slowly increasing. That’s a good sign, but it’s not the only sign. We have to be careful that we don’t get into numbers too much.

What I think is even a better sign is that spiritual directors and people on the faculties and staffs of seminaries are understanding some of these issues and talking about them. I see a growing interest and concern about the spirituality of the diocesan priesthood.

I will have a book coming out next spring from Loyola Press about the spirituality of the diocesan priesthood. In religious life we’ve always had a novitiate, which is not an academic experience. Historically, on the other hand, seminary has begun with heavy academics, and spirituality was a part of it. But now, there are entire spirituality programs that are being inserted into seminary training. These are all good signs for the future.

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