MISSION THEOLOGY IN THE 2016 RATIO FUNDAMENTALIS
Directing Seminary and Missionary Formation According to the Ratio Fundamentalis

The Ratio Fundamentalis of 2016 is a missionary document for the formation of seminarians of our times. It is meaningful guide for formation especially in responding to the “signs of the times” and “interpreting them in the light of the Gospel” (cf GS 4). As it is seen as a missionary guide in the formation of future priests, it has missiological themes that will help seminarians reflect, react and move themselves toward fulfilling the missionary vocation of the Church.

1. Priestly Vocation as a Gift- The Priesthood is not only a gift to be received; it has an intrinsic value to be shared. Mission is manifested in the response that follows the receiving of the gift. Thus, the initial missionary response is formation. The gift of vocation has to be appreciated and to be nurtured in a systematic priestly formation. The document sets out at the outset: “The gift of the priestly vocation, placed by God in the hearts of some men, obliges the church to propose to them a serious journey of formation.” The Church guides and forms seminarians in their journey of formation. This journey has to be understood as missionary response and spirituality enabling a seminarian to be a fitted pastor for his future ministry. However, the Holy Spirit who is the principal agent of mission accompanies the seminarian in preserving and acting on the gift he received. The Second Vatican Council reminds us: “Through the inspiration and help of the grace of the Holy Spirit let them freely and generously hasten to respond to this gift” (OT 10).

2. Four Elements of Formation Grounded in Missionary Spirit- The Ratio Fundamentalis of 2016 explicitly reminded homes of formation to take the four elements of formation namely: human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral as one integral reality “grounded in community and missionary spirit.” It is therefore understood that seminary formation is the period of developing the gift of mission which is a “journey of discipleship” that has already begun in Baptism. As an integrated journey of formation, it is likewise an integrated journey of mission because by humility and obedience, which are important virtues of mission, the seminarian or even the priest gives himself to Christ through “the gift of self to the Church.”

3. The priest-disciple is sent back to the Community. Since seminary formation is rooted in community life, the priest is sent back to the community as a pastor to guide it and to serve it. As seminary formation is communitarian in character, therefore a priest is sent as a missionary to the community. When seminary formation develops in a context of missionary and community spirit, the priest becomes integrated into the community of priests and is likewise at the service of the People of God. According to the Ratio Fundamentalis serves and guides the community, “formation clearly becomes missionary in character” and a “true formative community.”

4. Seminaries form missionary-disciples. The Ratio Fundamentalis clarifies that the goal of missionary formation is to form missionary disciples. In other words, the elements and the levels of formation have to be missionary in character which the document specifically expects namely: a) missionary disciples who are “in love” with the Master, b) missionary disciples who will be shepherds with the “smell of the sheep,” c) missionary disciples who live in the midst of the community to bring the mercy of God to them.

5. Adapted and Contextualized Seminary Formation (Ratio Nationalis)- The Ratio Fundamentalis follows the principle of adaptation and contextualization in formulating a method of formation that will be suited to a particular culture and context. To encourage a Ratio Nationalis in every local church and country is a great advancement of missionary spirit and endeavor. If the Ratio Nationalis will be made, these advices are to be taken into consideration: a) the Ratio Nationalis should properly prepare and form seminarians to face the “challenges of our times” (RF 7) b) the Ratio Nationalis has to ensure the necessary harmonization across the whole country bearing in mind any cultural diversity that may exist (RF 7) c) the Ratio Nationalis has to pay attention to local circumstances.

6. The Fostering of Vocations belongs to the Mission of the Church- The proper fostering and promotion of vocations belong to the mission of the Church. The promotion of vocations is not to be understood as the work of those who are in the parishes and in the hierarchy but it is the duty of the entire Christian community. Optatam Totius 2 clearly stated that “the duty of fostering vocations pertains to the whole Christian community, which should exercise it above all by a fully Christian life” (OT 2). Thus, the missionary spirit and action are clearly manifested on how each Christian and the community foster priestly vocation. In doing so, the community becomes missionary “it is the mission of the Church “to care for the birth, discernment, and fostering of vocations, particularly those to the priesthood” (RF 13).

7. Inculturated Seminary Formation for Indigenous Peoples- The missionary spirit of the Ratio Fundamentalis takes into account vocations coming from indigenous peoples. This is an advancement. The Ratio Fundamentalis says: “special attention needs to be given to vocations among indigenous peoples: they need a formation which takes into account of their culture. While receiving a proper theological and pastoral formation for their future ministry, these candidates for the priesthood should not be uprooted from their own culture” (RF 25). The document commented that by the presence of such peoples of indigenous origins requires the process of “inculturation of the Gospel” and “the richness of their culture must be adequately respected” (RF 25).

8. The priesthood and the Christian Community is animated by the Spirit for mission. The Ratio Fundamentalis mentions the inseparability between the priesthood and the Christian community when speaking about the animating grace of the Holy Spirit in missionary activity of the Church. As the Christian community is “brought together” (RF 91) by the Holy Spirit, so too, the Ratio Fundamentalis hopes that the priesthood should be animated by the Spirit. Thus, the Ratio Fundamentalis reminds us that it is the missionary drive that is an essential element in the priesthood and it is “the missionary drive concerns those called to the ministerial priesthood even more particularly, as it is the goal and the horizon of all formation” (RF 91).

9. Mission is a thread that binds, animates, and gives life to the dimensions and elements of priestly formation. Priestly formation has also to be viewed from the perspective of mission. Mission provides the venue to live fully the ministry that the individual who had been purposedly “formed, humanly, intellectually, spiritually and pastorally” (RF 91). The seminarian is formed and is “called to have a missionary spirit, that is to say a truly “catholic’ spirit, which, beginning from Christ, reaches out to all so that ‘they may be saved and reach full knowledge of the truth’ (1 Tm 2:4) (RF 91).

10. Dialogue is an important missionary disposition and activity that has to be nurtured among seminarians. Since a priest is agent of communion and a man of communion, therefore he should be a man of dialogue. The Ratio Fundamentalis presents various forms of dialogue that the seminarian should develop in the course of his priestly formation: a) dialogue with God. The seminarian should be a man of prayer; a man of dialogue and communion with God; b) dialogue with people. The seminarian has to be trained to dialogue with the people entrusted to his care. The Ratio Fundamentalis says: “in contemplating the Lord, who offered His life for others, he will be able to give himself generously and with self-sacrifice for the People of God” (RF 41); c) dialogue with the world. The seminarian should be able to dialogue with the current changes and challenges in the environment he is serving. The intellectual formation they acquire should enable them “to enter into fruitful dialogue with the contemporary world, and to uphold the truth of the faith by the light of reason, thereby revealing its beauty” (RF 116); d) dialogue with members of other religions. The pastoral formation of the seminarians should assist the seminarians in forming them to agents of dialogue especially those belonging to other religions and affiliations. The Ratio Fundamentalis says that “because pastoral care is also extended to the non-practicing, and non-believers, and those who profess another religion, seminarians should learn how to enter into dialogue and how to proclaim the Gospel of Christ to all…” (RF 121).

11. Courses in Missiology are to be Offered in the Seminary- The Ratio Fundamentalis recommends missiology courses to aid seminarians in their preparation and competence to face the challenges of contemporary society. Since seminarians are to be formed as missionaries, the Ratio Fundamentalis says: “in a context of increasing human mobility, in which the entire world has become a ‘global village’, a course in the study of missiology cannot be omitted…” (RF 171) Optatam Totius 16 says also that seminarians “also be introduced to a knowledge of other religions which are more widespread in individual regions, so that they may acknowledge more correctly what truth and goodness these religions…” (OT 16).