Church Documents on Priestly Formation

1. Second Vatican Council Documents:
   • Decree on Priestly Training (Optatum totius) (1965)

   • Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests (Presbyterorum ordinis) (1965)
   
   
2. Papal Documents:
   • Pope Pius XI, Encyclical Letter on the Catholic Priesthood (Ad Catholici Sacerdotii) (1935)

   • Pope Paul VI, Encyclical Letter on the Celibacy of Priests (Sacerdotalis coelibatus) (1967)

   • Pope John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation on the Formation of Priests in the Circumstances of the Present Day (Pastores dabo vobis) (1992)

   • Pope John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Veritatis splendor (1993)

   • Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Letter on Reserving Priestly Ordination to Men Alone (Ordinatio sacerdotalis) (1994)

   • Pope John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation on the Consecrated Life and its Mission in the Church and in the World (Vita consacrata) (1996)

   • Pope John Paul II, Encyclical Letter on the Relationship between Faith and Reason (Fides et ratio) (1998)
   
   
3. Other Documents of the Holy See:
   • Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education, “The Study of Philosophy in Seminaries” (1972) [Origins 1:39 (March 16, 1972) 655-659*]

   • Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education, “A Guide to Formation in Priestly Celibacy” (1974) [Origins 4:5 (June 27, 1974) 65-76*] (excerpts)

   • Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education, “The Theological Formation of Future Priests” (1976) [Origins 6:11 (September 2, 1976) 173-190*]

   • Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education, “Instruction On Liturgical Formation in Seminaries” (In ecclesiam futurorum) (1979)

   • Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education, “Circular Letter concerning Some of the More Urgent Aspects of Spiritual Formation in Seminaries” (1980) [Origins 9:38 (March 6, 1980) 610-619*]

   • Congregation for Catholic Education, “Guide to the Training of Future Priests concerning the Instruments of Social Communication” (1986)

   • Congregation for Catholic Education, “The Virgin Mary in Intellectual and Spiritual Formation” (1989)

   • Congregation for Catholic Education, Instruction Inspectis dierum, “On the Study of the Fathers of the Church in the Formation of Priests” (1989) [Origins 19:34 (January 25, 1990) 549-561*]

   • Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, “Directives on Formation in Religious Institutes” (1990)

   • Congregation for Catholic Education, “Directives Concerning the Preparation of Seminary Educators” (1993) [Origins 23:22 (January 27, 1994) 557-571*]

   • Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, “Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism” (1993), especially 192-195

   • Congregation for Catholic Education, “Directives on the Formation of Seminarians Concerning Problems Related to Marriage and the Family” (1995) [Origins 25:10 (August 10, 1995) 161-167*]

   • Congregation for Catholic Education, “Instruction to the Episcopal Conferences on the Admission to Seminary of Candidates Coming from Other Seminaries or Religious Families” (1996)

   • Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, “Circular Letter to the Most Reverend Diocesan Bishops and other Ordinaries with Canonical Faculties to Admit to Sacred Orders concerning: Scrutinies regarding the Suitability of Candidates for Orders” (1997)

   • Interdicasterial Instruction Ecclesiae de mysterio, “On Certain Questions Regarding the Collaboration of the Non-Ordained Faithful in the Sacred Ministry of Priests” (1997)

   • Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, “Inter-Institute Collaboration for Formation” (1999)

   • Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, “Starting Afresh from Christ: A Renewed Commitment to the Consecrated Life in the New Millennium” (2002)

   • Congregation for Catholic Education, “Instruction Concerning the Criteria for the Discernment of Vocations with regard to Persons with Homosexual Tendencies in view of their Admission to the Seminary and to Holy Orders” (2005)

   • Congregation for Catholic Education, “Guidelines for the Use of Psychology in the Admission and Formation of Candidates for the Priesthood” (2008)