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are expected to double their effort of vocation accompaniment through having dialogue with the
seminarians by means of online communication platforms. The situation must not be a hindrance to the
“bonds between formators and seminarians that must be marked by a sense of fatherhood and fraternity”
(ibid., 52). With the help of technology and the internet, formators can still provide for the spiritual and
liturgical needs of the seminarians except for the sacrament of reconciliation which the seminarians must
avail through their parish priests. Therefore, the RFIS’s statement, despite the pandemic, is still fulfilled:
“the seminarians’ transformative journey involves the whole community” (ibid., 65) – the formators, the
family, and the seminarians.

CONCLUSION
The pandemic has caused so many difficulties that we are only given two choices: either we stop or
continue living our lives. The fact that we are in the “new normal” means that many things have changed,
from practicing social distancing to following all the health protocols directed by experts. The “new
normal” gave us a different perspective on how we should live our lives. Instead of making a detour, we
are called to face squarely the challenges brought by the pandemic. The RFIS states that “the challenge
of contemporary culture” (ibid., 84) and this “new normal” is part of it. The development proposed by the
RFIS calls for a deeper contemplation on the program of formation especially in this time of the pandemic.

Seminary formators are given the task to formulate a formation program that would be suitable to
the context of the new normal way life. Archbishop Socrates Villegas, the Chairman of the Episcopal
Commission for Seminaries, provided the General Guidelines for Seminary Formation during the COVID-19
as a guide for seminaries in creating their own particular formation program suitable to the new normal
but without neglecting the important aspects of seminary formation. With seminarians unable to return
to the seminary, the formators brought the formation at the homes of the seminarians. Seminarians
are expected to follow the seminary rules and regulations as well as the structured daily schedule. They
actively participate in prayers and the Holy Eucharist which are broadcasted live through social media
platforms. Parents guide the seminarians at home, and they are also asked to give objective evaluations
that would help the formators to assess and to process the seminarians individually during their dialogues.
The program may seem to be a huge undertaking, including the difficulties of having online classes, but
it never falls short to the demands of the RFIS to give highest importance to the integral formation of
seminarians. In conclusion, the new normal pushed seminary formation to find new ways to maintain
solid integral formation of seminarians through the foundation provided by the Ratio Fundamentalis
Sacerdotalis Institutionis.

References:

Congregation for the Clergy. 2016. Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis: The Gift of Priestly
Vocation, Vatican City: Vatican Press.

John Paul II. 1992. Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis, Retrieved 15 October 2020 from
http://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_25031992_
pastores-dabo-vobis.html.

United Nations Development Program. 2020, COVID-19 pandemic: Humanity needs leadership and
solidarity to defeat the coronavirus, Retrieved 15 October 2020 from https://www.undp.org/content/undp/
en/home/coronavirus.html.

Villegas, Socrates B. D. D. 2020, Guidelines for seminary formation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Retrieved
15 October 2020 from https://cbcpnews.net/cbcpnews/guidelines-for-seminary-formation-during-the-
covid-19-pandemic/.