The Second Vatican Council’s Decree on the Training of Priests, Optatam Totius, begins by stressing the importance of “a priestly ministry animated by the spirit of Christ” in the renewal of the Church.[1] In the footnote of this same section, the council fathers stress even further that “the progress of the whole People of God depends in the highest degree on the ministry of priests.”[2] This is due to the reality that without priests we are devoid of the means of participating in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. However, the sole purpose of the priest in the Mass is not merely to recite the words of consecration over the bread and wine, thus transforming them into the Precious Body and Blood of our Lord. They also have the duty to expound upon the mystery of this wonderful Sacrament, as well as the other six, in the liturgical homily, of which Dei Verbum reminds us is to “hold pride of place” amongst Christian instruction.[3] Thus, the importance of priestly training and education. Just imagine the negative effect one poorly trained priest has upon the People of God. Specifically, in the poor instruction he imparts upon the congregation during the homily. Consider also, the effect that one properly trained priest will have in building up the Church and her people. How through proper training and education just one priest will transform the lives of thousands, if not millions, of the faithful to the light of Christ. The study of the Fathers of the Church provide a fitting and worthy model for how a priest should approach his ministry. It is true that the Fathers “differ widely in style and emphasis, but the fundamental project remains the same. Arguments about the doctrine of the Trinity, elaborate treatises on the nature of language, signification, and metaphysics, as well as homilies, sermons, and practical exhortations to spiritual purification—all these dynamic and developing features of early Christian theology were organized around the singular goal of maximizing the grip of Scripture on the imagination of the early Church.”[4] For this reason, the following paper will examine article 16 of Vatican II’s Decree on the Training of Priests in which it states that “students should be shown what the Fathers of the Church, both of the East and West, have contributed towards the faithful transmission and elucidation of each of the revealed truths.”[5] I will show how the Church Fathers are exemplars of the formation that this document sets out for priests by virtue of the holiness of their lives, their loyalty to the Church, their immersion in Scripture, and the way they did theology. However, before we can show the necessity of the study of the Fathers of the Church for priests, we must briefly highlight the principal stages in the development of this most important document.
The Decree on the Training of Priests went through many changes before coming to its final form. In keeping with the Council’s desire for continuity with what had gone before, “the new decree was to be for the Church today what the seminary decree of Trent was for the stormy age of the Reformation.”[6] However, the Church of the Tridentine era was not the same as the Church of the present. There had been much development in between. Yet, “continuity with existing traditions and the adaptation to present circumstances with their demands had to be harmonized.”[7] In the process of making this possible, the Preparatory Commission produced two documents. One was a Decree concerned with the fostering of vocations (Schema Decreti de Vocationibus ecclesiasticis fouendis) and the other was a Constitution that dealt with the training of seminarians (Schema Constitutionis de Sacrorum alumnis formandis).[8] The Central Commission later decided to shorten the length of both documents and eventually placed the schema on vocations as the first chapter of the Constitution on Priestly Formation. During the second session of the Council, the Constitution underwent further revision, the most important of which “was the strong emphasis on a new orientation in seminary education.”[9] In 1963, the schema was “thoroughly revised and shortened.”[10] During this time “many complained of what they considered the dry, juridical and somewhat negative tone of the document.”[11] Then on January 23, 1964 the Co-ordinating Commission made a drastic decision to reduce the entire schema down to a series of nineteen propositiones. The reason for this was the expected closing of the Council upon the completion of the third session. The text was then expanded to twenty two before it was once again given status as a complete document. However it no longer held the rank of “Constitution”, but was made a “Decree” instead. This was to be the final form of the document when it was promulgated on October 28, 1965.[12]
“Three norms are mentioned as having guided the decree: the laws that had proved themselves over long experience, the new orientations that had been won in the Council, and the concrete need of the world today.”[13] Some of the new orientations directing the Council were a return to the sources, Ressourcement, and a renewal of those sources, Aggiornamento. Another orientation of the entire Council was its Christo-centric view of the Church and its life. Hence it is not surprising to see that the first and second areas of study for a seminarian are Scripture and the Church Fathers. Article 16 of Optatam Totius, addressing the theological training of priests, “probably expresses most clearly the spirit of the decree.”[14] This article states:
“The following order should be observed in the treatment of dogmatic theology: biblical themes should have first place; then students should be shown what the Fathers of the Church, both of the East and West, have contributed towards the faithful transmission and elucidation of each of the revealed truths; then the later history of the dogma, including its relation to the general history of the Church; lastly, in order to throw as full a light as possible on the mysteries of salvation, the students should learn to examine more deeply, with the help of speculation and with St. Thomas as teacher, all aspects of these mysteries, and to perceive their interconnection. They should be taught to discern them, always present and effective, in liturgical actions and in the entire life of the Church. They should learn to seek the solution of human problems in the light of revelation, to apply its eternal truths to the changing conditions of human affairs, and to express them in language which people of the modern world will understand.”[15]
“The original text mentioned only ‘Patres.’ In order to emphasize explicitly the importance of Eastern theology, the text was made more specific through the modi: ‘Patres Ecclesiae Orientis et Occidentis.’”[16]
Why did the Council bother suggesting the study of the Fathers of both the East and West? What can such a study benefit future priests in their formation and in their continued ministry at the service of the People of God? Before we answer these questions, let us observe an objection to the study of the Church Fathers put forth by Antonio Orbe:
“At present, students know neither Greek nor Latin. If they are not even acquainted with Latin, it is utopian to provide them a formation in patristics. Translating the Fathers into modern languages impoverishes them, and renders many of their insights, and even their basic notions, quite unintelligible. Translation thus deprives the original terms of vigor and charm, since they are polyvalent in themselves and can be understood only in relationship to other analogous terms. Translations also impede making spontaneous comparisons between the text of Scriptures, the personal style of a particular author, and its similarity with the style of other Fathers or of conciliar statements. Thus, translations have limits of all kinds—exegetical and dogmatic—that block any endeavor to comprehend the Fathers. If mastering Latin is very important, then mastering both Latin and Greek is still more important. The great Fathers, as well as the great Councils, made use of Greek or Latin.”[17]
This is definitely a serious objection. Yet it is one that is somewhat addressed by the text of the document itself. In article 13 it states that students “should acquire a knowledge of Latin which will enable them to understand and make us of so many scientific sources and of the documents of the Church.”[18] We see that the council fathers recognized the importance of Latin for theological studies and also encouraged students in this area. The return to the sources that Vatican II envisioned would also necessarily involve the study of Greek in order to read the New Testament in its original language. A good understanding of both Latin and Greek, combined with a good translation of the works of the Fathers is sufficient enough for a solid study of patristics that the Decree on Priestly Training envisaged. Even if a student does not have the knowledge of Greek or Latin required for an intensive study, the Church Fathers are too important not to study, at least in a translation of their native language.
“The study of the Fathers of the Church has been regarded for centuries as a sine qua non in the formation of the Catholic theologian.”[19] This is because “as long as Christian theology is anchored in its normative tradition—i.e., seeks a continuity with credal and magisterial orthodoxy—it needs the study of early Christian thought in order to apprehend the origins of its understanding of God, Christ, humankind, the cosmic telos, and so forth.”[20] The age in which the Church Fathers wrote was a “time when the Christian religion became condensed into that basic format which is still recognizable today.”[21] The British Dominican theologian, Aidan Nichols explains:
“The age of the Fathers sees the working out of the creed. It sees the creation of the liturgies, both Eastern and Western. It sees the manifest emergence of the Catholic Church as an episcopally ordered communion of local Churches centered on the local Church of the city of Rome, animated by a sacramental system presided over by a threefold ministry of bishops, presbyters, and deacons. The patristic period was, then, the crucial period in the crystallization of Christianity in its confessional, doxological, and governmental structure—as creed, worship, and Church order.”[22]
Hence the utmost importance of the study of the Church Fathers in order to orient seminarians to the goal of priestly formation by their example of holiness, preaching, pastoral and catechetical roles, and exegesis.
Josef Neuner, in his commentary on the Decree, informs us that “It was in the spirit of the Council that the study of Scriptures had to be the first of the theological disciplines to be discussed.”[23] The Council itself gives witness to this spirit by weaving a chain of Scripture through all of its documents. Neuner goes on to say, “Apart from the actual study of Scripture, biblical thinking should also govern the daily reading of the Scripture, become the personal possession of the student and shape his whole attitude to life.”[24] This is precisely how the Church Fathers approached Scripture. They did not merely study it, but lived and breathed it! “Any student who picks up a treatise by one of the Fathers cannot but notice the intensely scriptural focus.”[25] The main emphasis of patristic theology is the handing down and presentation of revelation. Thus, “in order to appreciate the richness of revelation, the students must pursue it further in the chief phases of the tradition of the Church, in the patristics of the East and West…”[26] The priestly students are also called to “receive an accurate initiation in exegetical method.”[27] Here they have such examples as Origen, Augustine, Jerome, and John Chrysostom. These four alone provide a master class in exegetical method. However, all the Church Fathers served as “witnesses to a tradition inherited from the apostles, and scholars qualified to transmit and interpret in an authentic way the truths revealed within and beyond the Scriptures.”[28] The closeness of the Fathers of the Church to the original sources or revelation, i.e. the Apostles, makes their authority all the more great.[29] A close study of the exegetical methods of the Fathers will allow students to “avoid passing trends all the better if they link patristics with knowledge of the revealed sources.”[30]
Following the previous line of thought, we can examine other parts of Optatam Totius in light of the Fathers of the Church. One such example is the document’s statement that students “should love and reverence the most blessed virgin Mary, who was given as a mother to the disciples by Jesus Christ as he was dying on the cross.”[31] The Church Fathers are wonderful examples of filial love and devotion to Our Lady; from Ignatius and Irenaeus to Andrew of Crete and John Damascene. They protected Our Lady’s honor at all costs and never hesitated to come to her defense. One of the most celebrated patristic defenders and devotees of the Blessed Virgin was Cyril of Alexandria in his battle against the Nestorian heresy. See with what joy he extolled Our Lady:
“Hail, we say, O holy and mystic Trinity, who have called us together in this church dedicated to Mary, Mother of God. We hail you, O Mary Mother of God, venerable treasure of the entire world, inextinguishable lamp, crown of virginity, scepter of orthodoxy, imperishable temple, container of him who cannot be contained, Mother and Virgin, through whom it is said in the holy Gospels: ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ Hail, you who held the Uncontainable One in your holy and virginal womb! Through you, the Holy Trinity is glorified; the precious Cross is celebrated and adored throughout the world; heaven exults, the angels and archangels rejoice, the demons are put to flight, the devil, the tempter, falls from heaven, the fallen creation is brought back to paradise, all creatures trapped in idolatry come to know of the truth.”[32]
Seminarians too should have such joy when it comes to our Blessed Mother. They will find it among any of the Fathers who have taken the duty to compose words in honor of her.
Another example of how the teaching of Optatam Totius can be examined in light of the Church Fathers is the call for a greater attention to spiritual training found in article 8. The Decree states:
“students should learn…to live according to the standard of the Gospel, to be firmly established in faith, hope, and charity, so that the practice of these virtues may develop in them a spirit of prayer, may strengthen and protect their vocation and invigorate their other virtues, intensifying their zeal for winning all men to Christ.”[33]
“The Fathers, a good number of whom were monks, committed Christian ascetics, did not regard the life of prayer—conscious striving for union with God in Christ and his Spirit—as irrelevant to the practice of theology.”[34] Neither should a seminarian see a life of prayer as irrelevant for their formation and study as theologians. One can only hope to penetrate the mysteries of God by a theology that is done with an admixture of much prayer. Likewise, a priest cannot provide spiritual direction to his flock, unless he himself has developed a prayer life. A study of the Desert Fathers would be beneficial to any student on this matter.
The document goes on to say that “students should be thoroughly penetrated with a sense of the Mystery of the Church.”[35] To do so, a student must fully participate in the life of the Church and have a humble sense of obedience to the Vicar of Christ and their bishop. Here the document uses the words of St. Augustine, “A man possesses the Holy Spirit in the measure in which he loves the Church.”[36] The reason for this is because the Holy Spirit is the source of unity in the Church Who, as in the words of Augustine, joins us together “by charity, if we rejoice in the Catholic name and faith.”[37] St. Augustine’s concept leads to “a share in the whole life of the Church, which expresses itself not only in legal norms, but in the Church movements that renew it, because Christ is at work in them.”[38] We see from the history of the Church that Augustine and the other Fathers rejoiced immensely in the faith, some even to the point of martyrdom. Origen had such zeal for Christ that his mother had to hide his clothes so that he would not go out and become a martyr! Most priests today may never face martyrdom. Rather they are called to joyful humility in the service of the Lord and His people. “Students must clearly understand that it is not their lot in life to lord it over others and enjoy honors, but devote themselves completely to the service of God and the pastoral ministry.”[39] Antonio Orbe reminds us that the:
“holiness of the Fathers must be brought to mind…Their virtue as instruments docile to the Holy Spirit guarantees the truth of their testimony. This same Spirit, which inspired the sources of revelation, granted the Fathers, both officially as pastors of the Church, and individually as holy pastors, the dogmatic instinct that protected them from qualified errors and doctrinal deviations. Deviations are easier found in the thought of a man who is spiritually inattentive than in that of one who is united to God.”[40]
We see here that if seminarians, in their formation and beyond, stay close to Holy Mother Church and allow the Holy Spirit to guide them, they will have no fear of straying from the Church’s teaching when exploring her Mysteries and providing pastoral leadership to the flock.
Seminarians are also to be trained in the importance of the tradition of priestly celibacy in which “they bear witness to the resurrection in a future life.”[41] They serve as the eschatological anticipation of the age when we “neither marry nor are given in marriage.”[42] The Council here points to St. Ambrose, whose words serve as an encouragement to all priests:
“That which is promised to us is already present with you, and the object of your prayers is with you; ye are of this world, and yet not in this world. This age has held you, but has not been able to retain you. But what a great thing it is that angels because of incontinence fell from heaven into this world, that virgins because of chastity passed from the world into heaven.”[43]
Seminarians can also look to the words of St. Cyprian on this matter:
“…you should before all things maintain the barriers of chastity, as also you do: knowing that you are the temple of the Lord, members of Christ, the habitation of the Holy Spirit, elected to hope, consecrated to faith, destined to salvation, sons of God, brethren of Christ, associates of the Holy Spirit, owing nothing any longer to the flesh, as born again of water, that the chastity, over and above the will, which we should always desire to be ours, may be afforded to us also, on account of the redemption, that that which has been consecrated by Christ might not be corrupted…For you adorn it while you exhibit it; and in its exercise you set forth its more abundant praises, being made its ornament, while it also is yours, each lending and borrowing honor from the other. It adds to you the discipline of good morals; you confer upon it the ministry of saintly works. For how much and what it can effect has on the one hand been manifest by your means, and on the other it has shown and taught what you are wishing for…Chastity is the dignity of the body, the ornament of morality, the sacredness of the sexes, the bond of modesty, the source of purity, the peacefulness of home, the crown of concord.”[44]
Seminarians are to embrace the state of celibacy with gratitude as a “precious gift of God which they should ask for humbly and to which they should hasten to respond freely and generously, under the inspiration and with the assistance of the Holy Spirit.”[45] By doing so, they will have a greater defense against temptations to stray away from their calling of a celibate life. The Fathers faced these same temptations, but overcame them with an increased love of the state of life in which they were called. The many exhortations from the Church Fathers to standing firm in the vow of celibacy can serve as a welcomed reminder of the noble fulfillment of the call.
The seminarian is also encouraged by the council fathers to have recourse to St. Thomas Aquinas as a teacher and guide in the practice of theology and philosophy. There was much discussion on the floor concerning exactly what the role of St. Thomas was to have in priestly formation. “Cardinal Leger wanted the text to cite St. Thomas Aquinas as a master and model for all those studying theology. ‘In this way,’ he said, ‘the doctrine of St. Thomas will not be imposed, but rather the scientific and spiritual approach will be extolled whereby he creatively utilized the knowledge of his day in the service of the Gospel.’”[46] This is a key point here. Instead of affirming the entire content of St. Thomas’ theology, the student is called to approach theology in the manner in which Aquinas did. Thomas was a master at the theological method and the synthesizing of the mysteries of Christianity. He used whatever resource from the tradition of the Church he could find that contained truth. “It is only on the basis of tradition that the actual systematic work of theology can begin which seeks to penetrate speculatively the entire content of the revelation that has been handed down and to grasp its inner connections.”[47] St. Thomas was keenly aware of this which is why he had frequent recourse to the Fathers of the Church in his theology. It is said that “on a celebrated occasion, Thomas Aquinas declared that he would exchange all of Paris for a certain commentary of the fourth-century archbishop of Constantinople, John Chrysostom (ca. 347-407), on St. Matthew’s Gospel.”[48] Would that seminarians felt this way about any one Church Father’s commentary on Scripture! Aquinas loved the Fathers and the faith of Christ which they conveyed. This was a reason why the Angelic Doctor “left a catena, or patristic anthology later called the catena aurea or ‘golden chain.’”[49] This patristic anthology left by Aquinas is an invaluable resource for any student seeking to study the Fathers. If a seminarian approaches the Fathers with the knowledge and love that St. Thomas did, he will be richly rewarded and his priestly ministry will have a firm foundation for handing on of the faith and the building up of the Church.
In the course of our examination of the Second Vatican Council’s Decree on the Training of Priests, Optatam Totius, we have seen that the document itself went through quite a bit of revision and rewriting before reaching its completed form. The original two documents came together to form an extremely important Decree which has implications for the entire People of God. We also examined various parts of the Decree in light of article 16’s call for a greater study of the Fathers of the Church, both from the East and West. We saw that the Church Fathers are the exemplar of exegetical method, spirituality, love of Our Lady, pastoral life, and dogmatic theology. The Fathers were the developers of the Creeds of Christianity and any seminarian should be familiar with their involvement in the tradition of the Church and the means by which they defended her against all kinds of heresies. With a firm foundation in the Fathers, a priest can be confident in his teaching of the faithful in the context of the liturgical homily and in the every day pastoral situation. They will be provided with a formation that leads them to a greater love of the Mother of Our Lord, her Son and our Savior Jesus Christ, and His Bride, the Church. Let us be thankful and rejoice for all the wonderful priests who have been so formed and have given so much glory to God Almighty!
© 2007
Bibliography
Ambrose. “Concerning Virgins, Book 1, Chapter IX, 52-53.” In Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, vol. 10, Second Series, edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, translated by H. De Romestin, E. De Romestin, and H.T.F. Duckworth, 363-387. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2004.
Augustine. “On the Gospel of John, Tractate XXXII, 8.” In Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, vol. 7, First Series, edited by Philip Schaff, translated by John Gibb and James Innes, 7-452. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2004.
Cyprian. “Of the Discipline and Advantage of Chastity, 2-3.” In Ante-Nicene Fathers: The Writings of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325, vol. 5, edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, translated by A. Cleveland Coxe, 587-592. Peabody, Ma: Hendrickson Publishers, 2004.
Cyril of Alexandria. “Homily IV Preached at Ephesus Against Nestorius.” In Mary and the Fathers of the Church: The Blessed Virgin Mary in Patristic Thought, edited by Luigi Gambero, translated by Thomas Buffer, 247-248. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1999.
Flannery, Austin, ed. Vatican Council II. vol. 1, The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents. Northport: Costello Publishing Company, 1996
Nichols, Aidan. The Shape of Catholic Theology: An Introduction to its Sources, Principles, and History. Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1991.
Neuner, Josef. “Decree on Priestly Formation.” In Commentary on the Documents of Vatican II. vol. 2, edited by Herbert Vorgrimler, translated by Lalit Adolphus et al., 371-404. New York: Herder and Herder, 1969.
Norris, Frank B. Decree On Priestly Training of Vatican II: Commentary. Glen Rock, NJ: Paulist Press, 1966.
Orbe, Antonio. “The Study of the Fathers of the Church in Priestly Formation.” In Vatican II Assessment and Perspectives, vol. 3, edited by Rene Latourelle, 361-377. New York: Paulist Press, 1989.
Reno, R.R. “The Return of the Fathers.” First Things, no. 167 (November 2006): 15-20.
Wiltgen, Ralph. Rhine Flows into the Tiber: A History of Vatican II. Rockford, IL: Tan Books, 1985.
Young, Robin Darling. “Texts Have Consequences.” First Things, no.91 (March 1999): 40-43.
[1] Optatam Totius, Introduction in Austin Flannery, O.P., ed., Vatican Council II, vol. 1, The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents (Northport: Costello Publishing Company, 1996), 707. All subsequent references are to this edition and will be cited as OT.
[2] Ibid., footnote #1.
[3] Dei Verbum 24, 764.
[4] R.R. Reno, “The Return of the Fathers,” First Things, no. 167 (November 2006): 17.
[5] OT 16, 719.
[6] Josef Neuner, “Decree on Priestly Formation,” in Commentary on the Documents of Vatican II. vol. 2, ed. Herbert Vorgrimler, trans. Lalit Adolphus et al. (New York: Herder and Herder, 1969), 371.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Ibid., 374.
[10] Frank B. Norris, Decree On Priestly Training of Vatican II: Commentary (Glen Rock, NJ: Paulist Press, 1966), 15.
[11] Ibid., 16.
[12] Ibid., 16-17.
[13] Neuner, “Decree on Priestly Formation,” 378.
[14] Ibid., 397.
[15] OT 16, 719-720.
[16] Neuner, “Decree on Priestly Formation,” 398.
[17] Antonio Orbe, “The Study of the Fathers of the Church in Priestly Formation,” in Vatican II Assessment and Perspectives, vol. 3, edited by Rene Latourelle, 361-377 (New York: Paulist Press, 1989), 365.
[18] OT 13, 717.
[19] Aidan Nichols, The Shape of Catholic Theology: An Introduction to its Sources, Principles, and History (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1991), 200.
[20] Robin Darling Young, “Texts Have Consequences,” First Things, no.91 (March 1999): 40.
[21] Nichols, The Shape of Catholic Theology, 202.
[22] Ibid., 203.
[23] Neuner, “Decree on Priestly Formation,” 397.
[24] Ibid., 398.
[25] Reno, “The Return of the Fathers,” 17.
[26] Neuner, “Decree on Priestly Formation,” 398.
[27] OT 16, 719.
[28] Antonio Orbe, “The Study of the Fathers of the Church in Priestly Formation,” in Vatican II Assessment and Perspectives, vol. 3, ed. Rene Latourelle (New York: Paulist Press, 1989) 362.
[29] Ibid., 363.
[30] Ibid., 374.
[31] OT 8, 714.
[32] Cyril of Alexandria, “Homily IV Preached at Ephesus Against Nestorius,” in Mary and the Fathers of the Church: The Blessed Virgin Mary in Patristic Thought, ed. Luigi Gambero, trans. Thomas Buffer (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1999), 247-248.
[33] OT 8, 714.
[34] Nichols, The Shape of Catholic Theology, 205.
[35] OT 9, 714.
[36] Ibid.
[37] Augustine, “On the Gospel of John, Tractate XXXII, 8,” in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, vol. 7, First Series, ed. Philip Schaff, trans. John Gibb and James Innes (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2004), 195.
[38] Neuner, “Decree on Priestly Formation,” 388.
[39] OT 9, 714.
[40] Orbe, “The Study of the Fathers of the Church in Priestly Formation,” 375.
[41] OT 10, 715.
[42] Luke 20:35.
[43] Ambrose, “Concerning Virgins, Book 1, Chapter IX, 52-53,” in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, vol. 10, Second Series, ed. Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, trans. H. De Romestin, E. De Romestin, and H.T.F. Duckworth (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2004), 371.
[44] Cyprian, “Of the Discipline and Advantage of Chastity, 2-3,” in Ante-Nicene Fathers: The Writings of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325, vol. 5, ed. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, trans. A. Cleveland Coxe (Peabody, Ma: Hendrickson Publishers, 2004), 588.
[45] OT 10, 715.
[46] Ralph Wiltgen, Rhine Flows into the Tiber: A History of Vatican II (Rockford, IL: Tan Books, 1985), 224.
[47] Neuner, “Decree on Priestly Formation,” 398.
[48] Nichols, The Shape of Catholic Theology, 200.
[49] Nichols, The Shape of Catholic Theology, 200.
