Pope Francis asks to pray this month of May for the formation of religious men and women and seminarians.
In a video released on April 30, the Holy Father affirms that each vocation is a “diamond in the rough” that must be polished, worked on and “given shape in all its faces.”
“A good priest, a nun, must first of all be a man, a woman trained, worked by the grace of the Lord,” says Pope Francis.
Furthermore, he points out that they must be “people aware of their limits and willing to lead a life of prayer, of dedication to the witness of the Gospel.”
For the Holy Father, its preparation must also be comprehensive, and “it must be developed from the seminary and the novitiate, in direct contact with the lives of other people.”
“Training does not end at a certain moment, but continues throughout life, over the years integrating the person, intellectually, humanly, emotionally, spiritually.”
According to Pope Francis, also “their preparation to live in community, life in community is so enriching, although at times it can be difficult. Because living together is not the same as living in a community,” he highlights.
At the end of the video, Pope Francis asks “that men and women religious and seminarians grow in their vocational path through human, pastoral, spiritual and community formation, which leads them to be credible witnesses of the Gospel.”