Chrism provides integrated, ongoing formation and support for priests, bishops and seminarians.
Human Formation & Leadership
In Pastoro Dabo Vobis, John Paul II acknowledged human formation as critical for the priesthood, saying, “The whole work of priestly formation would be deprived of its necessary foundation if it lacked a suitable human formation.”
Seminary provides men with built-in fraternity, mentorship, and formation, but post-ordination, many priests feel as if they “went off a cliff” when suddenly they don’t have these supports and also find themselves lacking leadership skills they did not learn in seminary. As one young pastor put it, “All of a sudden, I was the CEO of a multimillion-dollar organization and had a line of people at my door looking to me to solve deep problems in their lives that as a priest, I don’t always know much about.”
Build authentic fraternity and practical skill development through leadership cohorts of priests. Within a couple of years, these groups can provide a critical mass of priests and leaders in the diocese with a long-lasting path to brotherhood, and a set of leadership skills that gives them more confidence and zeal in their ministry. This demonstrates a commitment to positive priestly support from the bishop and aids in building unity and collaboration among the presbyterate.
Mental Health & Healing
The life of a priest is unique in that his personal life and priestly ministry are deeply intertwined. Success in one’s ministry flows from a priest’s spiritual and psychological grounding.
Priests are just as prone to mental health problems and burn out as the average person, but their unique calling and vocation as well as complicating factors such as being in positions of high authority and responsibility calls for a specialized response. Many solutions, such as treatment centers for priests are cost-prohibitive and often create their own set of problems, as they pull a priest out of his diocese for services and may end up creating tension and division between the priest and diocesan hierarchy.
Specialized psychological care grounded in Church teaching. We provide an ongoing partnership to provide evaluation, treatment, and consultation for struggling priests, allowing them to receive treatment locally. Starting with an initial assessment, our goal is to create a plan to lovingly support a priest’s rehabilitation and healing based on the three pillars of human formation, spiritual growth, and mental health care. This approach will allow priests to remain present in their diocese, be supported by their family and brother priests, and apply their counseling treatment in real-time.
Spiritual Health & Renewal
A priest must always be growing in Divine intimacy. His relationship with God however, is not just for him.
A priest’s heart and spirituality are contagious to his flock, and he is therefore responsible for cultivating a heart that is pure and open to God’s will. But this is not accomplished alone. Priests are in great need of ongoing formation from others through spiritual direction.
A surprising number of priests do not engage in regular spiritual direction. There are several reasons for this. One reason is that priests don’t know who to turn to for spiritual direction. Another issue is that priests don’t always trust other clergy from their own diocese due to fears of judgment or gossip.
Chrism provides an inter-diocesan network of spiritual directors so that priests across the country have access to effective spiritual direction. Chrism will also provide a compatibility assessment and make several recommendations of potentially compatible directors and directees for effective spiritual direction.
If you are a priest and are looking for formation, support and fraternity, click here to learn more.
If you are a diocesan leader and are looking for formation and support for your priests or seminarians, click here to learn more.
“The world looks to the priest, because it looks to Jesus! No one can see Christ; but everyone sees the priest, and through him they wish to catch a glimpse of the Lord! Immense is the grandeur of the Lord! Immense is the grandeur and dignity of the priest!”
-St. John Paul the Great