14 / 17
9
report, with the appropriate formation faculty. This report or an abbre-
viated version thereof may contain significant elements gleaned from
the full psychological assessment but should avoid the most intimate
details; it is appropriate that it include the assessor’s recommendations
for the applicant to succeed in the seminary formation program.
17
It is
important for the seminary to articulate in its policy how this material is
to be kept confidential and with whom it can be legitimately shared. In
addition, this communication of the assessment findings may be made
only when there is prior, explicit, free, and informed consent given by
the applicant prior to the psychological evaluation.
Some ways in which the psychological assessment can be helpful to
the formation team include the following:
1. To identify the presence of fundamental markers of human
maturity
2. To highlight strengths and internal resources available for for-
mation work and future pastoral ministry
3. To identify vulnerabilities that need to be addressed in the
course of formation
4. To confront the seminarian with reliable information about
himself that he may be tempted to resist
5. To note factors that will influence how formation staff can
most effectively work with the seminarian and offer the support
he needs
6. To help integrate the dimensions of seminary formation,
especially in reference to human formation, such as the impor-
tance of affective maturity for intellectual, spiritual, and
pastoral formation
Priestly formation requires the seminarian to face the difficulties
inherent in the development of moral virtues and the contraindications
between his conscious aspirations and the life he actually lives. The
entire formation team is there to assist him in this process. Thus, the
17 PPF, no. 57.