Leadership Roundtable urges fully implementing U.S. bishops’ guide for ongoing formation of priests

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Leadership Roundtable welcomed the vote Friday, June 16, 2023, by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to approve a national guide for the ongoing formation of priests and released the following statement urging the full implementation of the guidance:

“Participation in ongoing formation over a lifetime of ministry is a cultural imperative for our Catholic clergy. We at Leadership Roundtable welcome the passage of the Guide to Ongoing Formation for Priests and urge every diocese to fully implement its directives. 

Since our inception, we have provided ongoing formation to pastoral leaders and to date more than 1,000 priests have participated in our Toolbox for Pastoral Management — a week-long formation experience from which priests emerge with the tools they need to effectively lead the ministry entrusted to their care. 

We’ve heard from both new and experienced pastors just how essential and impactful ongoing formation is for their ministries. We also know how priests barely have the chance to learn how to be a priest, never mind how to lead a parish before they are appointed as administrator or pastor of a parish or indeed multiple parishes.

Dioceses are increasingly recognizing the need to equip their priests to be pastors. We welcome this new Guide to Ongoing Formation and the recognition by our bishops that priests need not just training in how to be pastors, but a framework for ongoing formation at each phase of ordained ministry and life.”

About Leadership Roundtable: In partnership with lay, ordained, and religious leaders and organizations across all sectors of the Catholic community in the United States and Rome, Leadership Roundtable seeks to elevate and implement best practices in management and leadership to establish a culture of co-responsible, servant leadership for a healthy, thriving Church in the U.S.

About the Toolbox for Pastoral Management: The Toolbox for Pastoral Management helps priests to build their competencies and bolster their confidence to lead. Pastoral leaders who strengthen their managerial skills, and learn how to access the skills of those around them, are less stressed, and have more energy to devote to ministering to their congregations, preparing homilies, and caring for those in need.