Four transitional deacons will be ordained priests May 28 for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. Father Joseph Taphorn, rector of The St. Paul Seminary, where the ordinands studied and underwent formation for the priesthood, said the ordination is a celebration “for the whole local Church.”
“It really is a proper celebration for the entire local Church to gather around the archbishop and these men who will be presented for orders,” he said.
Father Joseph Taphorn | Courtesy Archdiocese of Omaha
Father Taphorn recently joined “Practicing Catholic” radio show host Patrick Conley to discuss formation of priests for an episode that debuts 9 p.m. May 20 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM.
Father Taphorn said he marks the modern era of priestly formation at 30 years ago, with Pope St. John Paul II’s exhortation titled “I Will Give You Shepherds.” The pope reflected on four pillars of priestly formation, today called “four dimensions”: human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral.
“It’s … another way of saying that we want … a well-rounded person,” Father Taphorn said.
While intellectual formation is important, he said, with a need for knowledge and expertise in theology and philosophy, “just as important, maybe more important, would be the human dimension, the spiritual dimension, the pastoral dimension,” Father Taphorn said.
The human dimension has received a lot of attention recently, he said. St. John Paul II called it the foundation, the building block upon which everything is built, Father Taphorn said. The priest must order his humanity such that it is a bridge for others to Christ, he said, and not an obstacle.
As a sacramental Church, one that has ministers, “we see that the priest stands in the place of Christ … but he does that in his humanity,” he said. “That’s how he connects with other people,” through his personality, talents, gifts, conversations, teachings, friendships, how he leads, Father Taphorn said.
Seminary staff devote a lot of time in formation to the human dimension, he said, “and properly so.”
Human formation has gotten more complicated in a certain sense, Father Taphorn said, with changes in family life even from a generation ago.
“Certainly, the impact of technology, devices, attention span — kind of all the things we learn about, with the current generation never having not had the internet or pocket phones and devices,” he said. “It’s kind of created a whole new way of trying to be human … and not that any of these are bad in and of themselves,” he said.
With technology, many times people look ahead or wait for the next “fix” or post. But God’s grace is always in the present moment, he said. “And so just an opportunity to reflect on, sort of, not the virtual world, but the real world. And that can be a challenge, I think, for young people today …”
The original purpose and first task of The St. Paul Seminary was to form a young man for the priesthood, Father Taphorn said. But many seminaries, including the seminary in St. Paul, over the years also recognized the need to form a broad range of leaders in the Church, he said.
“We’re able to bring that expertise to bear and provide that formation … across the spectrum of leadership in the Church,” Father Taphorn said. That includes men destined for the permanent diaconate who attend the seminary’s Institute for Diaconate Formation, he said. Many programs for lay leaders are offered, including master’s degrees in various theological disciplines, with some broad based, he said, including the Catechetical Institute’s two-year Pillars program focusing on the Apostles Creed, sacraments, moral life and prayer.
During the interview, Conley asked how people can support new priests. To hear Father Taphorn’s response, and listen to the full interview, tune into this episode of “Practicing Catholic,” which also repeats at 1 p.m. May 21 and 2 p.m. May 22.
To learn more about The St. Paul Seminary, visit semssp.org.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes interviews with three transitional deacons who are preparing for their ordination to the priesthood May 28: Deacon Connor McGinnis of All Saints in Lakeville, Deacon Joseph Nguyen of St. Anne/St. Joseph Hien in Minneapolis and Deacon John Utecht of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Hastings.
Listen to their interviews after they have aired:
Recent Comments