Claretian Formation

CHAPTER VII

TRAINING GUIDELINES

            As I indicated in the presentation, on several occasions I have been asked to clarify more the figure, role and functions of the Claretian trainer.  The specific initiatives I was asked to take included the drafting of a regulation regulating relations between the prefect and other persons in the training community, especially the superior and the treasurer, and to avoid misunderstandings and conflicts in the performance of the training mission[1].

            I have always refused to draw up such a regulation for several reasons. I believe that its elaboration and subsequent imposition would bring more problems than solutions. The regulation cannot cover the many circumstances in which a training community can be run. The regulation would strengthen the vitality of relations between the prefect and other members of the community, which should be fraternal, free and cordial. To regulate life too much is to annihilate it, to kill it, to make it sterile, would be to take away its creativity.

            To overcome these and other difficulties, I thought it would be better to give training guidelines based on the profile of the prefect, to serve as a guide for the missionary spirituality of the formative mission and as a model for dialogue between superiors, prefects and formators.  These guidelines will be effective if they are integrated into the apostolic spirituality itself and if practical rules are subsequently made, not from a congregational regulation, but from dialogue, agreement and consensus among all those involved in the formative process.  The guidelines for trainers include:

1. Apostolic mission. Being a prefect is an apostolic mission.  It is not a simple job or a burden, or a mere bureaucratic task.  It is the mission where the prefect must be carried out as a person and as a Claretian (in the same way as the other missionaries of the Congregation in their respective missions).  Therefore, he must love his mission knowing the great service that he is rendering to the Church and the Congregation.
2. Spiritual integration. The prefect must live his formative mission by integrating it into his Claretian apostolic spirituality.  Must constantly speak for the formands.  He must suffer for them;  the crosses are to be offered by their training;  must die every day for the formands to rise again (I Cor, 4, 10-12).  Living identified with Christ, the teacher of the apostles;  Illuminated and strengthened by the action of the Holy Spirit, first agent of formation, must be a faithful son of the Heart of Mary, our Mother and Formator.  The relationship between the trainer and the trainer must be deep, intense and lasting (as a branch and professional).  The prefect must understand that he is making children for his mother, Mary.
3. Testimony of life. The witness of life clear-tianfrom the prefect is fundamental in formation.  The trainer’s testimony, both positive and negative, has a decisive influence in both directions.  The prefect’s words of formation must be supported by his testimony of Claretian life;  Otherwise they will be useless, vain and empty, and even counterproductive.  Without personal life-testimony, the trainer has nothing to do, he has no echo in the training community.  Experience shows that the trainer’s testimony reinforces training action in such a way that sometimes words are not needed.  A trainer who speaks and encourages personal prayer, for example, if he does not bear witness that he is a man of prayer, will render his formative action useless.  In this sense, being a trainer is an incentive to personal fidelity.
4. Formador integral. The Claretian prefect is a full-sense trainer. He is entrusted with the personal and community animation of the integral and harmonious formation of missionaries.­  Does not train a facet of the trainee’s personality (physical education, academic training, etc.).  It takes care of the overall formation of the person in its physical, psychological, intellectual, social, cultural, religious and claretian dimensions.  Notwithstanding his overall responsibility, the prefect carries out his training responsibilities with the help of other persons (assistants, teachers, members of the training team, etc.).
5. Global responsibility. He is responsible for the training and disciplinary organization of the training centre.  It is his responsibility, taking into account the consultations and dialogues with superiors, training team and trainees, everything concerning the organization of formation (spiritual life and its dynamics, community life, pastoral action, instruction, etc.), and the discipline (external organization of the community, schedules, permission granted, distribution of tasks, etc.) of the training community.  The person responsible for organizing and running the training community is not the superior, the bursar or the academic training officer.  Although they have their own role, they are not responsible for organizing the training community;  the responsible is the prefect in communion with others.
6. Physical health care. The prefect must be very careful to ensure that trainees are physically healthy.  Poor and ill-maintained health may prevent the development of an adequate apostolic mission in the future.  Ensure that there is good and sufficient nutrition, sports, physical education, hygiene;  These are aspects which must be part of the training.  He must be vigilant to avoid physical and bodily excesses (in drinking and eating, eye care, studying, etc.) and diseases.
7. Attention to normality and psychological maturity. The prefect shall first ensure that the tests laid down in law and in the PGF are carried out to detect the psychological normality of trainees.  If any person needs appropriate personal psychological assistance, it will be provided.  He will be aware of the psychological maturation of the candidates.  When implementing the plan , be demanding and always seek the best and most enriching for the trainees.  A weak, light formation creates people who are loose and inconsistent, with little maturity to face the difficulties of missionary life.  If the trainee needs a maturing experience, such as an interruption of his career or a year’s work, it must be provided with an appropriate plan.  The trainees must avoid haste when making perpetual profession and accessing sacred orders.
8. Academic training. Currently, most of our graduates go to non-Clearden academic centers.  The prefect must be interested in following up the trainees’ studies.  Ideally, he should also be a teacher at the academic centre;  at least, he must make an effort to be present in the governing structures (board of governors, for example, or similar).  In addition to being a regular review with the trainee, it is necessary that you have a dialogue from time to time with the teachers at the school. 
9. Private studies. In keeping with our tradition, it should guide the so-called special studies of trainees during their career and future specializations taking into account their qualities and inclinations and the needs of the Congregation.  Provide whatever is necessary for the trainees to develop their special qualities or particular talents (literature, painting, music, languages, etc.).  This personalized training dimension is of the utmost importance and should not be neglected.  Within the unity of studies, it is necessary to diversify the formation according to the different personalities in order to the apostolic mission. 
10. Training instruction. The Prefect will provide the trainees in each training phase with a solid, doctrinal and practical food which responds to their personal needs, the demands of the present moment and their future responsibilities.  This is one of the most important functions that the prefect has and which has always been present in the congregational tradition.  The prefect must systematically offer, through a variety of methods (lectures, meditations, workshops, etc…) those elements of further training which are not available in other fields[2].  In particular, it must transmit and update all information concerning vocational processes;  the Claretian charism and the congregational spirit;  and the history of the past and present.  On the other hand, although he can count on the help of others, it is essential that the prefect himself should personally undertake this task.  These are moments of clear formative influence to transmit experiences, clarify criteria, foster missionary attitudes, etc… These are moments which form part of what I have called on other occasions (training courses) drop-by-drop pedagogy;  It is a very current and effective pedagogy if applied consistently and insistently.
11. Personal support. Vocational guidance is a fundamental dynamic of great formative importance.  In addition to group actions, the individual must be reached through personalised training[3].  The prefect must take this responsibility very seriously and cannot abandon it, however many occupations he may have[4].

      The prefect must personally accompany the trainees throughout the entire formation process to promote their growth and vocational fidelity, so that they are formed in religious life and in the spirit of the Congregation through personal dialogues with them.  Two types of accompaniment and dialogue[5]:

• The spiritual direction. The prefect (or teacher) is the person who offers the Congregation for the spiritual direction of the formandos as has been repeatedly stated throughout the congregational tradition.  This approach is applied in practice, always preserving the freedom of the trainee.
• The training dialogues. Personal dialogues between the prefect and the trainee on the progress of the trainee’s training process[6].  They are essential dialogues that must always be had.  Without entering into issues of conscience, these training dialogues cover the whole content of integral training[7]. 

12. Relations between the prefect and other members of the community (superior, economo, prefect for studies, teachers, etc.). In order to regulate these relationships, it is important to take into account certain criteria:

• It is essential that each person knows his or her own mission and the scope of its mission[8]. Ignorance is the mother of many errors and misunderstandings.  This is the first. 
• There is a need for the greatest possible dialogue between all those involved in training. Dialogue is essential to resolve problems, conflicts and misunderstandings and to foster learning unity.
• Good training projects must be developed where the skills of those involved in the training process are shown.
• Finally, in addition to the criteria identified, the type of people involved in training is very important. It is well established that many of the problems arising in this type of relationship depend on people, their temperament and character, their open mind, their ability to understand, etc.

13. Apostolic formation. Claretian formation is a formation for the mission.  Apostolic formation is, therefore, an essential and fundamental dimension of our formation.  This dimension must be present throughout the training process and must be reflected in all training projects. 

      My personal experience since I joined the Congregation (as a student, trainer, prefect general of formation) is that our centres have always been apostolic vibrating and the trainees have been very apostolic zealous; the apostolate has been and remains one of the great aspirations of our trainees since the same formative period. All this is, without doubt, the fruit of our missionary charism and a sign of fidelity to the spirit of our Founder. It’s a good sign. However, we must channel, integrate and form this apostolic strength of our trainees with some formative criteria:

• It is not a reductionist to talk about mission training. It is not just about apostolic actions and activities.  Formation for mission involves apostolic activities, theology and pastoral planning, and a good dose of theological sciences (theology, writing, morals, etc.).  These are indispensable.  Moreover, a good apostolic formation is not understood without a good theological formation.  Anyone who thinks that the theory is useless and that studying it is time wasted is a great clumsiness.
• Activities should be organized. Also the experience has made me see that apostolic activities is the worst organized in our centers[9].  It is done a lot but without order and without plan.  As requested by the PGF, a Systematic Plan of Apostolic Initiation must be drawn up.  This plan, which must cover the whole training process and must take into account the specific circumstances of the Major Agency, should include concrete experiences of poverty. 
• Experiences must have a clear formative meaning. This means two things: first, that the activities to be planned must be in function not so much of their apostolic value as of the formative aid for the trainee[10];  and secondly, that the activities must be integrated into the trainees’ spiritual life;  to integrate them into perfect unity of missionary life, avoiding activism and personal dichotomy[11]. 
• Presence of the formator in apostolic formation. His formative presence cannot be absent both in the elaboration of the apostolic plan and in its realization and evaluation.  Ideally, the trainer could also share one of the activities planned with a group of trainees.  The formator must also give a personalized dimension to the apostolic activity of the trainees;  This is possible at the planning stage and, above all, in personal evaluation with the trainee, whether in the spiritual direction or in the training dialogue.

14. Continuing training. The Prefect must take care of it, not only for personal reasons, but also in order to acquire ever greater training preparation and improve the service to training.  The trainees appreciate that the trainer is a person of quality, well prepared in his field, up to date and with personal and moral authority.  To do this, it must use all possible means at its disposal.  In a special way he must study personally every day everything concerning his mission (Claretian charism, spirituality, psychology and pedagogy).  For preparation in the Claretian dimension, you should participate in the courses that are organized periodically at the School of the Heart of Mary.

[1] Hay que decir que este problema no es nuevo en la Congregación. La historia congregacional nos recuerda que estos conflictos han existido siempre y han sido producido por la dinámica de la vida y las exigencias de la misión formativa.

[2] Cf. PGF 224-226, 228, 400 y Apéndice 3.

[3] El acompañamiento es esencial para estimular a los candidatos a crecer en la vida cristiana (ámbito donde se manifiesta la vocación), para ayudarlos al discernimiento vocacional, para acompañarlos en las dificultades ante las decisiones que ha de tomar y para evitar futuras frustraciones por la falta de discernimiento adecuado.

[4] Esta responsabilidad se ha descuidado en algunas partes de la Congregación con gran perjuicio de la formación. A algunos formadores les cuesta realizarla, especialmente por falta de preparación o capacidad y, sobre todo, por falta de tiempo y por estar empeñados en otras actividades. El prefecto no puede aceptar actividades apostólicas incompatibles con su función de formador.

[5] Los criterios y las orientaciones concretas actuales para realizar  ambos tipos los tenemos en el PGF 187-193. En cuanto a la periodicidad de los diálogos con el formador, depende de las circunstancias y de los momentos formativos. Un encuentro personal con el formador cada mes puede ser suficiente como norma general.

[6] Los formandos no tienen necesariamente que hablar en persona y de una manera sistemática con los superiores y ecónomos de las comunidades formativas. Es un error y una práctica antipedagógica que a veces se comete en algunos de nuestros centros; con ella se está sometiendo los formandos a una excesiva pérdida de la propia privacidad y libertad.

[7]

? Un punto de referencia para dialogar en los encuentros puede ser el proyecto personal. También pueden servir los aspectos que se indican en los distintos formularios del PGF, especialmente los Apéndices 4, formularios 1, 6, 8, 13. Para otros tipos de encuentros personales, cf. IVM (Manual del Novicio Claretiano), Apéndice 3.

[8] Normalmente en nuestros documentos congregacionales constan las competencias y funciones de los distintos cargos de la comunidad. Otras veces, son las tradiciones las que suelen determinar y fijar ciertas normas y estilos de actuar. Todo ello es fuente de información válida.

[9] Así como la vida espiritual, la comunitaria y la académica están normalmente bien organizadas, la vida apostólica se deja a veces al azar y a la improvisación.

[10] Este principio trae consecuencias prácticas, no siempre muy agradables para los formandos. Por ejemplo: a veces hay que sacrificar la continuidad de la obra o de la acción apostólica por el bien formativo del formando; otras veces, es necesario cambiar una acción apostólica para experimentar otras nuevas, etc.

[11] Para este tema cf. IVM, (Manual del Novicio Claretiano), La unidad en la vida misionera, cap. 15.