The primary goal of initial formation is not merely to equip the formandi with numerous techniques, tools, or pastoral methods, but rather to lay a solid foundation for their progressive configuration with Christ and participation in His mission. As our Superior General, Fr. Mathew Vattamattam, states: “The amount of knowledge acquired and the many skills incorporated into a missionary’s life are worthless if his life is not a credible witness to the joy of the Gospel. Claretian formation must take into account both the content (what is learned) and the process (how learning is integrated into life), as well as the action of grace in the person” (Presentation to the General Plan of Formation).
In each of these stages, we strive to form our younger brothers according to the guidelines of the new GPF, approved in 2020, and in response to the challenges and needs of evangelisation in today’s world. Following the mandate of the General Chapter, we seek to ensure that this formation is personalised, communal, inculturated, transformation-centred, and mission-oriented (QC 88).
Currently, in our Province of Fátima, we have 15 young men in various stages of initial formation.
● In Harare (Zimbabwe), we have a formation centre, Claret House, which hosts four young aspirants taking their first steps in the Congregation. Some are studying Philosophy, while others are preparing to enter these studies.
● At our formation centre in Granada (Spain), there are currently four professed students. Two are studying Theology, while the other two, from Zimbabwe, are learning Spanish to continue their Theology studies, which they began in Morogoro (Tanzania).
● At the Theologate of Morogoro (Tanzania), which belongs to the Delegation of St. Charles Lwanga, two Zimbabwean students are also pursuing Theology studies.
● In different communities of the Province, located in Spain, Portugal, and Zimbabwe, five students who have completed their Theology studies are currently undergoing pastoral experience before moving on to specialisation studies and preparing for perpetual profession or ordination.
