Priestly Formation in Africa Today A Study of Eight Religious Congregations in Nairobi City-Kenya

Abstract

Priestly formation has always been and remains one of the basic concerns in the life of the church. It is her objective to form, in the best way possible, the young men whom God has called to his service and for the salvation of his people. Priestly formation has passed through many tribulations. It has been shaped and reshaped in order to offer a proper strategy of serving God. In the process of growth and attaining its goal, the church has worked tirelessly to improve some structures that were becoming obsolete without forgetting her identity as counter witness to the world. This is why, we are reminded that the church is: Throughout the history of the church, various approaches to priestly formation have been adopted. The aim was to assist the future priest in facing the challenges of the different periods, providing him with the necessary skills and developing new strategies for effective evangelisation. With this in mind, we are motivated to embark on this project. The theme "Priestly Formation in Africa Today" was our choice precisely because of the present difficulties facing formation programmes. It has been noted that, the formation of religious priests particularly, suffers several setbacks. This is due to the fact that most of the congregations covered by our study are still under expatriates, hence very western.