Papal letter encourages seminarians, all Christians to read literature
August 05, 2024
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CWN Editor's Note: Pope Francis has encouraged seminarians—and indeed, all Christians—to read novels and poems “as part of one’s path to personal maturity.”
“Time spent reading may well open up new interior spaces that help us to avoid becoming trapped by a few obsessive thoughts that can stand in the way of our personal growth,” the Pope wrote in his letter, dated July 17 and released August 4.
“Indeed, before our present unremitting exposure to social media, mobile phones and other devices, reading was a common experience, and those who went through it know what I mean,” he continued. “It is not something completely outdated.”
The Pope expressed regret that “a sufficient grounding in literature is not generally part of programs of formation for the ordained ministry ... With this Letter, I would like to propose a radical change of course.”
In 2016, under Pope Francis’s leadership, the Vatican published a revised document on the formation of seminarians, on which episcopal conference have based their own revised programs of priestly formation. The 2016 document lacked any explicit reference to the role of literature in the formation of seminarians. It replaced a 1985 document, issued during the reign of Pope St. John Paul II, that did disuss literary formation (n. 59).
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