CV NEWS FEED // A sacred theology and new evangelization program at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit is offering priests new ways to bring other people into the Church.
The Archdiocese of San Francisco reported that a priest from the Archdiocese, Fr. Michael Liliedahl, is currently taking the four-year postgraduate program to become an expert in the new evangelization.
The idea of a new evangelization has been promoted by several popes to encourage Catholics to deepen their own spiritual lives and gain an understanding of the faith to bring other people into the Church. The program at Sacred Heart provides priests with a concrete way to accomplish that.
“Pope Francis continually says that a Church focused in on itself is a Church that is dying,” Liliedahl said, according to the Archdiocese. “A Church that is focused outward is alive and growing in the Spirit.”
The program Liliedahl is taking offers an ecclesiastical degree in pastoral theology through the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, according to the Archdiocese. In addition to teaching priests about the new evangelization, the course is also open to lay Catholics through the University.
The Archdiocese reported that the program is a hybrid of online coursework and in-person summer classes.
“Coursework in philosophy can help priests better understand the points of view of those who might either not know, resist or completely oppose a Christian worldview,” the Archdiocese added. “The in-person summer program gives priests from around North America an opportunity to share their experiences with each other.”
Liliedahl said that the way the Church approaches evangelization now is very different from its approach in the past. According to him, the Church used to evangelize by proposing ways of behaving, believing and belonging, in that order. Now, the process has been reversed.
“If we are going to ask them to participate in the Trinity, which in itself is a giving and receiving of that total gift, we need to be in relationship first,” he said. “First, you give a person a sense of belonging. Once they belong and believe, then eventually behaving comes afterwards.”
“Continuing education for priests is important to be able to understand the world and how to best minister in that world,” he concluded.
The post Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit offers new evangelization program appeared first on CatholicVote org.