Rosminians Information

Rosmini devotes an important part of the chapter on the second wound to the theological education of the clergy and to manuals of theology. His criticisms of this form of transmission of theological knowledge is caustic and almost ruthless: "Scripture, fathers, scholastics, theologians: these are the steps by which we have arrived finally at the wonderful books we use in our seminaries today. Their would-be knowledge is on a par with their contempt for our elders. I believe that in centuries to come, which contain the hopes of the imperishable Church, these books will be judged the most miserable, feeble works written in the eighteen centuries of the Church's history. They lack principles, style and method& Finally, because they lack all appeal to feeling, talent and imagination, these books manifest not a single episcopal or priestly characteristic& " (n.40). Theology has progressed a great deal from those times to the present day and perhaps it would be difficult to find a century such as ours which abounds in such a great amount of creative and searching theology, especially if we take into account catholic as well as Protestant and Orthodox studies. But there remains the problem of finding the best method of introducing theological students to a scientific and living knowledge of Christianity which speaks to the mind but does not wither the heart. Probably a valid, ideal method does not exist, but it will be necessary to combine prayerful reading of the Scriptures with reading the Fathers, and a familiarity with the theologians, particularly those of the great mediaeval tradition and the more recent ones, in a synthetic description that does not lessen their impact. What Rosmini says about priestly formation is certainly important: the catholic priest "supposes a Christian existence. The first grade of the priesthood is in fact the Christian himself" (n.26). The educational scheme of a diocesan seminary such as that of Milan, is based on a principle such as this.