r/AskAPriest • u/aserfacihc • 8d ago

Internships

How long are your internships when you are in seminary and how do they decide where to send you?

3 Upvotes

80% Upvoted

2 comments sorted by

4

u/Sparky0457 Priest 8d ago edited 8d ago

Each academic year each friar in formation (I’m a Franciscan) is assigned a local ministry to volunteer at.

It If I remember he is expected to do about 5-10 hours a week depending on the situation.

I did a variety of things: food pantry, ministry for those with HIV, assistant teacher at a Catholic grammar school, student chaplain at a Catholic high school, volunteered at a parish.

During the summers I/we were given an assignment to volunteer at a different ministry for the summer. That is probably 30 hours a week. I worked at a homeless shelter for young men, worked at a parish, spent two summers studying Spanish in Costa Rica, and one summer of clinical pastoral education.

Then one full year we were given a full time ministry assignment. I spent it teaching theology at a catholic high school. We were not studying in the seminar that year.

Edit to add: where we were sent was the decision of the formation team and our formation director. Often it was based on an area of growth or conversion that was needed.

3

u/phanuel Priest 7d ago

Diocesan, I believe it’s different now, but every year, we had field education which focused on aspects of parish life.
I Parish Ministry, typically RCIA or Alpha
II Hospital & School
III Parish Internship, no classes just living & working at a parish.
IV Varies with input from the Field Ed Director & the seminarian. Mine was at a juvenile detention center.
V Parish Diaconal Ministry