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Optatam totius, the Decree on Priestly Training, is a document which was produced by the Second Vatican Council. Approved by a vote of 2,318 to 3 of the bishops assembled at the council, the decree was promulgated by Pope Paul VI on 28 October 1965. The Latin title means "desired renewal of the whole [church]".

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+{{Short description|Catholic Decree on Priestly Training}}
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-'''''Optatam totius''''', the '''Decree on Priestly Training''', is one of the [[Second Vatican Council]]'s 16 magisterial documents. The very first words of the decree state that priestly formation is essential for “the desired (optatam) renewal of the whole (totius) Church”.
+'''''Optatam totius''''', the '''Decree on Priestly Training''', is a document which was produced by the [[Second Vatican Council]]. Approved by a vote of 2,318 to 3 of the bishops assembled at the council, the decree was promulgated by [[Pope Paul VI]] on 28 October 1965. The Latin title means "desired renewal of the whole [church]".
-The decree was approved on 13 October 1965 vy a vote of 2,196 in favour with 15 opposed, and confirmed by a vote of 2,318 to 3 on 28 October 1965, the day on which it was promulgated by [[Pope Paul VI]].
-The English text can be found on the [https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decree_19651028_optatam-totius_en.html Vatican website].
-== Contents ==
-The decree comprises 22 articles divided into 7 sections.
-# The Program of Priestly Training  to be Undertaken by Each Country (§1)
-# The Urgent Fostering of Priestly Vocations (§§2-3)
-# The Setting Up of Major Seminaries (§§4-7)
-# The Careful Development of the Spiritual Training (§§8-12)
-# The Revision of Ecclesiastical Studies (§§13-18)
-# The Promotion of Strictly Pastoral Training (§§19-20)
-# Training to be Achieved After the Course of Studies (§21)
-# Conclusion
-'''Traditional Elements'''
-There is much that is very traditional in the decree. Many earlier documents of the Church are referred to. Much of the decree repeats well-known themes:
-- the importance of promoting vocations (§§2-3)
-- the importance of seminaries for the training of priests (§§4-7)
-- the importance of discipline and of the spiritual formation of priests (§§8-12)
-- the importance of training for chastity (§10)
-- the importance of theological studies (§§13-18)
-- the importance of learning Latin (§13) (a requirement that would soon be a dead letter just about everywhere)
-- the importance of the philosophy and theology of St. Thomas Aquinas (§15, §16) (a requirement that would soon be disregarded in many seminaries)
-'''Elements of Renewal in the Decree'''
-- Decentralization of priestly formation. Each episcopal conference is to establish a program of priestly training adapted to its own conditions which is then to be approved by Rome (§1). Bishops have the authority to institute internships before ordination, to set a minimum age for ordination that is later than that required by canon law, and to require the exercise of the diaconate for a certain time before priestly ordination (§12).
-- Regional seminaries should be created when the resources of individual dioceses are insufficient (§7)
-- The seminary program must integrate three types of formation: spiritual (section 4), doctrinal (section 5) and pastoral (section 6)
-- The importance of new teaching methods (§17) and of the new insights of psychology (§11)
-- New topics to be taught: new results in philosophy (in addition to the teaching of St. Thomas), knowledge of other religions (§16), psychology and sociology (§20)
-- New skills and attitudes to be developed among priests: human maturity (§11), the search of new solutions to human problems in the light of new social conditions (§16), the ability to dialogue with modern man (§19)
-- Theological themes that are especially important in the curriculum: the paschal mystery (§8), Scripture (§8, §16), liturgy (§8, §16), the mystery of the Church (§9), the mystery of Christ (§14, §16), ecumenism (§16).
-- Importance of providing the opportunity for pastoral experience before ordination (§21) and the need for continuing formation after ordination (§22)
-''Optatam totius'' influenced the German [[Roman Catholic theologian]] [[Karl Rahner]] to write his work ''The Foundation of Christian Faith''.
-==Controversy==
-The period that followed the promulgation ''Optatam totius'' was marked by a severe drop in the number of priestly vocations in the Western World. Church leaders had argued that age-old [[secularization]] was to blame and that it was not directly related to the documents of the council. Historians have also pointed to the damage caused by the [[sexual revolution]] in 1968 and the strong backlash over ''[[Humanae vitae]]''. Yet other authors{{who|date=December 2018}} have asserted that the drop in vocations was at least partly deliberate and was part of an attempt to de-clericalize the church and allow for a more pluralistic clergy.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cozzens |first=Donald B. |year=2000 |title=The Changing Face of the Priesthood|url=https://archive.org/details/changingfaceof00cozz |url-access=registration }}</ref>{{page needed|date=December 2018}}
 ==References==