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C H A P T E R  1 0  
 

 

 

The Seminarian and the Digital Age: 

Implications for Authentic Formation 
 

Gregory Ebalu OGBENIKA & 

Anthony Ifechukwude AKALUE 

 

 

 

Introduction 

In his message for the Jubilee year 2000, the Holy Father, Pope John 

Paul II called for ‘New Evangelization’ with new methods in the 

propagation of the Gospel. This pronouncement of the Holy Father 

ushers in a wind for the adoption of notable tools for evangelization in 

the 20th century. The 20th century is said to be a century of 

digitalization. In the modern wake of science and technology, there 

seem to be an unparallel form of civilization when compared with the 

centuries before now. This is due to the adoption of the modalities 

and methods of science and technology.  

The digital age began in 1939 with the construction of the first 

digital computer. In the sixty-five years that have followed, the 

influence of digitization on our everyday lives has grown steadily and 

today digital technology has a greater influence on our lives more 

than at any time since its development1. This is not to say the age 

before did not have a share of some level of scientific development. 

In fact, Thales, Anaxagoras, Rene Descartes and a host of others had 

a feel of this reality.  

However, it is important to note that the media has been 

bastardized. Some persons see it as an avenue for being immoral. This 

ranges from the awareness of pornography, sextex, plagiarism and so 

on. The evil about this is that it is with a click of the button. With the 



The Seminarian and the Digital Age: Implications…      155 
 

 

 

aid of digitization, scammers and criminals are on the increase. This 

is why the percentage of cybercrime has gone on the increase in 

recent years. For this reason, government has brought in different 

ways to help check and curb its use and excesses. Even non-

governmental organizations have waded into helping in savaging the 

negative effects of digitization.  

Everyone has a right to technology. Human Rights are those 

legal and/or moral rights that all persons have, simply as persons. In 

the current digital age, human rights are increasingly being either 

fulfilled or violated in the online environment2. The seminarians who 

are under formation to be Catholic Priests are also exposed to these 

right and privileges of technologies. The question now is: Will the 

dangers of the digital age affect the integrity of the Church? Will it 

undermine what the Church stands for in the formation of candidate 

for the priesthood? Will the Church in general, and the seminarians in 

particular, benefit anything from the gains of science and technology? 

Does digital media pose any threat to authentic formation? 

Our aim in this paper is to identify some of  the challenges of 

seminary formation in the digital age. The method to be employed 

will be analytic, prescriptive and systematic. 

 

The Crises of the Digital Age 

Science and technology are a twin characteristics of the 21st century. 

This is because the relevance and impact of science and technology in 

this age has marked tremendous success in the society. The 21st 

century is almost merged with the digital age. In other words, it is 

almost impossible to separate the reality of science and technology 

from the 21st century.  

Digitalization for the sake of clarification is the process of 

converting information into a digital (i.e. computer-readable) format, 

in which the information is organized into bits3. Digitization is of 

crucial importance to data processing, storage and transmission, 

because it "allows information of all kinds in all formats to be carried 

with the same efficiency and also intermingled".4 

The age of digitization seeks to move from the analogue way 

of doing things to a more sophisticated form. This in a way has 

improved economic cohesion and foster human interaction.  This 



156  Formation, The Catholic Priesthood and The Modern Age 

 

digital transformation and translation is seen and felt in virtually 

every facet of today’s existence. Business moguls and other scientific 

expatriates excel because of the untiring success of digitization. They 

all use the potential of digitization to offer humanity smarter and 

faster services and actively shape their immediate environs with the 

help of digital transformation5. The digital media affects all sectors of 

society, in particular economies, religious, education, social, political, 

cultural sphere. At the same time, it has opened up new networking 

possibilities, and enables co-operation between different persons from 

different locations. In fact, with the aid of digitization, the world has 

now become a ‘global village’.  
The Society of Research in making a distinction between the 

centuries before and the twenty-first century development due to the 

growth of science and technology states:  

By the beginning of the (twenty-first) century, the 

notion of progress was closely linked with 

technological development, and that linkage 

intensified in the following decades. The automobile 

and the airplane changed not only travel but the nature 

of our cities and towns. Radio and then television 

brought more of the outside world into everyone’s 
home. Knowledge about the causes of diseases 

brought new treatments and preventive measures. 

Computer appeared, and soon the transistor made 

them smaller, more powerful, more accessible, and 

cheaper… organized research and development., 

which are increasingly international in character, have 

greatly increased the production of new knowledge. 

Deeper understanding of living organisms is leading 

toward cures of diseases once thought.6  

 

The point here is that the modern society has benefitted from the 

gains of science and technology. This benefits range from the 

invention and management of automobile and aircrafts down to the 

dissemination of information with the aid of television and radio 

together with other media forms of communication. Even the 

educational sector is not left out since it has benefited in the way and 

manner researches are carried out. These researches have helped in no 

small measure in detecting the causes of some diseases and sickness 



The Seminarian and the Digital Age: Implications…      157 
 

 

 

and sought ways to combat them by proffering solutions. No doubt 

that this will also be of benefit to the political sphere of the state, 

because a state where all of these are evident is said to be an ideal 

state. Religious leaders will also benefit from it, because they can 

reach out to so many persons as much as possible from all works of 

life.  

 The age is also characterized with different mode of social 

media communication as evident in the presence of the internet. The 

internet has a major impact when it comes to providing new 

opportunities that were not previously available in the past centuries. 

This internet is a channel in constant development, enjoying high 

attention and being currently used by more than a third of the global 

population7. Giving all of these benefits of modernization in this 

digital age, there exist some mismanagement of the potency of 

science and technology. This is evident in the increment of cyber-

crimes and all forms of media violence in this present age. Recent 

polls have shown by percentage, how crime has grown over time. 

Attacks against information infrastructure and internet 

services have already taken place. Online fraud and 

hacking attacks are some examples of computer-

related crimes that are committed on a large scale 

everyday. The financial damage caused by cybercrime 

is reported to be enormous. In 2003 alone, malicious 

software caused damages of up to USD 17 billion. By 

some estimates, revenues from cybercrime exceeded 

USD 100 billion in 2007, outstripping the illegal trade 

in drugs for the first time. Nearly 60 per cent of 

businesses in the United States believe that 

cybercrime is more costly to them than physical 

crime8.  

Looking at all of these crimes, the document went further to stress on 

the need to protect one’s information “These estimates clearly 

demonstrate the importance of protecting information infrastructure”9. 

The reality of cyber-crime in this modern age has brought in the need 

for cybersecurity in the society. In fact, the 2010 UN General 

Assembly’s resolution on cybersecurity addresses cybercrime as one 

major challenge. Their preoccupation is on the need to collaborate 



158  Formation, The Catholic Priesthood and The Modern Age 

 

with the government of each state to enhance cybersecurity so as to 

protect critical information for nation’s security and economic well-
being10. Hacking of websites established for the collation of election 

results is a common language in the conduct of elections in most 

nations of the world today. The 2016 general elections in the United 

States and the just concluded general elections in Nigeria are still 

fresh in our memories as instances, where cyber crime and 

manipulations was perceived to have been adopted in the conduct of 

the elections by the electoral bodies and even some of the political 

parties that were involved in these elections. 

Even the reality of engaging in sexually immoral act online is 

another reality with the digital age. Some engage in pornography and 

other sexual crimes online. Looking at all of these crimes, can one say 

the digital age is beneficial to the human person? Since the subject of 

study is its challenges to Seminarians, can one say it is still relevant to 

The Church and Seminary Formation? A close look at the nature of 

The Church and the urgency of digitalization will help underscore 

whether or not the digital age is a challenge to those in formation. 

 

The Church and the Digital Age 

The Church is the New Testament (Convenant) people of God united 

in one faith, one baptism and one Lord11. The Church as a New 

Testament people has the mission of proclaiming the mercies of God. 

The Church which is a community of the faithful, has a mission to 

teach and sanctify her members. In doing this, she is called to be open 

to the reality and challenges of her time. In Gaudium et Spes, the 

Concillar Fathers make bold to state that the Church must rise up to 

the challenges of the present innovations of the society and try to 

interpret them in the light of the gospel. “The Church has always had 

the duty of scrutinizing the signs of the times and of interpreting them 

in the light of the Gospel”12.  

One of the signs of this present age is the reality of science 

and technology. This is the age in which seminarians of today are 

formed. It is from this perspective that the Church calls for the proper 

education of the faithful to know how to apply some of the products 

of science and technology. The document on social communication, 

Aetatis Novae says: 

Education and training regarding the internet ought to 

be part of comprehensive programs of media 



The Seminarian and the Digital Age: Implications…      159 
 

 

 

education available to members of the Church. As 

much as possible, pastoral planning for social 

communications should make provision for this 

training in the formation of seminarians, priests, 

religious, and lay pastoral personnel as well as 

teachers, parents, and students.13  

In his message for the World Communication Sunday of 2010, Pope 

Benedict XVI  calls on the pastors of the Church to embrace the 

reality of the media in the proclamation of the Word of God. He also 

warns that they are to make responsible use of it. In other words, the 

use of the media for the proclamation of the word of God must make 

them efficient, compelling and focused. In his words:  

All priests have as their primary duty the proclamation 

of Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word of God, and the 

communication of his saving grace in the sacraments 

… the increased availability of the new technologies 

demand greater responsibility on the part of those 

called to proclaim the word, but it also requires them 

to become more focused, efficient and compelling in 

their efforts14.  

 

There is no doubt, therefore that the introduction of the media to the 

proclamation of the word of God is in obedience to the mandate of 

Christ ‘Go out make disciples of all nations’. With the aid of the 
media, the Church can reach out to as many as she can in the world; 

so it is left for the pastors of souls to embrace the missionary zeal of 

St. Paul who said “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel(1Cor 

9:16). The Church sees the rise of science and technology as a 

product of man’s intelligence and creative skill. It is indeed a new 

stage of history that must be embraced with bravery and sense of 

mission. The Conciliar Fathers assert thus: 

Today, the human race is involved in a new stage of 

history. Profound and rapid changes are spreading by 

degrees around the whole world. Triggered by the 

intelligence and creative energies of man, these 

changes recoil upon him, upon his decisions and 

desire, both individual and collective, and upon his 



160  Formation, The Catholic Priesthood and The Modern Age 

 

manner of thinking and acting with respect to things 

and to people. Hence, we can already speak of a true 

cultural and social transformation, one which has 

repercussions on man’s religious life as well.15  

There is no doubt that the reality of science and technology has 

changed the face of man’s culture and social interactions, so in order 

not to allow humanity to be easily swayed by this wind of change, the 

Church has as her responsibility, to nurture the faith of her members 

in the light of this changing culture of science and technology. Any 

form of neglect in this regard will cause major harm to the flock that 

has been entrusted to her. 

 It becomes pertinent to state here that if the Church fails to 

utilize this powerful means of evangelization, they might end up 

feeling guilty in the future as Evangeli Nuntiandi asserts: The Church 

would feel guilty before the Lord if she did not utilize these powerful 

means that human skill is daily rendering more perfect. It is through 

them that she proclaims from the house tops the message of which she 

is the depository16. This is where the instruction from the Code of 

Canon Law becomes pertinent: 

While pride of place must always be given to 

preaching and catechetical instruction, all the 

available means of proclaiming Christian doctrine are 

to be used: the exposition of doctrine in schools, in 

institutes of higher learning, at conference and 

meetings of all kinds; public declarations by lawful 

authority on the occasion of certain events; the printed 

word and other means of social communication.17 

 

So in order not to feel guilty before the Lord who has endowed the 

human person with the knowledge of putting together the 

technicalities of the media, it is important that the Church employ 

every means necessary for the proclamation of the Gospel. This will 

help the pastoral ministry of the priest and the seminarians under 

formation. Now, a close examination of the different areas of priestly 

formation will be necessary here. This will help to ascertain the 

different areas in which technological advancement will affect the 

formation of the seminarian. 

 

 



The Seminarian and the Digital Age: Implications…      161 
 

 

 

The Seminarian and the Areas of Priestly Formation in the Light 

of Vatican II 

The Seminary is an institution where candidates for the priesthood are 

formed. The institution of the seminary was established by the 

sixteenth century Council of Trent. Seminaries were charged with the 

formation of men for the priesthood. The character of seminary 

education was largely unchanged until the Second Vatican Council 

(1962–1965).18  

The Second Vatican Council has on various occasions dealt 

with the subject of the life, ministry and formation of priests. The 

Church through the Vatican II document, has done this in a more 

solemn way during the synods of Bishops. Already in October 1967, 

the first General Ordinary Assembly of the Synod devoted five 

general congregations to the subject of the renewal of seminaries. 

This work as it were, gave a decisive impulse to the formulation of 

the document of the Congregation for Catholic Education entitled, 

“Fundamental Norms for Priestly Formation”. The Second Ordinary 
General Assembly held in 1971 spent half its time on the ministerial 

priesthood. The result of this synodal discourse were incorporated as 

recommendations, which were submited to Pope Paul VI. The 

recommendations were read at the opening of the 1974 Synod. And in 

their recommendations, certain areas of priestly formation were 

outlined which include the human, spiritual, intellectual and the 

pastoral. This is a further proof that the magisterium of the Church 

has always shown interest in the ministry and life of the priests.  

The Seminarian who is a candidate for the priesthood is 

expected to pass through these four areas of priestly formation. Here, 

an excursus will be made on the four areas of priestly formation. The 

human formation is seen as the basis of all other areas of priestly 

formation. This is because it is the human person who will be formed 

to act in the person of Christ. One becomes a priest by first becoming 

a human being, and if one must become a responsible priest he must 

first become a responsible human being. This further underscores that 

the essence of human formation is to make a person acquire and 

develop certain human qualities in order to relate well with his fellow 

human beings, so that together they all make out of their relationship 

one human family.19  



162  Formation, The Catholic Priesthood and The Modern Age 

 

The spiritual formation has as its target communion with God 

and the search for Christ. It is a response to the call to holiness of the 

priest. This demand for personal holiness and other spiritual 

requirements in the life of priests is obvious. The call to priestly 

holiness implies the need to constantly look into ourselves so as to be 

able to discover, the abiding presence of God.20 The priest is called to 

a life of faith, hope and charity. The essential aspect to be looked into 

in this quest for holiness include prayer, meditation on the word of 

God, the love for the Eucharist and the Blessed Virgin Mary.  

The Intellectual Formation seeks above all man’s intelligent, 
by which he participates in the light of God’s mind and seeks to 
acquire a wisdom which in turn opens to and is directed towards 

knowing and adhering to God. This is because if we want every 

Christian to be prepared in order to make a defence of the faith and to 

account for the hope that is in us, then all the more should the 

candidates for the priesthood and priest have diligent care of the 

quality of their intellectual formation in their education and pastoral 

activity.21  

All the elements of Human, Spiritual and intellectual 

formation, have their cumulative point in Pastoral formation. Every 

priest is a priest not only for his own sake but for the sake of God’s 
people. The formation of the priest must lead him to follow in the 

footstep of the Good Shepherd.22 It is to this end that Pope John Paul 

II speaks of pastoral charity which is the summation of the way of 

thinking and acting proper to Jesus Christ, head and shepherd of the 

church.23 This pastoral charity has as its component, the need to be 

selfless in the service of God’s people as Christ did when he laid 
down his life for his sheep. 

This task of formation by the church is considered as a 

continuation of the work of Christ as evident in the gospels where he 

went up a high mountain to call those whom he desired to be with him 

(Mk 3:13-15). This means that the goal of priestly formation is: ‘Until 
Christ is formed in you’ (Gal 4:19).   

Looking at the above areas of priestly formation, does the 

reality of the digital age have a challenge to authentic formation? 

 

 

 



The Seminarian and the Digital Age: Implications…      163 
 

 

 

The Digital Age and Seminary Formation: Implications for 

Authentic Formation 

The candidate for the priesthood whose duty is to fulfil the obligation 

of the pastoral ministry of the Church, must rise up to the present 

challenge of his time. It is the challenge of the reality of digitalization. 

He must strive to see this tool of the age as a veritable means to fulfil 

his God given mandate. 

 The use of the media has several implications in the life of the 

seminarians. Junko Yamamoto and Simeon Ananou noted four 

implications of technology to the life of the human person. These 

implications are: Cognitive, social, ethical and emotional 

implications24. On our part we will add the spiritual implication since 

spiritual formation is one of the four areas of priestly formation. 

However, it should be noted that these implications will be situated on 

the seminarians in formation 

 

1. The Seminarian and his Mental State: Cognitive Implication 

The use of technology has a way of facilitating our mental state. It 

makes the mind alert at sending and responding to a message and 

reacting to issues at large. This is because it is expected that one must 

think and reflect in order to send or respond to a message. However, it 

becomes disastrous when one responds to issues via social media 

when such an individual is absent-minded. This is common when the 

seminarian is trying to multitask; that is, doing many things at the 

same time and at that same time typing or sending a message via 

email, WhatsApp, or Facebook. Multitasking has become a 

predominant behaviour among technology users. Watching TV and 

listening to music on a portable device while drafting an email and 

trying to respond to occasional text messages from friends is 

becoming a common practice. The question one might ask is, “How 
well the human brain is able to process and assimilate multiple 

unrelated information and tasks?” After all, the brain can only process 

approximately seven spans of information in working memory25. This 

simply means that doing so many things (more than seven spans of 

information for the brain) while trying to disseminate information via 

the media can be dangerous. The candidate for the priesthood must 

guide against this danger. 



164  Formation, The Catholic Priesthood and The Modern Age 

 

The danger becomes more when it is a hurting messages to 

another person that may affect the person’s psyche. Such an atrocious 

act has a negative impact on the recipient of such a message; and the 

retraction more often than not makes no difference. Junko and 

Simeon says “ (In) electronic communication, it is impossible to take 
back a comment and have it erased from the person’s memory when 
the electronic user has not employed the ability to think before 

sending, posting or sharing content”26. 

 For the seminarian to give a healthy post or message, the 

mental faculty must be a reflective one knowing fully well that it will 

be received by someone who may not have the mental strength to 

understand the intention at which a message is sent to them.  

 

2. The Seminarian and Socio-Pastoral Interaction: The Social 

Implication 

There is no doubt that the influence of the media has a way of making 

one to reach out to numerous persons no matter the distance. Through 

the aid of cell phones, video chats, e-mails and so on, the seminarian 

on formation is able to reach out to so many persons within a short 

space of time. This eventually will be a boost to his pastoral aspect of 

his life. This social cum pastoral interaction in the digital age is not 

hindered by location, this is because with the click of a button, one 

can reach out to those who are miles away. However, it becomes 

worrisome when one prefers this form of interaction to a face-to-face 

interaction. It becomes bad when the candidate for the priesthood 

does not feel the need to give that physical touch to people which 

Christ, his model, gave to all those who encountered him.  Face-to-

face interaction is necessary at times because it is not every hurt that 

can be healed online.  

The point here is that it will be difficult to ascertain or 

identify the cause of a conflict if one does not engage in a one-on-one 

conversation with the person or persons involved. This is why Junko 

and Simeon say “it is hard to identify the source of conflict when tone 

of voice, body language, and facial expression are missing”27. One 

can be easily misunderstood when there is no physical contact with 

one another. This is why the seminarian must not lose sight of 

personal physical touch on the people he is called to socially interact 

with, no matter how enticing the fastness of scientific gadgets are. He 

must see that his interaction with people is not hindered in anyway. 



The Seminarian and the Digital Age: Implications…      165 
 

 

 

On his part, he must guide against individualism. This is because the 

unhealthy use of social media has made people more lonely than ever.  

 

3. The Seminarian and his Emotional Disposition 

Social interaction has a way of influencing the emotional disposition 

of the individual and the Seminarian is not an exemption. The 

Seminarian must be careful of his integrity and reputation because the 

media can upload stuffs about him that will leave an indelible mark 

on his integrity; this no doubt will affect his emotional disposition 

towards the society. “Technology allows us to upload embarrassing 

videos and pictures of others (and yourself) on a public platform such 

as YouTube, Instagram and Facebook and it can be sent to hundreds 

of people with a mobile device. Moreover, such insults can remain 

permanent. Emotional scars from such humiliation can be extremely 

severe”28. This point is necessary because the Seminarian must note 

that integrity is like a glass once shattered, can hardly regain its 

original look. This is so because science and technology has made the 

world a global village. An offence done in the east coast of the world, 

for instance, can spread very fast to other part of the world such that it 

becomes difficult for the Seminarian to easily get off such scandal. 

 Even sexually inclined messages has a way of influencing the 

emotional disposition of  seminarians. It is important to state that 

most of the technological gadgets house pornographic sites such that, 

if one is not careful one begins to act what is seen in that platform. 

 

4. The Seminarian and the Ethical Implication of Research 

Works 

Of the four areas of priestly formation, the emphasis on the 

intellectual formation is very much encouraged. This is because the 

intellectual formation of the seminarian, will help him see the need to 

discern the mind of God. It will help him give answers to the 

prevailing confusion that has rocked the cohesion of the Church’s 
magisterium. The media here will be of utmost assistance because it 

affords the seminarians the opportunity to visit numerous libraries of 

high repute online for proper research.  

It becomes very sad, when the candidate for the priesthood 

does not see reason to work hard to develop himself academically. It 



166  Formation, The Catholic Priesthood and The Modern Age 

 

becomes very pathetic when the seminarian sees the innovation of 

science and technology as a means for making hazardous researches. 

One must guide against the unhealthy use of Facebook, Answer.com, 

medlibrary.org, nih.gov, appers.com, encyclopedia and wikipedia as 

avenue to cheat academically. In other words, it is against the ethics 

of research for one to use the social media to plagiarize. Commenting 

on this, Junko and Simeon say “abundant information from the 
internet makes plagiarism easy. While a small portion of students 

admit giving into the temptation to copy others’ work and submit it as 
their own, a large majority of students perceive cyber-plagiarism as a 

practice that is prevalent among their peers. The degree of separation 

between perception and reality in cyber-plagiarism exposes the ethical 

gap that exists in the academic honesty in the digital age”29.   

Plagiarism is an academic fraud that is frowned at all times in 

the academic arena. Since cyber- plagiarism is a crime punishable by 

law, the seminarian must guide against his actions; this is because, it 

will be scandalous for a candidate for the priesthood to be jailed for 

plagiarism. 

 

5. The Media and the Spiritual Implication of Formation 

Spiritual formation is an important aspect of the formation of the 

candidate for the priesthood. This is where they are called to be in 

close union with God who has called them; for cut off from Him, they 

can do nothing (Cf. John 15:5). This simply means that the 

seminarians must constantly seek God’s face; they must constantly 

seek His will and do it without hesitation. It is in obeying their maker 

without hesitation, that their soul is guaranteed a place of rest and 

happiness for their heart is restless until it rests in God.  

There is no doubt that science and technology can also help in 

fostering worship and close union with God. This is because the 

social media gadget has the space for the downloading of bibles 

verses, the psalms, the liturgy of the hours, prayers of the Church, 

hymns and so on. All of these help to uplift the soul of the seminarian 

Be that as it may, care must be taken so that one does not 

spend time adopting the spirituality of the media rather than the 

spirituality of the Church. In other words, one must be careful not to 

be distracted with other capacities of the gadget while one is praying 

for instance. It will be wrong to see seminarians praying the Divine 

Office with an electronic device and at the same time chatting on 



The Seminarian and the Digital Age: Implications…      167 
 

 

 

WhatsApp, Facebook or Yahoo messenger. This no doubt will hinder 

the real nature of effective prayer. 

On the other hand, some persons are so engrossed with the 

workings of technologies that they sacrifice the time for spiritual 

activities. This is evident when one might have succeeded in 

downloading or installing somewhat ‘interesting’ applications on their 
phones, computers or iPad for instance. These applications might 

have ripple effects as the attention of the seminarians may be drawn 

to it so much so as to forget that time for prayers and other useful 

spiritual activities have long passed. Benedict XVI warns the priest 

and the candidate for the priesthood thus. “Priests present in the world 

of digital communications should be less notable for their media 

savvy than for their priestly heart, their closeness to Christ. This will 

not only enliven their pastoral outreach, but also, will give a “soul” to 
the fabric of communications that makes up the ‘web’”30. 

Looking at all of these implications, can one readily say that 

technological training of seminarians in this digital age is necessary? 

The immediate response to this will be positive. This is because the 

seminarian is formed for the 21st century and as such must be ready to 

apply himself to every resources at his disposal for the proclamation 

of the gospel.  

This is where educating the candidate for the priesthood on 

the use of social gadget becomes indispensable. Education is intended 

to make them more human by stimulating their creativity, cognitive 

abilities and ethical value31. Benedict XVI stresses the important of 

educating those in formation on how to use the gadgets when he 

asserts “using new communication technologies, priests can introduce 

people to the life of the Church and help our contemporaries to 

discover the face of Christ. They will best achieve this aim if they 

learn, from the time of their formation, how to use these technologies 

in a competent and appropriate way, shaped by sound theological 

insights and reflecting a strong priestly spirituality grounded in 

constant dialogue with the Lord”32. 

As the Holy Father noted, a proper education on the use of the 

media is very important this is because when technology is not well 

co-ordinated, it can distract the process of strengthening humanity. 

Knowledge of a thing will help one know how to use it and how to 



168  Formation, The Catholic Priesthood and The Modern Age 

 

teach others to use it. How can the seminarian teach those of the 21st 

century the ethics of the use of technologies if he himself is not 

grounded in it? This is where it is necessary to incorporate the ethics 

of science and technology in the formation of the candidate for the 

priesthood so that they may make useful impact to this age. The 

seminarians can only teach people how to use the media when they 

know its workability. 

To be able to meet up with the responsibility of the media in 

this digital age, there must be proper formation of the “will” in the use 
of digital gadgets. This will enable the seminarian know how to make 

good decisions on the use of the media and teach others same. The 

seminarian must know the ideal place and situation where the use of 

internet electronic devices are necessary. Those in charge of forming 

candidates for the priesthood must see to it that the norms of cyber 

ethics are taught so that the seminarian will be more cautious of their 

use. 

 

Conclusion 

Accordingly, from the above, let us embrace the use of the media with 

the right disposition. This is because the media which is a product of 

the digital age has its deep influence on the Church where it will help 

both her leaders and her members to grasp the reality of life.  

The Church has a lot to benefit from the proper use of modern 

media as Boniface Asuzu citing Harry Skornia says “A non-

communicating Church is unthinkable. And to communicate we must 

use the communication tools of our age not in an half-heated way … 
but as a primary (tool)”33. So there is no gain demonizing the use of 

the media on the ground of its negative influence alone; a thorough 

investigation on its positive aspects must be explored so that the 

richness of the Church will be savoured by everyone most especially 

the seminarians in formation, who will be the future leaders of the 

Church. This will help him overcome and meet up with the 

contemporary challenges of the digital age. 

 



The Seminarian and the Digital Age: Implications…      169 
 

 

 

Endnotes 
                                                           
1 Andrew D. Murray & Mathais Klang. Human Right in the Digital Age 

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/30527170_Human_rights_in_the_digit

al_age last accessed 28th July,2019. 
2  Kay Mathisen “Human Right for the Digital Age” Journal of Mass Media 

Ethics: Exploring Questions of Media Morality. Vol 29 2014 p.2 

3 Digitization/digitisation" in Collins English Dictionary, 

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/search, accessed 15th of 

October 2019, 
4 Cf. McQuail , D  McQuail’s Mass Communication Theory (4th edition), Sage 

:London Sage,  2000,  pp. 16-34 

5 Daniel Schallmo et al “ Digital Transformation of Business Models- Best 

Practice, Enabler and RoadMap” International Journal of Innovation 

Management Vol. 21 No. 2017 1-17 p.1 

6 Science, Technology, and the Federal Government: National 

Goals for a Near Era. Washington 

https://www.nap.edu/catalog/9481/science-technology-and-the-

federal-government-national-goals-for-aNational Academy 

Press 1993 p 9, accessed 28th July 2019 

7 Alexandra Talpau. “Social Media- A New way of Communication”. Buletin of 

the Transvania University of Brasov Vol. 7 (56) No. 2 2014 p. 45 

8  Understanding Cybercrime: Phenomena, Challenges and Legal Response. 

http://www.itu.int/ITU-

D/cyb/cybersecurity/docs/Cybercrime%20legislation%20EV6.pdf September 

2012, accessed 28th July, 2019. 
9 ibid 

10 ibid p. 2 

11 Emmanuel Akalue, The True Church of Christ: A Theological Discernment of 

God’s Will for His Church. Onitsha: Blue Prints Ltd. 2006  p.4 

12 Paul VI. Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium 

et Spes December 7, 1965 n.4 

13 Pohn Paul II, Pastoral Instruction on Social Communications Aetatis Novae, 

on the Twentieth Anniversary of Communion et Progression. Vatican City 1992 

n.28 

14  Benedict XVI. 44th World Communication Day Message: The Priest and the 

Pastoral Ministry in a Digital World: New Media at the Service of the Word. 

16th May, 2010 

15 Vatican Council II, Gaudium et spes, n.4 

16 Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Evangeli Nuntiandi  December 8, 1975 n .45 



170  Formation, The Catholic Priesthood and The Modern Age 

 

                                                                                                                                  
17 The Code of the Canon law. New Revised English Translation. Theological 

Publications, India. 2010  n, 761. 
18 David Oakley. “Seminary Education and Formation: The Challenges and 
some ideas about Future Developments” International Studies in Catholic 

Education. Vol. 9 2017 p. 1 

19 Oredipe, Paul. Saint Paul and Priestly Formation: Impetus for Today. Benin-

City: Floreat Systems 2018, p. 25 

20 Ibid p. 35 

21 John Paul II Post- Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis Lagos: 

Ambassador Publications 1992, n. 51 

22 Oredipe, Saint Paul and Priestly Formation: Impetus for Today p. 54-55 

23 John Paul II, Pastores Dabo Vobis, n. 21 

24 Junko Yamamoto & Simeon Ananou “Humanity in the Digital Age: 
Cognitive, Social, Emotional, and Ethical Implications” in Contemporary 

Educational Technology, 2015, 6(1), 1-18 p.1 

25 Ibid pp 3-4 

26 Ibid p. 3 

27 Ibid p. 5 

28 Ibid p 5 

29 Ibid p. 7 

30 Benedict XVI. 44th World Communication Day Message. The Priest and the 

Pastoral Ministry in a Digital World: New Media at the Service of the Word. 
 

31 Junko and Simeon, “Humanity in the Digital Age: Cognitive, Social, 
Emotional, and Ethical Implications”, p.7 

32 Benedict XVI. 44th World Communication Day Message. The Priest and the 

Pastoral Ministry in a Digital World: New Media at the Service of the Word. 
33 Boniface Asuzu, Communications Media in the Nigerian Church Today. 

Rome: Tipografia Ugo Detti 1987 p 112 


