A pastoral guidance program for the seminarians of the Congregation of St. Therese of Child Jesus, Kerala, South India

This study is a proposal for a pastoral guidance program based on the needs and problems of the seminarians of the Congregation of St. Therese of Child Jesus (C.S.T.). The study is descriptive in nature. The subjects of the study were the 75 seminarians and the 15 staff of the C.S.T. The researcher made use of two questionnaires and one problem checklist. Statistical tools used were the frequency, percentage and mean. The conclusions of the study were, as follows: 1. As revealed by the problem checklist, the seminarians faced different kinds of problems under the areas of personal, psychological, social-personal relations, moral and religious, future and vocational, courtship, sex and marriage and adjustment in the school work. 2. Through the questionnaire, it was revealed that the seminarians were in need of the following points: a. The seminary activities be better organized. b. The opportunities to improve their study skills. c. The specially trained person to help them solve their emotional problems. d. The administration of the psychological tests. e. Help from the formation personnel to make decisions about their future. The present formation program met to some extent, some of the needs of the seminarians. However, they could be better organized and modified by the answers suggested in the questionnaire