• Three dioceses of Nord and Pas-de-Calais have created a year of “prepa” priest.

  • It is for young people wishing to join the seminar to confirm their will.

  • About fifteen places will be open from the start of the school year in September, including five for young women wishing to become nuns.

Engage knowingly. Most of the grandes écoles offer preparatory courses for students who wish to integrate their school curriculum. This is now the case with the Catholic Church. This is a year in which young people drawn to the priesthood will be able to get a sense of what it entails. There are about fifteen priest "prepas" in France, including one in Lille of a new kind, which opens its doors as of the next school year.

The vocations crisis is not new in the Catholic Church.

Candidates are so rare that the diocese of Lille even took the decision, two years ago, to “suspend” its seminary for lack of students.

However, the need for a priest exists and the Vatican is struggling to find solutions to attract candidates.

The introduction of “prepas” is one of them.

"From September, we will welcome young people who are asking themselves the question of entering seminary for a year during which they will be spiritually based, digging into the Bible, theology, putting themselves at the service of the poorest", explains the father Christophe Danset, responsible for the Lille preparation.

A real preparation and not a competition

In fact, it has nothing to do with what is practiced in the grandes écoles. “This year is not made to select candidates who would be better than others. On the contrary, it serves above all so that young people find what lives in them and what they want to do ”, continues the man of the Church. Because one can be inhabited by faith without necessarily wanting a priestly life, especially since the studies of a seminarian last six years.

This preparation will take place at Maison Saint-André, in the heart of Old Lille.

“This is our main difference with other preps.

The young people here do not withdraw from the world but continue to live in it, ”insists Father Danset.

It will still be necessary to respect the "rules of house life", sleep there, participate in community life, follow prayer times, classes and give evaluations.

"The idea is also to provide the basic knowledge which is often lacking, even to young Christians, especially of the Bible, before young people embark on studies", slips the priest.

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Schooling is free but there are still some selection criteria.

“You have to be between 20 and 35 years old and be comfortable in your sneakers.

This is not the place and we are not intended to welcome people who just need to rebuild themselves, ”admits Father Danset.

About fifteen places are open, including five for young women.

So no, the Catholic Church has not (yet) opened the priesthood to women, so postulants will follow almost the same teachings as boys, but to become nuns.

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