Formation to priesthood and religious life is the process by which those called to these ways of life prepare themselves "for the total consecration of themselves to God in the following of Christ, at the service of the Church's mission" (John Paul II, 1996, no. 65). The four principal dimensions of formation are human, intellectual, spiritual and pastoral. Among these, the Church considers human
formation, or the formation to be a mature human being as the basis of all formation (John Paul II, 1992, 1996).
Some of the reasons why the Church places so much importance on human formation for those called to religious and priestly life are the following: