16. In organizing such “complementary services”, the following points should be kept in mind:

a) The necessary harmonizing of the courses offered by the center and the process of initiation into the religious life of each institute require as appropriate, if not necessary, that the novice directors be present for the courses in order to help the novices integrate the contents.

b) The program should offer basic courses on different subjects in such a way that institutes can choose those which will complete the formation they themselves give. The program should be well structured and harmonious, include fundamental elements of Sacred Scripture, spiritual theology, moral theology, ecclesiology, theology and the law of religious life — in particular of each of the evangelical counsels — liturgy, and also fundamental concepts of anthropology and psychology which should give to the novice, at the beginning of the formative journey, the possibility of knowing himself or herself better, particularly in those areas most needing formation.(⁵⁶) These subjects should be treated as contributors to formation.

c) During the novitiate, the courses should not be programmed with a frequency or intensity which impede the purpose proper to this phase of formation.(⁵⁷) They should be carried out in such a way that residing outside the novitiate is avoided. In the event that novices must go to another place for this purpose, for brief periods of time and sporadically, the Major Superior shall observe canons 647.2, 648.1 and 648.3, and 649.1.

d) Also to be promoted is knowledge of the respective institutes, of the founders and foundresses, and of the various spiritualities. In fact, fraternal exchange contributes to the maturing of a more lively appreciation of one's own foundational originality and to discovering the value of each founder or foundress in helping articulate the mission of the Church, in promoting collaboration and a mentality of communion.(⁵⁸)

e) Formators, according to their specific responsibilities,(⁵⁹) are to meet at regular intervals with the team responsible for the center — also listening to the views of those in formation — to monitor the program and, in relation to the reports received from the various parties, the purpose of the courses. Because of their primary responsibility in formation, Major Superiors should follow these initiatives attentively.

f) The courses can offer the directors of novices the opportunity for constant updating, for monitoring their own formative role, and for mutual support in a concrete and enlightened dialogue. Given the nature of this initial phase, characterized by the process of psychological maturing and of charismatic identification by the novices, a process which allows them to acquire a new way of living, the programs of collaboration should foresee, to the extent possible, meetings of the formation directors to consider specific pedagogical subjects which would then be taken up in more detail in the novitiates; among these are psycho-physical development, affective-sexual maturity, and other aspects of human maturity.(⁶⁰)