Ethical and Legal Issues in Formation

Abstract

Antony Puthenangady CMI considers the ethical and legal issues involved in formation. He considers formation as a walk with Jesus who had, in spite of all the failures of the disciples, a place for them in his heart – he travelled with them, ate with them, prayed with them, discussed with them and commissioned and sent them as his ambassadors. Jesus was with them to save them whereas today, formators tend to eliminate people to avoid trouble, thus, often, going away from the way of Jesus. Considering the ethical responsibilities of a formator, Puthenangady calls the competence of the formator in general into question. He takes into account the psychological health of the formator, his/her spiritual maturity that enables him/her to make formative interventions. Equally important to him are the rights of the formees such as confidentiality, intimacy, right of informed consent and the use of diagnostic tools. He concludes the discussion looking at the possible legal issues in formation, especially at the time of the recruitment of the candidates and admission to novitiate.