New papa Danny Garland (see baby photos) gives serious and extended consideration to a very important topic: The Necessity of the Study of the Fathers of the Church for Priests in light of the Second Vatican Council’s Optatam Totius. Danny’s paper examines
article 16 of Vatican II’s Decree on the Training of Priests in which it states that “students should be shown what the Fathers of the Church, both of the East and West, have contributed towards the faithful transmission and elucidation of each of the revealed truths.” I will show how the Church Fathers are exemplars of the formation that this document sets out for priests by virtue of the holiness of their lives, their loyalty to the Church, their immersion in Scripture, and the way they did theology.