From the CARF Foundation, we work so that the Pope's dream be fulfilled: that a solid and integral formation may reach seminarians and diocesan priests from all over the world. Between June 6 and 12, the Pope Leo XIV will visit Spain. It is an event awaited by thousands of people, with meetings, celebrations and moments that will mark an entire generation.
But beyond the public agenda, there is an underlying message that the Holy Father has been repeating insistently since the beginning of his pontificate: the Church needs well-formed priests.
Throughout his pontificate, Pope Leo XIV has outlined a very clear vision of the priesthood. It is not just a question of vocations. It is about how they are accompanied and prepared.
As he recalled in his meeting with Spanish seminarians on February 28, 2026, “the seminary is always a sign of hope for the Church.” . But this hope is not only born from the number of young people who respond to the call, but also from the formation process they undergo. For it is there that future pastors are built.
The Pope insists that formation cannot be reduced to academics. It is not enough to acquire knowledge or pastoral skills. Formation is, above all, a path of relationship. Becoming a priest implies learning to live in friendship with Christ and from there to understand people.
That is why he speaks of the seminar as a “school of affections”.” . A place where the future priest learns to integrate his life, to mature, to love well and to accompany others with balance and depth. This dimension is key. Because the priest does not work with ideas, but with people.
The risk of reducing the priesthood to a function of the priesthood
One of the Pope's most interesting messages at this point is his warning about a silent danger: turning the priesthood into a function. In his meeting with the Dicastery for the Clergy, recalled that the Church does not need “functionaries” but pastors with a heart (June 26, 2025). This statement introduces a decisive key: formation is not only to “do things”, but to be in a certain way. To be a father, to be a guide, to be a presence.
A call that also reaches Spain
The Pope's upcoming visit to our country will not be just a one-time event. As has happened on other occasions, it will leave a deeper mark: it will awaken vocations, confirm decisions and move consciences.
And, in the background, this message will resonate strongly: taking care of the formation of priests is taking care of the future of the Church. "Make the Pope's dream come true" focus precisely on this reality: to make it possible for those who have received a vocation to be trained in the best conditions.
Forming seminarians today to serve as priests tomorrow
Through the CARF Foundation, benefactors from around the world are already contributing to the formation of seminarians and priests in more than 130 countries.
Each grant translates into something very concrete: years of study, human and spiritual accompaniment, intellectual and pastoral preparation. But, above all, it translates into a future.
Because behind every well-trained priest there are thousands of people who, over the years, will receive guidance, support and hope. The Pope's dream has names, faces and concrete stories.
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There are young men all over the world who have heard a deep call to pursue a vocation to the priesthood. They want to serve, to accompany, to impart the sacraments and to help their people encounter God. But many of them do not have the financial means to form themselves well, academically and humanly, at this key stage of their encounter with God.
Pope Leo XIV has recently recalled this with simplicity and depth in his apostolic letter Loyalty that generates futureThe identity of the presbyters is constituted around their being for and is inseparable from its mission».
For this reason, the Church takes special care in the formation of future priests so that they may be men who are humanly, spiritually and pastorally prepared, capable of accompanying their communities and serving people where they are most needed. This is what the CARF Foundation has been doing since 1989.
In many countries around the world, there are people with a vocation to the priesthood where faith is strong, but resources are scarce. That's where your help makes a difference.
The CARF Foundation accompanies seminarians and diocesan priests from 130 countries so that they may receive the integral formation that the Church needs today and will need tomorrow. Behind each one is a story, a family, a people and an entire diocese that one day will have a priest better prepared to serve them and to form others.
With your help you are making this possible. Pope Leo XIV's dream: that formation would reach seminarians and priests all over the world. May the future of the Church be built on firm foundations, with well-prepared and dedicated people.
Make the Pope's dream come true!
Make possible the formation of those who will care for the faith and lives of millions of people around the world.
carf@fundacioncarf.orgLandline: +34 914 029 082Mobile: +34 638 078 51145 Conde de Peñalver Street.
