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Formation Journey


Two Cycles – One Integral Growth

The SMB formation journey is a 10-year path of human, spiritual, and missionary growth. Structured in two cycles, it gradually leads you to discern, deepen, and fully embrace a lifelong missionary vocation.

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FIRST CYCLE (Years 1–5) 

The first cycle focuses on personal and community growth, the development of human and spiritual maturity, and the acquisition of philosophical or religious foundations, leading to a first rootedness in the missionary vocation.

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Year 1

Community Experience

This introductory stage establishes the foundation of missionary life through intercultural community life, prayer, and daily discipline, where the missionary learns to live “with Christ and with others.”

Community Experience | Bethlehem Mission Society
Postulancy (Philosophy or Religious Studies) | Bethlehem Mission Society
Years 2-4

Postulancy (Philosophy or Religious Studies)

For Future Priests (3 years – Philosophy) 
This phase ensures intellectual consolidation through philosophical studies oriented toward mission, forming a capacity for truth-seeking, discernment, and critical thinking. 

For Future Brothers (2 years – Religious & Human Formation)
This path fosters a deeply rooted missionary personality through religious studies, human formation, and practical integration of mission and life.
Year 5

Introductory Year (Novitiate)

This stage is a time of deep spiritual initiation, introducing the candidate to the history, spirituality, and charism of the SMB, and leading to a free and joyful adherence to the missionary call.

Introductory Year (Novitiate) | Bethlehem Mission Society

Temporary Promise

SECOND CYCLE (Years 6–10) 

The second cycle deepens the vocation through missionary immersion, theological or vocational specialization, and prepares for a lifelong missionary commitment (ad vitam) in the SMB.

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Year 6

Missionary Experience / Internship

This stage is a direct immersion into missionary reality, confronting the vocation with real-life challenges, fostering missionary maturity, and strengthening the commitment to service.

Missionary Experience / Internship | Bethlehem Mission Society
Theological Studies or Vocational Training | Bethlehem Mission Society
Years 7-10

Theological Studies or Vocational Training

For Future Priests — Theological Studies (4 years)
This stage provides an in-depth theological and pastoral formation, enabling candidates to articulate and live the missionary dimension of the faith in a coherent and incarnate way.

For Future Brothers — Vocational Training (4 years)
This path develops professional and practical competencies in service of the mission, integrating manual work, community life, and a humble missionary presence.

Final Commitment: 
Definitive Promise (ad vitam) and Missionary Sending ad gentes

This final stage marks readiness to be sent into the universal mission of the Church, living a lifelong missionary vocation in fidelity to the SMB charism.

Our Application Process

Before you proceed with your application, you are invited to take a step back and ensure that you clearly understand the SMB formation journey. This path is not simply an application process, but the beginning of a long and demanding missionary formation, structured in two cycles over several years. If you have not yet read and understood this formation path, you are strongly encouraged to do so first, and then return here.

This discernment journey is not about choosing a status, but about discovering a call. You are invited to ask yourself whether you are ready to become a missionary, before thinking of becoming a priest or a religious. The SMB vocation is a call to give your life ad vitam, to be sent ad gentes, and to live ad extra, beyond your own country, language, and culture. At the same time, the Society also discerns you. This journey is therefore a shared path of truth, freedom, and responsibility.

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1

Request to Enter Discernment

At this stage, you take your first step by expressing your desire to begin a discernment journey with the Bethlehem Mission Society (SMB). You introduce yourself, share your motivation, and submit your first documents. This is not yet a commitment, but a sincere request to be accompanied. You are invited to be simple and truthful, and to begin asking yourself a deeper question: not first “Do I want to be a priest or a religious?”, but rather “Am I called to be a missionary?”—ready to serve the Church beyond my own country, culture, and comfort.

2

Under Evaluation


Your file is now being studied carefully according to the human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral criteria of the SMB. During this time, you are not required to take any action. You wait with trust while your application is discerned. You will receive either a positive response to continue, a negative response, or a request for additional information. This stage invites you to grow in patience and interior freedom, continuing your personal prayer and reflecting on whether you are ready for a missionary life.

3

Full Application Preparation

If your application is accepted at this stage, it does not mean that you have already been selected. It simply means that you are admitted to continue the discernment process. You receive access to the SMB portal and begin completing your full vocational dossier.

Through the portal, you progressively upload all required documents—personal, academic, ecclesiastical, administrative, and medical. This stage allows us to know you more deeply, and it allows you to show your seriousness, discipline, and transparency. You are invited to take this step with responsibility, as it reflects your real motivation and your capacity to engage in a demanding missionary path.

Once your dossier is complete and coherent, the process moves to a more decisive phase. The final discernment is made by the Superior General and his Vocational Council. Normally, before any decision, the Superior General or his delegate organizes an online meeting with you and your parents. This moment is important to ensure that your family understands, accepts, and supports your missionary project, and that you yourself are fully aware of the commitment you are considering.

4

Migration / Mobility File and Practical Organization

Once your dossier is complete and accepted, this means that you have been selected to enter the next stage of the journey. You now move into a concrete phase of preparation for your arrival in an SMB formation house in Driefontein (Zimbabwe). Together with the Vocations Director, you organize your travel and administrative steps. The procedures for the visa or residence permit are coordinated and covered by the SMB, while the purchase of your flight ticket is your personal responsibility at this stage. You will also receive a list of practical items to prepare and bring with you.

During this time, you complete all necessary steps related to certificates, insurance, and mobility arrangements. At the same time, you prepare yourself interiorly to leave your familiar environment and enter a new cultural and missionary context. This stage already calls you to live a spirit of availability and detachment, as you begin to experience what it means to go ad extra—beyond your home, your habits, and your expectations.

5

Candidate


After receiving your visa or residence permit, you arrive in a formation house and officially become a candidate. You begin the Community Experience year, which is the first stage of the SMB formation journey. This is a simple but essential time where you learn to live with others in fraternity, prayer, and service. You discover the spirituality of the Child of Bethlehem and begin to root your life in Christ. The formators accompany you personally and in community, helping you to grow in human maturity, spiritual depth, and missionary openness.

At the same time, both you and the SMB continue to discern: is this truly your path? Are you ready to give your life in a missionary vocation lived fully, faithfully, and for the long term? At the end of this year, a decision is made regarding the continuation of your formation journey, and also regarding your orientation: whether you will continue on the path toward priesthood or as a brother within the SMB.

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