Week
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February 7, 2001
Inside the Register
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Seminaries challenged by growing enrollments
'Adopt a Seminarian' program allows parishes, individuals to help fund formation
By Roxanne King
With more than 75 men in formation, the Archdiocese of Denver is experiencing a renaissance in the number of seminarians studying for the priesthood.
Sixty of those seminarians are studying at the two seminaries at Our Lady of the New Advent Theological Institute, which opened in 1999 at the John Paul II Center in Denver. The two seminaries — St. John Vianney Theological Seminary and Redemptoris Mater Missionary Seminary — train priests to serve the archdiocese. The seminarians at Redemptoris Mater also receive missionary training.
Amazed at the "astonishing" number of vocations, Msgr. Sam Aquila, rector of St. John Vianney, said that with the seminarians comes the problem of how to pay for their formation.
Tuition, room and board cost $15,500 a year per student, the rector said. Because the men will give their lives to the Church, the archdiocese pays for their formation.
"It's a wonderful problem to have, but it's nevertheless a challenge for us to respond to," Msgr. Aquila said.
Many of the seminarians have four-year degrees and bring with them the burden of student loans, the rector said.
"They are hardly in a position to struggle with more debt," he said. "These will be the young men who celebrate the Eucharist, visit the sick and bring the presence of Christ to the people in the future. Hence, all of us have a responsibility to support them, both with our prayers and with our financial gifts to ensure their formation and education."
The seminarians undergo "rigorous" academic training from an international faculty featuring the likes of Father Andreas Höck, Msgr. Aquila said. Fluent in eight languages, the German native reads and writes another eight. He is completing his doctorate in Sacred Scripture from Pontifical College Biblicum in Rome. He will teach Scripture.
"He's extremely bright," Msgr. Aquila said, adding that the Religious Sisters of Mercy, who teach philosophy and theology, also enhance the program with their "wealth" of academic training and teaching experience.
"The Lord has blessed us with a tremendous faculty who have a deep love for the Church and for learning," Msgr. Aquila said.
The seminarians also receive "excellent" spiritual formation, the rector said.
"Each has his own spiritual director, as well as participates in the prayer of the church and Eucharistic Adoration every day," he said, adding that the seminarians also are involved in apostolic work at schools, parishes and retirement homes, and receive pastoral training at parishes.
The formation program focuses on the four areas identified by Pope John Paul II for the training of priests: human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral, said Deacon John Neal, director of Seminary Stewardship for the archdiocese. The academic and spiritual formation programs are rooted in "sacred Scripture, sacred tradition and the Magisterium of the Church," he added.
"They are getting authentic Catholic formation," Deacon Neal said. "What's here is something the people of the diocese should be really, really proud of."
The seminaries "routinely" get requests to train more men than they can for outside the diocese, Deacon Neal said. Currently, three men are studying to serve the Diocese of Fargo.
"We plan, over time, to really grow this thing," Deacon Neal said.
Msgr. Aquila agreed, adding that the seminaries are eager to serve other dioceses.
But, for now, there isn't enough money for the local harvest, the administrators said.
"We had 45 high school students here this past weekend, all of whom have expressed some interest in the priesthood," Msgr. Aquila said, referring to a discernment retreat held at the John Paul II Center. "With this type of response to the call God may be giving them, we need to find ways to develop and support their vocation." An endowment fund, direct contributions, and funds from the Archbishop's Catholic Appeal are ways the seminaries are funded, the administrators said. The new Adopt-a-Seminarian program is another — and one which the administrators hope will help the seminaries become self sufficient. Through it, individuals, organizations and parishes are encouraged to donate the $15,500 tuition, room and board cost of one seminarian. "They are not actually adopting a specific seminarian," Deacon Neal said, adding that unlike some foster programs, donors won't get a photograph and biography of a particular seminarian. "The money is for all the seminarians," he said. Donors will have opportunities to meet with the seminarians at events such as an annual dinner. Large parishes are asked to adopt more than one seminarian, Deacon Neal said. Parishes that can't afford the full cost to adopt a seminarian are encouraged to share the cost with one or two other parishes. That's what Spirit of Christ, St. Joan of Arc and St. Anne's parishes in Arvada are doing. Referring to the $15,500 cost as "a big hunk of change" Father Bob Kinkel, pastor of Spirit of Christ, said, "We can't do it alone, so we're doing it together." Individuals and organizations who can't afford the full $15,500 cost also are asked to partner with others — or to donate what they can toward the cost of educating a seminarian, Deacon Neal said. "God has called these men out of the faithful of northern Colorado and they will be going back to serve the people of the diocese — they are giving their life to the Church," Deacon Neal said. "This is a way for the faithful to get behind them." Seminarian Josh Norcross, 24, a Boulder native, described the intellectual and spiritual training he's getting at St. John Vianney as "intense" — and he's "thrilled" with it. "I think we probably have one of the best formation programs in the country," Norcross said. "In order for us to continue with our formation, it's necessary to be helped by generous benefactors." He likes that the Adopt-a-Seminarian program provides donors with an opportunity to meet with the seminarians at an annual event. "It's a little more personal that way," Norcross said. "They get to know how grateful we are for their generosity and support." Asked what prompted the quick donation response from the three parishes in Arvada, Father Kinkel said, "Because there's a need. "Since we have more seminarians than we anticipated and not enough funds to support them, we have to do something," he said. To donate to the Adopt-a-Seminarian program, make checks payable to: Our Lady of the New Advent Theological Institute. Mail to: Most. Rev. Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., C/O Deacon John Neal, Our Lady of the New Advent Theological Institute, 1300 S. Steele St. Denver, CO 80210.