Boston, Mass., Dec 18, 2008 / 04:04 am
Eighty-seven seminarians are now enrolled at the Archdiocese of Boston’s St. John’s Seminary, more than doubling the number of seminarians who were studying there just two years ago.
Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley resisted calls to close the troubled archdiocese’s seminary, making its preservation a priority of his tenure, Michael Paulson writes in the Boston Globe. The cardinal has encouraged bishops from New England and elsewhere to send their seminarians to Boston to prepare for the priesthood.
"When I arrived, the enrollment was way down, and there was a lot of pressure on me from some of the pastors to close the seminary," Cardinal O'Malley said to the Boston Globe. "I told the priests, we have to give it one good try to see whether we can save the seminary, because once we close it, we'll never get it back, and for New England, with the large Catholic population that we have here, the presence of our own seminary is very important."
Though many of the seminarians will return to serve their home dioceses, church officials said that the increased enrollment will encourage prospective priests.