Washington D.C., Aug 22, 2011 / 11:23 am
The U.S. bishops have entrusted their recently closed Belgian seminary to the local Katholieke Universiteit in Leuven in order to preserve the Catholic identity of the 19th century building.
The American College of the Immaculate Conception in Belgium closed in June of this year because of the small number of seminarians and a lack of available priests for faculty.
Archbishop Timothy Dolan, head of the U.S. bishops' conference and archbishop of New York, praised the new agreement on Aug. 22 as a step forward in the relationship between Belgian and American Catholics.
“The American College has provided a major contribution to the life of the Catholic Church. With this agreement, we are able to respond to the changing needs of our faithful and those who serve them.”