Granada, Spain, Oct 24, 2006 / 22:00 pm
Archbishop Francisco Javier Martinez of Granada has decided to pull his seminarians out of the local Jesuit-run theology program, claiming that “the situation of the Church in the current cultural context requires that our seminarians receive formation in a center run by the diocese.”
The archdiocese’s seminarians will now be receiving theological instruction at the diocesan institute named after German theologian Hans Urs Von Balthasar and will be housed in one of the wings of the diocesan seminary.
The transfer of theology students out of the Jesuit-run program completes the transfer of all Granada seminarians into diocesan-run schools. First and second year seminarians had already been moved into Archbishop Martinez’s newly created Edith Stein Philosophy Institute.
The Dean of the Jesuit run School of Theology of Granada, Ildefonso Camacho, told the Efe news agency that the archbishop explained in his letter that he would formally notify the Grand Chancellor of the School of Theology of Granada, Father Peter Hans Kolvenbach, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus.
The Dioceses of Malaga and Almeria have also pulled their students out of the school in recent years and placed them in their own diocesan institutes, although they are under the supervision of the School of Theology of Granada, which is responsible for certifying their theology degrees.
Dean Camacho said he was surprised and saddened by the archbishop’s decision and that the Jesuit school would not supervise the Granada seminarians, since the archbishops’ decision seems to indicate “he does not consider our formation to be adequate.”
Efe also reported that Archbishop Martinez has tendered his resignation as president of the Board of Directors of the School of Theology of Granada.