Sunday, April 27, 2008

Tsnami of Vocation Inquiries at Dunwoodie

Pope Benedict's visit to Dunwoodie has already borne fruit, in only one week; reports say that St. Joseph's Seminary which was built to house 300 seminarians, and has a mere 23, had been flooded with applications. "It's been like a tsunami, a good tsunami of interest," said Father Luke Sweeney, the Archdiocese of New York's vocations director. “I've been meeting people all week and have a lot of e-mails I haven't had the chance yet to respond to. It has been incredible.”
For the first time in 108 years, the seminary had been preparing for a year with no students. Only 23 seminarians are expected to be ordained for New York City over the next four years. A study carried out by Catholic World Report claims the archdiocese’s ratio of priests to congregation members is among the worst in the country.

Praised be Jesus and Mary!
Just look at the sea of black here at the Rally. This is what the New Springtime will look like. Cassock wearing, holy young men, familiar with tradition, firm in their faith, burning to share that faith with others in the priesthood in an often hostile world.
And they're smiling!

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