SEMINARY
701
SEMINARY
Country
Diocese
Name
Place
In charge of
4
2;S
United States
Detroit
Sts. Cyril and Methodius's Seminary
St. Joseph's Preparatory Senainary. .
St. Thomas's Seminarj-
Orchard Lake....
Grand Rapids . . .
Hartford
St. Meinrad
St.Meinrad
Kansas City
South Orange....
Diocesan priests
Benedictines
Diocesan priests! '.'.'.'.
Benedictines.. .'.'.'.'.'. Diocesan priests
Obi. Mary Immac
Benedictines
T
P
P
T P P
T
P T T
104
■97
71 100 18
Grand Rapids
Hartford
" "
Indianapolis
Kansas City
Newark
St. Meinrad's Ecclesiastical Sem.
(Polish)
" "
St. Meinrad's College
- ::
St. John's Catholic Seminary
Immaculate Conception Theological
44
St. Vincent's Seminary (Seton Hall) .
Rochester
Rochester
San Antonio
Belmont
233
80
San Antonio
North Carolina
San Antonio Theological Seminary. .
17
C. Obligation of Seminary Training. — A stu-
dent could obtain all the knowledge necessary for a
priest by following classes in a college and lectures in a
university, without living in the seminary; but since
the Council of Trent, the sovereign pontiffs and the
bishops have constantly endeavoured to have candi-
dates for the priesthood .spend some time in a semin-
ary so as to acquire, along with knowledge, habits of
piety and self-di.scipline. They have felt that the
purpose of the Tridentine Decree would be defeated
if residence in the seminary were left to the option of
the students. It is the desire of the Holy See, based
on the Council of Trent and repeatedly expressed, es-
pecially by Leo XIII and Pius X, that future priests
be trained from early years apart from lay students.
The same idea is enforced by the third Plenary Coun-
cil of Baltimore, when it declares that the custom
which obtains in some parts of the country of having
aspirants to the priesthood take their classical course
in a mixed college is not in perfect harmony with the
mind of the Church, and when it urges the foundation
of a preparatory seminary in every diocese or at least
in every province (nos. 139, 153). Where this decree
cannot be carried out, colleges receiving young men
who study for the priesthood mu.st strictly observe
the regulations prescribed for preparatory seminaries,
relating to discipline, religious in.struction, and the
programme of studies (ibid., no. 153). With still
greater insistence does the Church demand residence
in a seminary from the students of theology, even if
they follow the lectures of a Catholic university.
Thus Pius X has ordered all ecclesiastical students in
Rome to live in one of the colleges established for
them; a similar instru(;tion has been issued for the
ecclesiastical students at Fribourg. The Council of
Baltimore required all aspirants to the priesthood to
go through the six years of training prescribed for all
American seminaries (no. 155). The bishop can dis-
pense in rare cases, and for grave reasons.
D. External Government of Scmiunries. — All mat- ters referring to seminaries are under the supreme direction of the Consistorial Congregation in Rome. Diocesan seminaries are controlled by the bishop, who appoints and removes professors, determines in detail the regulations to be followed, and watches over the temporal administration, studies, disci- pline, and piety. Nothing of importance can be done without his advice and consent; to him belongs the final decision on the admission and dismissal of students, as well as on their call to orders. In pro- vincial or interdiocesan seminaries this power is vested in the board of interested bi.shops. For diocesan seminaries, the bishop is bound by the common law of the Church to seek, though not bound to follow, in matters of temporal administration the advice of a commission composed of two canons of the cathedral (one cho.sen by himself, the other by the chapter) and of two other priests of the episcopal city, one chosen also by the bishop, the other by the clergy. For
spiritual matters the advice of two canons chosen by
the bishop is likewise necessary. In the United States
the bishop must have in the management of his semin-
ary at least one adviser for spiritual matters, and an-
other for temporal matters; both are chosen by
himself with the advice of the diocesan consultors
(Council of Baltimore, no. 180).
Although no te.xt of ecclesiastical law forbids the bishop to entrust the direction of his seminary to a re- ligious order or congregation, this cannot be done without the approval of the Holy See; for the bishop has no power to give up for himself and his successors the right to appoint the rector and teachers; neither can he set aside the law of the Council of Trent, re- quiring the advice of consultors in the management of the seminaries, while religious congregations in taking charge of a seminary assume the appointment of the faculty, and in governing it do not admit the inter- ference of a diocesan commission. Se\eral religious orders or societies, however (Eudists, Lazarists, Ma- rists, Oratorians, Sulpicians), have a general permission from the Holy See to accept the seminaries entrusted to them. A contract between the bishop and the society determines the conditions under which the seminary is accepted and must be governed (Council of Baltimore, no. 180).
E. Internal Administration of Seminaries. — Two systems prevail. In one the management of the seminary is in the hands of the rector, who alone under the bi.shop governs the seminary, calls to orders, ad- mits and dismisses the students; a treasurer has full charge of temporal matters, while to a spiritual di- rector is entrusted the formation of the students in piety. The professors are merely teachers.
In the other system, all the professors have a share in the administration of the seminary; and all im- portant matters are decided by a vote of the faculty. The professors are spiritual directors and confessors of the students. Of course, they have no voice in the faculty meetings when one of their penitents is con- cerned. A Decree of the Holy Office (5 July, 1899) forbids superiors of seminaries and colleges in Rome to hear the confessions of their students. With the special organization of those colleges, such a practice could easily interfere with the liberty which the Church assures to all in the sacred tribunal. Although this decree has not been officially extended beyond those colleges, its spirit should be observed in others similarly organized.
F. Admission and Dismissal of Students. — "Let those be received", says the Council of Trent, "who having been born in lawful wedlock, have at least attained their twelfth year, are able to read and write passably, and whose naturally good di.sposition gives token that they will always continue in the ser- vice of the Church. " It is the wish of the council that the children of the poor should be preferred. To-day an ordinary grammar school instruction is required for admission into the preparatory seminaries. As
