Seminary is the heart of the Archdiocese

By Archbishop Charles Jason Gordon

Sixty years ago, the Seminary moved from the monastery to its present building when Archbishop Count Finbar Ryan OP answered: “It can be done”. He mobilised the monks to construct the building that the Seminary now occupies, and the Archdiocese remains forever in their debt for that sacrifice.

“The Seminary is the heart of the Archdiocese,” was a saying of Archbishop Anthony Pantin CSSp. He was absolutely right. As the Seminary goes, so the Archdiocese goes.

When the Seminary closed in 2009, the Archdiocese was having a heart attack. When Archbishop Joseph Harris CSSp reopened the seminary in 2016, it was a great sign of hope and recovery.

A mature Church produces vocations in a multiplicity of forms—married couples, religious, priests, lay consecrated to name a few. It also produces teachers, doctors, lawyers, politicians, electricians, plumbers and business persons who are both conscious of their Catholic identity and live their vocation. Beyond being conscious, they are also willing to pay the price of discipleship in little and big things.

As a locally bred Catholic, formed for priesthood at the Seminary, and as Archbishop, I long for a Church where the whole people of God take co-responsibility for the mission entrusted to us by Christ.

I long for a Church where we each live out our various vocations fully and consciously, where each Catholic uses their gifts and talents for the building up of the Body of Christ.

I see a Church that is faithful to the magisterium and yet incarnated in our Caribbean culture, thus both faithful and pastoral. I envision a Church that is a friend and defender of the poor, a Church that constantly finds new ways to initiate all its people into the mystery that is Christ. I long for a Church of missionary disciples proclaiming the joy of the Gospel.

There is no doubt that the Church of the 21st century requires priests who can call forth a plurality of vocations from the people. The Church in Trinidad and Tobago needs priests who can work in collaboration with each other, being vulnerable and humble, conscientiously living their vocation.

The local faithful needs a band of brothers who will generously sacrifice to bring into being this vision of Church, a cadre of men willing to plumb the depths of their relationship with God, reaching out with love to all.

As the Seminary goes, so the Archdiocese goes. This vision of Church is not just a dream. Over the last three years, the formation team has been working to make this dream into a reality.

Formation in the Catholic world has four pillars—Human, Spiritual, Intellectual, and Pastoral. The formation team has developed a detailed programme for each pillar designed to achieve the vision of Church articulated here.

Over the last 60 years, the Seminary has formed countless priests, religious and lay persons for ministry in the Caribbean Church. Indeed, eight of the current Bishops of the Antilles were formed for priesthood at the Seminary of St John Vianney and the Uganda Martyrs.

Today, God is looking for more men with courage to accompany the Church to this vision. Pray with me, that we find the right men to answer this call.