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“I believe that God has special plans for the seminary
….”
(Very Reverend Archpriest) John G. Petro, Rector of the Byzantine Catholic
Seminary
The Byzantine Catholic Seminary of SS. Cyril and Methodius received great
news during the Paschal celebration of Bright Week. On 22 April 2003, the
Secretary of Education for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Vicki L.
Phillips, sent a letter granting authority for the seminary to “operate as a
degree-granting seminary …with degree-granting privileges… to confer the
following degrees: Master of Divinity (M.Div) and Master of Arts in Theology
(M.A.T.).”
“It was a joyful and humbling moment for me,” said Fr. John, who became the
rector of the seminary in July 1995. “It was the result of much hard work by
many talented and dedicated people – staff, faculty, students, members of
our Advisory Board and others.”
When the seminary Advisory Board was formed in 1999, it challenged Fr. John,
the faculty and staff to work for the accreditation of the seminary.
“Now, three years and three months after that challenge,” said Dr. Betty
Radvak- Shovlin, the Board’s first and only president, “we have received
authorization from the state and are ready to seek accreditation from The
Association of Theological Schools (ATS).”
“In Pennsylvania,” Fr. John said, “a school must be authorized to grant
degrees before it can seek accreditation by the ATS. When Betty and the
Board issued the challenge to us, we knew we had a lot of work to do.”
Fr. John and his faculty and staff had many huge issues to confront. First,
they had to re-structure the curriculum to meet contemporary standards for
theological schools. At the same time they were recruiting faculty with
outstanding credentials. Also concurrently they hired a librarian and a
development director and established a $1 million endowment campaign, the
seminary’s first-ever fund development effort.
“Finding the best people to serve in the seminary proved not to be that
difficult,” Fr. John said. “For some reason, the people we asked wanted to
be a part of this effort. We did feel daunted by the prospect of raising $1
million, but we were celebrating our 50th anniversary; it was the millennium
and we learned that people wanted us to succeed.”
The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) would only authorize the
seminary to grant degrees if it could show proof of an endowment. It didn’t
want to back an organization that could not show financial self-sufficiency.
“The Bishops and clergy, our parishioners across the country, some
foundations and a few generous major donors helped us achieve our
fund-raising goal,” Fr. John said. “It was up to us, then, to keep our
promise to them and achieve the degree-granting status.”
Former Pittsburgh Schools executive and President of the Advisory Board, Dr.
Betty Radvak- Shovlin agreed to serve as a non-paid consultant, assisting
the seminary through the PDE process.
“Betty was the perfect person to help us,” Fr. John said. “Not only does she
know and love the seminary, but her experience in education and
administration proved to be invaluable.”
Many tasks remained to be completed before the seminary could expect to
receive its “Bright Week notice.” The organization’s Articles of
Incorporation needed to be amended, the By-Laws written and a Board of
Directors (distinct from the Advisory Board) established.
“We had so much work to do,” Fr. John said. “It would have been impossible
without people like Betty and Fr. Jack Custer (Dean of the seminary). Fr.
Jack was the principal author of the catalogues and handbooks, to say
nothing of his bringing the institution onto an academic level that is
comparable to other seminaries.”
“The final document that was sent to the PDE,” said Sr. Margaret Ann Andrako,
administrative assistant at the seminary who did much of the behind the
scenes work on the application, “weighed 24 pounds!”
The application was followed by a four-day site visit from the PDE in
October 2002. “The team of five inspected everything at the seminary,” Fr.
John said. “They were very thorough, but we were also prepared for the
visit.”
The visitation team, which was led by Carol Gisselquist, Higher Education
Specialist from the PDE, looked at the physical facilities, inspected all
academic and administrative records, reviewed finances and budgets,
interviewed students, faculty, administration, and all those involved with
seminary life, before they sat with seminary officials and offered an oral
report. The report was followed several weeks later by a written report with
commendations, recommendations, and suggestions. This final report proved to
be very positive.
“Over the next few months, however, we addressed every recommendation and
suggestion,” Fr. John said. “We took it all very seriously and have, in
fact, acted on most of them.”
It was still a delightful surprise, however, when on the morning of
Saturday, April 26th
Sr. Margaret Ann suggested to Fr. John that he open his mail for that day.
On top sat the certified letter from the PDE with the Certificate of
Authority to grant degrees.
The implications of the authorization for the seminary are enormous. For one
thing, it means the seminary may now seek accreditation by The Association
of Theological Schools. It also means that current students may now achieve
a master’s degree from the seminary. The implications for recruitment are
equally impressive. No longer will the Directors of Vocations have to tell
people that the seminary cannot offer an advanced degree. The PDE
authorization puts the seminary in a league with the other schools of its
kind in the nation. And, lastly, the seminary will eventually be able to
approach foundations that insist on supporting only accredited
organizations.
“The ATS application is our next big step,” Fr. John said. “They set the
norm for theology schools. Having their accreditation will give us the ‘gold
standard’ that we need to be recognized as a solid institution.”
The seminary will maintain its recently developed relationship with Duquesne
University and will proceed along a vision shared by Fr. John and many
people – a Byzantine Center of Learning.
“We see the Center of Learning taking shape already,” Fr. John said. “We
have just completed our first class of the Deacon Formation Program with 20
men prepared for eventual diaconal ordination, and we have another 25
candidates scheduled to begin this summer. We have an active Metropolitan
Cantor Institute because we were able to recruit the talented Professor J.
Michael Thompson. We have many educational and enrichment programs held here
that are sponsored by the Archeparchy’s Office of Religious Education.”
Fr. John is quick to give credit to others for the successes of the
seminary.
“Foremost in our success has been the support of Metropolitan Basil, and
before him the late Metropolitan Judson, a great friend to the seminary and
one-time rector. Our Advisory Board has been enthusiastic and observant;
they challenged us and then held us accountable. Our benefactors have been
loyal and generous; without them we could not have moved an inch along this
path.”
When asked how he felt about the PDE authorization, Fr. John said, “I am
overjoyed, deeply grateful and truly humbled. So many people have helped us
with academics, formation, administration and finance. But ultimately, I am
grateful to God. We have placed all our efforts in his hands. I believe that
God has special plans for the seminary as we seek to be a small part of the
renewal of the Byzantine Tradition.”
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Date: April 30, 2003
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