www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Byzantine Seminary

Greetings All,

I was wondering if anyone could tell me how many students there are st the Byzantine Seminary near Pittsburgh, Sts. Cyrill and Methodius.

Thanks

Peter

There are currently 3 seminarians. 1 second year, 1 third year, 1 deacon in his fourth year.

I understand the faculty to student ratio is outstanding though.

Meanwhile, in Ukraine and elsewhere in Eastern Europe, there are long waiting lists for the few slots available at Lviv Theological University and other seminaries. Any suggestion that some of those candidates be brought here for training, and perhaps to stay on in ministry in the United States, is greeted with stony silence by our hierarchs.

As is any suggestion that it might be time to consider accepting married men into the presbyteral program.

Then, every Sunday, we are enjoined to pray for an increase in vocations.

Some people need to pull their heads out of the sand (or perhaps some nether fundament)and take a very hard, realistic look around them.

Dear Stuart,

Very well said, Mentor!

We only need take a look at "The Light's" directory of Eastern Catholic clergy in Ukraine and around to see how many priests they have - very many with people struggling to get into the seminary.

Ottawa does receive seminarians from Ukraine. What is wrong with taking them for service in North America when vocations here are lacking?

RC Churches are now taking priests from Asia, Latin America and Africa to fill in the waning clerical ranks.

For the first time ever, the Martyrs' Shrine in Midland, Ontario has an Asian Director, Fr. Robert Wong, SJ.

It was just such a shock to me to speak with Fr. Wong for the first time.

It was a shock because he was so congenial, open, sincere, dedicated and approachable. I work with him on projects related to the Shrine and the Shrine is growing by leaps and bounds under his leadership.

Our bishop doesn't seem to like priests and priestly candidates from the "old country" either.

He once apparently said that we need priests "from here" who understand the people's mentality etc.

Well, the Basilians and Redemptorists "from here" have certainly failed in that department and their ranks are thinning faster than a balding head.

Yet, when priests from "over there" come here, the people come out in droves to hear their sermons etc.

The bishops know best - or do they?

Alex

SLAVA ISUSU CHRISTU!
SLAVA NA VIKI BOHU!

Actually Stuart, the lines aren't that long anymore.

One of my best friends is a seminarian studying at the Russicum in Rome. He's from the Diocese of Mukachevo and he said that there are only 40 students there now.

The seminary's were packed after the intial lifting of the ban but, once they get 1-2 yrs under their belt, the young men leave.

The best and the brightest are being sent to Rome for fast-track education. Already 2 of my friends who went throught the Russicum are back in Ukraine and are deans in the Diocese of Mukachevo, they also teach in the Seminary.

mark

The line may not be long in Mukachevo, but they most certainly are long in Lviv. Of course, they not only train Greek Catholics, but also any Orthodox who wish the best available Byzantine theological education in Eastern Europe. I wonder how many Rusyn seminarians are passing up Mukachevo for the big time in Lviv?

[ 09-03-2002: Message edited by: StuartK ]

[ 09-09-2002: Message edited by: jt ]

Placetne, magister?

[ 09-09-2002: Message edited by: jt ]

One of the problems in bringing these men over here is that almost all of them want to be married priests, or at least want to discern marriage as a possibility. Thus, this option doesn't appear feasible.

Anthony

Glory to Jesus Christ!

Why is this a problem? Bishop BASIL Losten of the Stamford Eparchy brings plenty of married priests over. God Bless!

CIX!

Mark!!!

Can you put me in touch with your friend? I'm trying to find out about the possibility of studying in the Russicum - could you email me at kyrie@pacific.net.sg ?

Many thanks in advance.

Yours in Domino,

Edward
(who has just revealed his nefarious secret plans for the whole board to see)

The reluctance against importing priests from Europe has more to do with culture than whether they are married or single.

It is my understanding that the reason that our bishops are reluctant to import priests from Europe is not because they might happen to be married but more so because they are from an entirely different culture and mentality. Let�s face it, for most Byzantine Catholics in America (don�t know about Canada) the only thing still ethnic about us is the food we occasionally eat. We are not Slavs. We are Americans. We think and speak in English. We have just to look at the culture shock issues in the Byzantine-Ukrainian Catholic Church when they accepted priests who were born and raised in Ukraine to know that our bishops need to be extremely careful. A priest from Europe who might insist on using Church Slavonic in a parish that has used predominantly English for the past 35 years or who cannot relate to the lives of the people entrusted to his care is going to have an extremely difficult time as a pastor.

A secondary issue is finance. It is my personal opinion that social justice demands that we pay our priests a much higher salary. Imagine trying to support a wife and children on less than $20,000 year (even if the housing allowance equates to another $10,000). We would have all of our married priests qualifying for welfare! What an example to set for Christians. Some argue that married priests could get the larger parishes but that is not a just reason for putting single priests in the smallest (and poorest) parishes. I argue for better salaries all around (and, yes, I do understand the issue that many parishes would not be able to afford a priest if they paid him a higher salary).

All in all, the bishops are correct in evaluating each candidate from Europe individually. Yes, it would be nice to be able to import these men but if our Church can�t produce enough vocations to supply our own parishes we are doing something wrong. It is my personal opinion that our Church is indeed producing vocations to the priesthood and that we are turning them away because they happen to be married. Thankfully, this generation of bishops is open to the actual renewal of a married presbyterate.

Dear Administrator,

Yes, but you Yankees are just so darned good at assimilating people.

My in-laws, after more than half a century of living in Canada, still no speaka da language vewy goot.

But these newbie priesties from Ukrayina pick up the Southern lingo like that, man, er, Sir . . .

I would suggest that the fact that these priests are married is a major block for our bishops in accepting them, moreso than the cultural stuff.

I know Ukrainian immigrants here who in the space of two years stopped using Ukrainian altogether and speak English very vell.

But married priests are a good thing.

As our old bishop used to say, "I never have any problems with my married priests - after all, they have a Patriarch, Metropolitan and Bishop wrapped up in the person of their presbytera living right there at home with them. I could never have such direct access to and authority over them!"

Alex

I think we underestimate the ability of new immigrants to adapt to our way of life. Slovakia is, after all, not Chechnya or Afghanistan. Ukraine is somewhat different, but then again, Zakarpattia is not exactly the middle of nowhere, either. If a young man is a candidate for the priesthood in our Church "over there", we can be reasonably sure that he is bright, reasonably well-educated, and probably more in tune with living the Faith than the typical American Byzantine Catholic the same age. If they express an interest in serving the Church in the USA and show an aptitude for English, I suspect it would not take long before that young man (married or not) would fit right in to our Church here.

The risk, I can see from experience, is in accepting candidates who are only beginning their formation (i.e., right out of high school). Those are precisely the ones that in our experience did not work out, to say the least.