Catholic Info
Traditional Catholic Faith => General Discussion => Topic started by: stevusmagnus on September 05, 2011, 08:34:49 AM
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Wonder what to make of this. It is good that more men are interested in the priesthood. Probably has a lot to do with Katrina making Catholics down there get their priorities in order. However, as we can tell by the lay dress of these seminarians, their formation will be anything but Traditional. Notre Dame seminary in New Orleans is run by Jesuits I think and pretty lib.
http://www.nola.com/religion/index.ssf/2011/09/latest_group_of_seminarians_a.html
Latest group of seminarians is a bumper crop
Published: Sunday, September 04, 2011, 7:00 AM
By Bruce Nolan, The Times-Picayune
(http://media.nola.com/religion_impact/photo/9962296-large.jpg)
After years of relative scarcity, the Archdiocese of New Orleans opens the academic year with a bumper crop of young men entering seminary studies for the priesthood — the largest group in 26 years.
Photos by Ted Jackson, The Times-PicayuneChad Ham and Chris Zavackis, in the chapel at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans on Friday. The Archdiocese of New Orleans has the largest class in 20 years of men entering studies for the priesthood.
Thirty-six men have enrolled at either St. Joseph Seminary in Covington for undergraduate training, or Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans for graduate work, leading to ordination during the next eight years.
Last year the number was 27. Before that, 20.
No one in the regional church believes it’s the beginning of the end of the priest shortage that has bled the Catholic church for more than 30 years, or even that a class this size establishes a new norm for the future.
But Archbishop Gregory Aymond and others say they are cautiously optimistic that a series of concrete initiatives to increase the number of New Orleans priests is beginning to bear fruit.
The candidates range in age from 18 to 51. Four will enter St. Joseph Seminary right out of high school, a relative rarity. Others, like Chad Ham, 47, and Chris Zavackis, 42, have left established careers — in law and social work, respectively.
Nationally, the average age of newly ordained priests last year was 31, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University. More than 90 percent had full-time jobs before seminary; 60 percent had completed college before entering seminary.
Unlike Protestant ministry studies, which can be pursued part-time in conjunction with a secular job, Catholic seminarians quit their careers to live full-time in the seminary community.
Seminary programs not only teach theology and pastoral care, but seminary mentors also keep careful watch on psychological health and spiritual growth.
The education is free to the candidates, but costs the seminary around $35,000 a year for each student, said Aymond.
But not all seminarians progress to ordination.
(http://media.nola.com/religion_impact/photo/9962335-large.jpg)
Zavackis returned to the seminary after spending a year at Notre Dame 17 years ago. After he left, he worked and dated, but said he felt he wanted more, and in time decided that fulfillment probably would be found in the priesthood.
Chad Ham and Chris Zavackis pray after Mass in the chapel at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans. Both men left established careers, Ham in law and Zavackis in social work, to enter the seminary.
In Catholic and Protestant theology alike, men and women are said to be called by God to a preferred destiny, sometimes to a life of ministry. But the signal can be swamped by static from secular culture.
Vocations directors like the Rev. Steven Bruno in New Orleans, say their main job is to connect with as many young men and women as possible, urging them to stop, listen and perhaps pay attention to what at first may be a faint call to ministry.
Bruno and Aymond use the same language: trying to create among metro New Orleans Catholics a “culture of vocations.”
“Fundamentally, that’s our attitude toward our own lives; that we belong to God,” Bruno said. “That’s very counter-cultural in a culture where we’re encouraged to take ownership over our lives. But the vocations mentality is that my life is to be poured out for some good. For something bigger than me.”
In nine years as bishop of Austin, Texas, Aymond developed a reputation for ramping up vocations to the priesthood.
Shortly after his arrival in New Orleans he took a big step, pulling Bruno out of parish work and making him the archdiocese’s first full-time vocations director in memory.
Bruno oversees a range of programs that reach out to students in Catholic elementary and high schools, and to young adults in secular careers.
In addition, each year Bruno visits every Catholic high school and as many of the 109 or so parishes as he can. He asks for help from parents, relatives and neighbors in the pews. He recruits his fellow priests as well.
“There’s a statistic that 80 percent of priests have said that having a priest invite them to think about a vocation, or a priest’s influence, was important to them in helping them discover their vocation,” Bruno said. “But less than 30 percent of priests have asked anyone else if they’ve considered a call.”
Aymond and Bruno both acknowledge that the Catholic sɛҳuąƖ abuse scandal after 2002 has hindered their work somewhat, but probably less than most people think.
Aymond acknowledged that he’s discussing a potential vocation with a young man whose parents are vigorously opposed.
But he said more commonly, “what I hear from young people, and from older guys is, yes, they were embarrassed for the church — but that scandal didn’t have anything to do with them, and if they can help make the priesthood more credible, they’re up for that.”
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Good read, might explain why! To those with eyes to see.
http://secretarcana.com/occultsymbols/mosaicpavement/
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Welcome to the haunted house. :devil2:
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I do not see any Holy Expressions, and Holiness in those two guys
at the door of the church.
This is a type of an expression that you will get at the Disneyland
haunted house, in which I saw in my irreligious days.
Just look at the photo from 1959.
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It could have something to do with the money and benefits they will receive as diocesan priests. I can't remember where I read this, but it was recently reported that diocesan priests have an average salary of almost $40k a year. This is on top of a free place to stay and top notch health care.
Or it could be the masonry thing, I don't know.
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Great photo, RC. A vivid reminder of what we have lost.
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Great photo, RC. A vivid reminder of what we have lost.
More to come when the subject warrants it.
All from Chicago sources from the 1930's to 1965.
After 1965, especially what Cardinal Cody did to the Cathedral of
the Holy Name to bring that Beautiful Gothic Church in line with
Vatican 2 Worship.
You can see the photos what it looks today online.
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Do you have a link?
It boggles the mind how a Catholic could do that to his own Church and Faith.
Oh that's right, they weren't Catholic.
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I do not see any Holy Expressions, and Holiness in those two guys
at the door of the church.
This is a type of an expression that you will get at the Disneyland
haunted house, in which I saw in my irreligious days.
:laugh1: sooo true
i dont see why it wrong to judge someone based purely on their physical disposition. if somebdy doesnt look holy then they probably arent.
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I think the guys pictured are sincere and devout. They simply don't know any better. All they know of Catholicism is the NO Church. They probably grew tired of the world and are seeking something higher, and this is to be commended. They do need our prayers. Even if they are NO, being willing to give up money, a family, and your freedom to follow God is something amazing in this day and age. I just pray that these men eventually find Tradition and do not lose their Faith in the NO Matrix.
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It is hard to believe that this Cathedral had a beautiful marble altar, and
communion rails, and statuary that were mostly unchanged from when
the Cathedral was built in 1874 to after 1965 when Cardinal Cody
had the interior of the Church remodeled to fit it with the new
vision of Vatican 2 worship.
Roule76 mentioned in a previous entry on an another subject about
the spider web depiction of Our Lady, and Our Lord
Lord. How can anyone keep their Catholic Faith with such
ugly art.
Go to fatimamovement.com. I do not like this site. However, it
has some good information. Go to the box to the left, and scroll
down until you get the link to Holy Name Cathedral, that has
photos of the spider web.
Knowing what this beautiful Gothic Church looked before 1965,
this just makes me plain sick.
Also, what message is that large Crucifix in a box over the altar.
What message is the supposed to convey? Is is to deny the
resurrection!
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Just type in Holy Name Cathedral, Chicago on your address bar and that
will take you to the link.
I was afraid to post it because of the copyright.
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I still can't find good before and after pictures.
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I found a video of a Bishop gladly explaining the wreckovations...
http://www.holynamecathedral.org/index.php?page=cathedral
This video is tough to watch. Listening to him explain why they did away with the stain glass Saints in the windows with meaningless blocks of color BOGGLES the mind. To let more light in? Seriously!!?
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http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=2&sqi=2&ved=0CCIQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjosephfouts.com%2Frecentprojects%2Fholynamecathedral.html&rct=j&q=holy%20name%20cathedral%20visual%20tour&ei=fn1lTpnTNKqusQKegamyCg&usg=AFQjCNEYGbyitslAHsI5Sd0tFaDD7KEong&cad=rja
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Pre 1965 Photos of the interior of Holy Name Cathedral, Chicago, Illinois.
Correction, Photo 2, Photo taken at the Enthronement of Archbishop
Albert Meyer. He became a Cardinal in December 1958.
The photos are from a photographer of the Detroit Free Press, sold
from their archives.
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More Photos
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The last, and final photo.
It is the Midnight Christmas Mass 12/25/1965.
Cardinal Albert Meyer has died.
Cardinal Cody Enthroned.
The chairs are at the front of the Altar.
A table has replaced the altar of sacrifice.
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Absolute tragedy.... Sigh....
Did you manage to make it through the video?
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I love the Ave Maria sung, but knowing what this church looked
like before. I am totally sick. The black and white photos do not
do it justice, but it was the best technology of that time.
There are issues why the original stained glass windows depicting
Our Lord, Our Lady and the Saints were replaced by colored
glass. What could be the message of the corpus of Our
Lord in a Box shaped like a cross above the altar. They did
not show in the video the ugly spider web art. This is just a
place to avoid, if ever I see Chicago..
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I don't see how the Bishop, with a straight face, can say that ripping out stained glass windows of saints and replacing them with colored blobs has meaning and is an improvement. And the cross? A reminder of the Resurrection, so no nails? He seems almost downright giddy explaining the deep "meaning" behind every jot and tittle of the wreckovation. Is he sane? Do modern day prelates suffer from mental delusion? It is hard for me to understand how ordained men who gave up their life for God could sell the Church's birthright for a bowl of bitter modernist soup!
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Reminds me of the former American Communist party member Bella Dodd
testified before Congress in the 1950's that in the 1920's and 1930's she helped young
radical men to enter the seminaries with a mission to destroy the church from within.
In the 1950's some of these seminarians were ordained priests and some were already Bishops, and even Cardinals. She testified that when she was a communist,
she kept in contact with at lease 2 cardinals in the Vatican.
I cannot say that all modernist Clergy, and Bishops are Communist, but it cannot
be discounted that some entered the church with a mission to destroy her
from within.
Our Lady of Fatima said that the errors of Russia will spread everywhere,
and the church is not immune.