Does anyone have the Dec. 2012 Ad Orientem, the New Seminary Project
Newsletter Issue Number 3?

It's very informative.  

Forget the first page, except for the big hint that they're in a big hurry to get
Virginia up and running so they can shut down Winona post haste.  It would
be too expensive.  $100 million only goes so far, you know.  

Page two mentions the new website, http://newseminaryproject.org - where
you can register, or better yet, just click on the big, prominent DONATE button, etc.



But it's page 3 that gets my attention.






Two New Professors at the Seminary

The coming of new faces is a common experience at the Seminary. Still, as we generally send priests out to the mission fields, it is not so common to see them come back to the seminary, even though they are often needed.  With the upswing in seminarian numbers, the previous staff of seven professors had been hard-pressed to cover all the classes and provide spiritual direction for the entire student body;  nevertheless, the need for priests in the field was too great, so the Seminary had to make do with a short staff for several years. At long last, St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary has been fortunate enough to welcome two new professors to the dedicated staff at Winona: Fathers Daniel Themann and Michael Goshie.

Although they come from widely different backgrounds, both of these recently ordained priests are nonetheless animated by the same zeal for teaching and sanctifying their students.

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to a traditional Catholic family, the fourth of five children, Fr. Themann was home-educated until stepping onto the campus of the University of Cincinnati. After graduating with a degree in Industrial Management, he decided to pursue his priestly vocation.  

Ordained 2009, Fr. Themann was then sent to St. Mary's, Kansas where he taught Religion to the high school boys and Theology to the college students.  He likewise served the Society's missions in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.  Now, in addition to his duties as spiritual director and weekend missionary, he teaches Apologetics and Dogma II with wit and verve.

Born in Milan, Italy, Fr. Goshie went to school in places ranging from Lebanon to Texas.  After graduating from Rice University with a degree in Political Science, he was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant in the Marine Corps.  As the years passed, he was deployed to such countries as Korea, Japan, and Kuwait.  Honorably discharged as a Captain in 1995, he earned a Masters in Education with which he would teach in high schools in Texas and New Hampshire, until at last he found his vocation and entered the Seminary.

Ordained in 2012, Fr. Goshie was stationed in Colorado and served the mission chapel in Anchorage, Alaska.  Now back at the Seminary, Father teaches Latin I, Introduction to Philosophy, Cosmology, and Psychology.

The seminarians are grateful to God that one pressing need of the Seminary has been answered by the coming of these professors to contribute to the formation of future priests in the image of His Son.





There are a number of questions that come to mind, not the least pressing of
which is, why are there no new professors that had been ordained previously,
such as in the 1990's?  Are such priests considered to not have as much
experience as these newly ordained priests?  Or, rather, is experience not one
of the key criteria, compared to, well, being recently ordained?  

What exactly were the criteria for selecting these two priests for professors?

Did these two priests grow up in the environment of TLM at SSPX parishes, or
independent chapels, or, were they formed in Novus Ordo liturgical settings?

It seems hard to imagine that among all the SSPX priests who may be qualified
for professorship, there are none to be found who were ordained before 2000,
let's say.  

Could it be that the formation of priests before 2009 was somehow unacceptable
to the new "look and feel" that Winona, or rather, Fr. Le Roux, is aiming toward?

Could it be that an atmosphere of NovusOrdo-friendliness and community
spirit is ON TOP OF THE LIST of priorities at Winona/Virginia?



If you have a copy of this Newsletter, don't miss the unusual crucifix-or-something
to be seen behind Fr. Goshie.  While a crucifix is normally mounted in a classroom
up high, about 8 or 9 feet above the floor, this one is curiously at eye level, that
is, easily reachable by touch for anyone standing in front of it.  It does not have
the traditional corpus, but rather has Jesus as King, with a royal-looking robe or
chasuble on, and wearing not a crown of thorns but a golden king's crown.  His
arms are outstretched over the crossbeam of the cross as if preparing for a
swan-dive into a pool of water, perhaps the Jordan River?  

There is no INRI sign above his head, so this is technically not a crucifix at all,
since the INRI is required for it to be a crucifix.  I have known traditional priests
who would not bless any cross that has no corpus, and/or no INRI on top.  

The image is not clear enough for me to see, but there may or may not be the
nail-marks in His hands and feet.  Protestants don't like to see the nail-marks,
but Novordiens don't seem to mind them too often ~ only sometimes.

So I would ask:  Why have a progressive, resurrectifix or kingshipifix or Jesus-
coming-loose-from-the-crossifix, or some other non-crucifix
in prominent display in a classroom?  

The Roman Crucifx has been standard issue for nearly 2,000 years, and now
all of a sudden we're having some kind of crisis in crucifixes all over the world.

What's up with that?  The Cross of all the Doctors of the Church is just not quite
good enough for us in our enlightened state of self-importance?  Or what?  

Did this trend not start with JPII's devil-worship, bent-arm, half-melted cross?

Did this not perpetuate with the removal at Assisi of all the crucifixes from the
various rooms where non-Catholics would be meeting for "prayers," as the
droning voice in the hallways said, "This Is Not Syncretism..."

Does this not indicate some kind of change in orientation at the SSPX seminary?  
Is it an attempt to evoke a more enthusiastic donation response from the
readership?  That is to say, if they were hoping to impress me, it did not work.

There is probably no droning voice in the halls of Winona reassuring the hapless
seminarians that "this is not syncretism," but then, perhaps it's a more powerful
message if it is not pronounced.  Kind of like an Alfred Hitchcock movie.

My personal opinion on this new seminary is not to donate money. I get the feeling it is a doomed project. It's just a personal opinion.

Personally..... iv gone right off apples....... :surprised:

Dont blame the messenger, if there is mistrust, it started at the top of sspx! i cannot say for sure if there is even one sspx priest in ireland who is not in favour of an agreement,  but maybe thats because no one is telling me anything!

My personal opinion on this new seminary is not to donate money. I get the feeling it is a doomed project. It's just a personal opinion.

I'm right there behind you, John Grace.  So your opinion isn't all that "personal"
anymore!  Hope you don't mind.  And I don't think we're alone!  

From the bulletin:

"Father Thoma$ A$her, the vice-rector of our $eminary in Winona, MN, will be giving a pre$entation on $unday, February 24 following the Ma$$. The pre$entation will be on the con$truction of our new $eminary project in Virginia."

From the Feb. 1st announcement:



The Superior General of the Society of St. Pius X, Bishop Bernard Fellay, will preside over two special ceremonies on this amazing day: the traditional baptism of the bells which will adorn the seminary building itself, and the blessing of the cornerstone. The seminarians will be in attendance and will serve the solemn high mass the morning of the ceremony. Bishop Fellay will also give a conference on the Silver Jubilee of the episcopal consecrations which took place in 1988.

To learn more about this special event, head over to the event page on the website. To register to attend the event, you can go to our event website.

We're really excited about this event, which marks a special stage in our project. We would love to see you there!






Uuhhh.. Would they really love to see me there?     I might have something
to say they won't want to hear, something like,

THE STONE THE BUILDERS REJECTED HAS BECOME THE CORNERSTONE!  

                                           HAHAHAHAHAHA

I don't know Fr. Goshie, so can't comment on him

As for Fr. Themann....he's only a modernist if a priest who thinks Novus Ordo sacraments are of questionable validity is a modernist. One of the best confessors I have ever gone to, a solid Thomistic theologian, and ridiculously intelligent on top of all that. Of course, he's part of the big bad evil SSPX, so he probably is a modernist  :rolleyes:. I get it, you don't agree with the SSPX, but it doesn't mean that every priest in the SSPX is evil.

Your speculations regarding the seminary is a bit off, don't you think? You're not presenting any evidence of modernism at all, simply "wondering". Wondering becomes rumor, rumor becomes fact, fact leads to indignation, indignation to hatred.....yet you provide zero actual evidence that the seminary is teaching modernism.

I know a number of excellent priests in the SSPX.  A few of them are in the
process of being marginalized.  Do you know any priest in the SSPX who is not
everything a priest should be AND is being marginalized?  I don't.  The only ones
who get marginalized are the ones who are too zealous, too traditional or too,
well, you know -- unenthusiastic about making a 'deal' with modernist Rome.



I had to read this three times before I could understand what you're saying, here.

But correct me if I'm wrong, it seems you are accusing me of saying that
someone at Winona is "modernist."  No?  

Could you please, if that is what you're saying, quote my sentence or whatever
that you are referring to?  

You accuse me of only "speculations."  So is it not a fact that the only two new
professors are priests ordained in 2009 or later?  

Is it not a fact that the cross hanging on the wall is a kingshipifix and objectively
not a crucifix?  

Am I just "wondering" about these things, or are they FACTS which brainglitch
conspicuously chooses to ignore, and on that basis you go so far as to insinuate
that I'm the one with the "problem?"  :confused1:

Is it traditional or normal for a diocese or religious order to select from among the most-recently-ordained to staff a seminary?

I would expect it to be the exact opposite.

Let's just say that as recently as 10 years ago -- when I was a seminarian -- the idea of a former-classmate-turned-professor was unheard of. All the professors could be considered wise, role models, etc. because they were all intelligent *and* of advanced education.

None of us could touch ANY of them, when it came to # of books read, education, experience, etc.

Right after I left, they got their first "Alumnus" as professor: Fr. Asher.

Since then, it seems that every time they need a new professor, they look at the Shortlist of "priests ordained after 2003". Coincidence?

That is very odd indeed.  

It's consistent with the policy of giving over the district superiorships to green Fellayites.

That doesn't seem to have been Neil's point though.

Maybe these two priests were made professors because of their educational background. Fr. Goshie has a Masters degree  in Education. In my experience, it is the senior SSPX priests who always staff the retreat houses, like Fr. Emily, Fr. Nichols, and Fr. Bergez in my local retreat house.