SEMINARY
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SEMINARY
a large proportion of the American priests their classi-
cal training; their Holy Cross College at Worcester
has been since 1835 a nursery of the New England
clergy. Moreover, not a few American priests have
received their theological training from the Jesuits
of Innsbruck.
The growth of seminaries in America did not until recently keep pace with the need of priests; many have come from Ireland, Germany, France and other coun- tries of Europe, while American students have sought their education in the American colleges founded at Louvain in 1857 and Rome in 1859, or in other in- stitutions on the Continent. About two thousand American priests, moreover, have been educated in the Sulpician Seminary at Montreal. Of late years the need of preparatory seminaries has been more keenly felt, and we find them established in Rochester, Hartford, Chicago, New York, and other dioceses. Some of these are merely day schools and, whilst having certain advantages, fail to effect the separa- tion of aspirants to the priesthood from the world, as contemplated by the Council of Trent. Since 1904 the annual meetings of the seminary department of the Catholic Educational Association have been found to be of great value in raising the standard of eccle- siastical education. Carefully prepared papers have been read and discussed on the various topics of seminary training, such as entrance requirements, discipline, spiritual formation, and the method of teaching the various branches of the seminary curric- ulum: Holy Scripture, dogmatic and moral theology, natural sciences, and social pr()l)lrms.
V. Ecclesiastical Legislation on Seminaries. A. Sources. — The general laws of the Church on the subject of seminaries are found in the decree of the Council of Trent, and in various documents issued by the Holy See. At no time has the question of cleri- cal training been the object of so much attention or brought forth so many decrees as under Leo XIII and Pius X. Some of their acts refer only to Italian sem- inaries, others to the whole Church. They will, doubtless, be embodied in the Code of Canon Law now in preparation. Meanwhile, the most important issued before 1908 may be found arranged in logical order in M. Bargilliat's handy little vohune "De In- stitutione Clcricorum". In Aj)()stolic letters to the bishops of Prussia (6 Jan., 1880), of Hungary (22 Aug., 1886), of Bavaria (22 Dec, 1887), of Poland (19 March, 1894), of Brazil (18 Sept., 1899), Leo XIII insists on the right and duty of bishops to esta})lish seminaries where future priests may he 1 rained in sci- ence and holin(\ss. Th(> various branclies of study in the seminary w('r(> the object of special instructions. Thus he prescrilxMl the study of St. Thomas's phil- osophy ("^<]terni Patris", 4 Aug., 1879), encouraged historical research (18 Aug., 1883), gave directions for Bibhcal studies ("Providentissimus Dcus", 18 Nov., 1893), and instituted a special commission to foster them (30 Oct., 1902). Towards the end of his long pontificate he wrote two letters: one to the French bishops, the other to the Italian bishops (8 Sept., 1899 and 8 Dec, 1902), in which the training of the clergy is treated at length.
Pius X even more than his predecessor has taken a lively interest in the education of priests. Convinced that the restoration of all things in Christ requires first of all the good training of the clergy, he urged the bishops in his first Encyclical (4 Oct., 1903) to consider the care of their seminary as their first duty. He himself has brought about various reforms in Italy. Ecclesiastical students in Rome must live in a college and before ordination undergo an examina- tion. As many dioceses in Italy cannot support well- equipped seminaries, the Holy Father has suppressed some and united others. A central seminary has been opened at Capua and placed under the direction of the Jesuits; others have been entrusted to the Vin-
centians. In order to raise the standard of studies a
detailed programme has been issued for all Italian
seminaries: it prescribes a course of five years in the
gymnasium, three years in the lyceum (philosophy), a
year of preparation, and four years of study of theol-
ogy. To this has been added a set of regulations for
the disciphne and moral training of the students, in
which no detail is omitted (10 May, 1907; 18 Jan.,
1908). Other acts of Pius X extend not only to
Italian but to all seminaries: they relate to the ad-
mission of students, to various branches of studies,
etc; they all tend to protect the faith of the stu-
dents ag;iinst Modernistic tendencies and to train a
more learned and more pious clergy. On the occa-
sion of the golden jubilee of his priesthood the Holy
Father addi-essed to the clergy of the world (4 Aug.,
1908) an exliortation which will remain the vade-me-
cum of seminarians and priests, for it sets forth the
ideal priestly life with the means by which it can be
attained and preserved.
Special regulations for the United States were en- acted in the second and third Plenary Councils of Baltimore in 1866 and 1884. These laws of the Church leave undetermined many details of seminary discipline, which are left to the discretion of the bishop. Several methods, all based on the famou3 "Institu- tiones" of St. Charles and varying only in non-essen- tial points, have been and are still in force. Among them are those framed by St. Vincent de Paul, Blessed John Eudes, Father Olier, and St. Alphonsus. None of these is imposed by the Church or generally adopted in all its details.
B. Foundation of Seminaries. — The decree of the Council of Trent imposes on every bishop the duty of having a seminary, that is, a school exclu- sively destined to pr(>i)are candidates for the priest- hood. It should jirovide a thorough course of eccle- siastical training, and therefore, according to present discipline, include academic, collegiate, and theologi- cal courses. The ideal Tridentine s(>minary is an in- stitution like Overbrook (Philadelphia) or Menlo Park (San Francisco), where the future priests of the diocese are received from the grammar school and kept until ordination. The Church, however, does not condemn, and Leo XIII has expressly approved the separation of the preparatory from the theological seminary; even in this case they are considered by law as forming but one diocesan institution, under the bishop with the same advisory board. For the foundation and support of the seminary the tax on benefices, authorized l)y the Council of Trent, is not prac^ticable in Aiii(>rica; the l)ishoi) has to depend on the generosity of the faithful; he may presc^ribe an annual collection or fix the amount to be contributed by each parish. Poor dioceses may combine their re- sources to found an interdiocesan seminary, to be con- trolled by the several bishops inleicsted.
The controversy on the question of central versus diocesan seminaries has never been raised in this country. It belongs only to the Holy See and to the bishop to decide whether it is practicable for a given diocese to have its separate seminary. In the United States the majority of dioceses are now, and many will long remain, incapable of supporting a seminary. In- terdiocesan seminaries, such as the Council of Trent recognizes and such as are now being established in Italy, are practically unknown. In their place there are seminaries such as St. Paul, Rochester, New York, founded and controlled by one bishop, Init receiving students from other dioceses; and likewise seminaries in charge of religious orders or societies of secular priests, the students of which belong to various dioceses: such are St. Mary's and Mount St. Mary's (Baltimore), St. Vincent's (Pittsburg), Our Lady of Angels (Buffalo), etc. Though such institutions were not contemplated by the Council of Trent, they have the earnest ap- proval of the bishops and of the Holy See.
