St. Joseph's Seminary, Dunwoodie
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St. Joseph's Seminary and College, sometimes referred to as Dunwoodie, after the Yonkers, New York neighborhood it is located in, is the major seminary of the Archdiocese of New York. Its primary mission is to form men for the priesthood in the Catholic Church. It educates men destined to serve within the Archdiocese and other archdioceses and diocese both in the United States and abroad.
Once called the "West Point of Seminaries" for its thorough education and strict discipline, St. Joseph's Seminary still holds a reputation as one of the more prestigious and theologically orthodox Roman Catholic seminaries in the United States. As both a college and seminary, it has been accredited both through Middles States Commission on Higher Education and the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum), respectively. It can, thus, offer the degrees of Master of Divinity and S.T.B. to seminarians who have fulfilled the proper academic requirements. Those who maintain an acceptable grade point average and fulfil other academic requirements are eligible for a Master of Arts. Attached to the seminary is an Institute for Religious Studies which prepares candidates for the diaconate and offers non-seminarians, both laity and clergy, an opportunity to earn a M.A.
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[edit] Location
Located in the Dunwoodie section of Yonkers, New York, the seminary is about 16 miles north of the Cathedral of St. Patrick in midtown Manhattan.
[edit] Intellectual Life
In addition to degrees offered, the seminary, through its various chairs, hosts visiting scholars throughout the academic year. Seminarians are given the opportunity to take part in discussions with students of non-Catholic seminaries of the metropolitan area. Each spring, the seminary publishes the Dunwoodie Review, successor to the early 20th century New York Review. The current Review is a student managed theological journal whose content is provided by faculty and seminarians.
[edit] Seminary formation
The seminary's primary mission is to educate men studying for the priesthood. In doing so, it seeks to inculcate a structured schedule of public and private prayer. Besides four years of academic work, students are required to take part in charitable activities. Seminarians pray together three times a day, at Morning and Evening prayers and at Mass. From Monday through Saturday the Blessed Sacrament is exposed for one hour for private adoration by the seminarians.
Each year, approved seminarians progress towards the Priesthood by receiving various ecclesiatical ministries and eventually holy orders. Those in first year are instituted as Lectors and often receive Candidacy in solemn rites. Those in the second year of study receive the official ministry of Acolyte. The beginning of the fourth year is usually when the order of Deacon is conferred. The cardinal himself ordains archdiocesan serminarians to the Priesthood at the cathedral of St. Patrick in May of the final semester. New priests are immediately assigned to serve in a parish.
[edit] Seminary functions
The seminary building serves many other archdiocese functions. The priest personnel board meets weekly. Pre-Cana conferences for those preparing for the sacrament of Matrimony are hosted monthly. Each year around Christmas, the archdiocesan choir performs in the chapel. On campus is one of the archdiocesan tribunals and the studio of ITV. Throughout the year both days of prayer and days of further education are scheduled for the clergy of the archdiocese.
On campus is also the St. John Neumann Seminary Residence and Hall of the Archdiocese which in collaboration with St. John's University in Queens offers courses in philosophy equivalent to a B.A. for men studying for the priesthood.
[edit] History
The Archdiocese of New York had operated seminaries at Fordham (once affiliated with what is now Fordham University) and then Troy. In 1896, under Archbishop Michael Corrigan, the seminary was transferred to Yonkers under the charge of the Sulpicians.[1] Originally it was staffed by Sulpicians and diocesan priests.
The Seminary has hosted Pope John Paul II in 1995 and Pope Benedict XVI on April 19, 2008. They both led an an afternoon prayer service and visited with the seminarians.
[edit] Notable alumni
- James Cardinal McIntyre - archbishop of Los Angeles
- Terence Cardinal Cooke - archbishop of New York
- Patrick Cardinal O'Boyle- archbishop of Washington
- Theodore Edgar McCarrick- archbishop of Washington
- Archbishop Edwin Frederick O'Brien - archbishop of Baltimore
- Archbishop John Joseph Mitty - archbishop of San Francisco
- Fr. Stan Fortuna - priest of the Community of Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, musician
- Fr. Frank Pavone - priest, Director of Priest for Life, founder of Missionaries of the Gospel of Life
- Bishop Timothy McDonnell- Bishop of Springfield Massachusetts
[edit] Faculty
[edit] Rectors
- Edward R. Dyer, S.S. 1896-1902
- James F. Driscoll, S.S 1902-1909
- John P. Chidwick 1909-1922
- James T. McEntyre 1922-1930
- Arthur J. Scanlan 1931-1940
- John M. A. Fearns 1940-1956
- Charles O'C. Sloane 1956-1958
- Francis F. Reh 1958-1962
- Thomas A. Donnellan 1962-1964
- Edwin B. Broderick 1964-1968
- Edward J. Montano 1968-1973
- Austin B. Vaughan 1973-1979
- John J. Mescall 1979-1982
- Edward M. Connors 1982-1985
- Edwin F. O'Brien 1985-1989
- Raymond T. Powers 1990-1994
- Edwin F. O'Brien 1994-1997
- Francis J. McAree 1997-2001
- Peter G. Finn 2001-2007
- Gerald Thomas Walsh 2007-
[edit] Notes
- ^ "Sulpicians in the United States", Catholic Encyclopedia
[edit] External links
[edit] Sources
Shelley, Thomas J. Dunwoodie. Christian Classics Inc.: Westminster, Maryland, 1993.
