Notre Dame Seminary welcomes 45 first-year men

By Peter Finney Jr., Clarion Herald
Photo by Michael Beverung, Notre Dame Seminary

Seminary enrollment reaches 146

Both numbers are impressive: 45 new seminarians and an overall enrollment of 146 at Notre Dame Seminary, which in each category represents “the highest number in nearly 20 years,” said Father James Wehner, rector-president.

“There’s great enthusiasm in the house,” Father Wehner said. “We’re still serving over 20 dioceses and religious communities. We are the third-largest theologate (graduate seminary) in the country. The house is almost filled.”

  Father Wehner said the seminary also has added five new faculty members “to respond to the growing enrollment numbers,” and he thanked the bishops who have shown their support of the seminary by sending their seminarians here for formation.

The seminary held Orientation Week for new seminarians, giving them the opportunity to learn more about the seminary, the community and the rich history of the city of New Orleans.

New seminarians spent their days learning about the seminary’s formation and education programs and visiting historic churches and Catholic sites around the city. They toured St. Mary’s Assumption Church in the Irish Channel, the National Shrine of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, St. Louis Cathedral and the Old Ursuline Convent.