Notre Dame Seminary has been foundational in my life

    Notre Dame Seminary is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year. When you were rector of the seminary, did you know much about the seminary’s history and its establishment by Archbishop John Shaw?
    I knew it was Archbishop Shaw who had the dream for the seminary and did the actual groundbreaking. I’ve seen the pictures. He built an apartment for himself at the seminary while they were building his residence to the right of the main building, which is now my residence. Archbishop Shaw actually lived at the seminary until the residence was finished.
    What are your memories of the 1920s-era building?
    I remember as a student and member of the faculty coming across architectural details that were  fascinating. The building actually was built before the commercial use of electricity. Archbishop Shaw thought electricity was a fad! He was right on so many other things, but he was wrong on electricity. In every room was a gas jet for light. There is still a gas jet in one of the seminary stairwells that’s been painted over. The building used long stairwells with high ceilings and transoms above the doors to help the air to flow. There were beautiful wooden floors that were covered with carpet over the years, but they were uncovered in the recent renovation. And there’s just a gorgeous chapel dedicated to the Blessed Mother. St. Joseph Hall, which is just to the left of the main building, was built in the 1950s for philosophy students.
    Why was the seminary built at that location?
    The archdiocese must have owned the whole block, which made it convenient to build the seminary and the archbishop’s residence. Eventually, farther back on the property, we built the administration building on Walmsley Avenue. Archbishop Hannan opened Chateau de Notre Dame right next door. What is now Dominican High School was our property at one time. We also still own two pieces of property across South Carrollton Avenue. Archbishop Cody lived in one of the homes. He’s the only archbishop who never lived in the archbishop’s residence. We also had a house where Archbishop Hughes lived when he was coadjutor. That’s where Bishop Morin lived before the house was destroyed in Hurricane Katrina.
    The Marist Fathers had a long history of staffing the seminary.
    For many years the Marists provided the rector as well as other members of the administration and many of the faculty. Msgr. Alexander Sigur was the first diocesan priest to serve as rector, and he was rector when I was a student there from 1971 to 1975. He was a very kind person. In 1981, then-Msgr. John Favalora, who became the future archbishop of Miami, was named seminary rector.
    You were on the seminary faculty with Msgr. Favalora?
    Yes. When he was rector for five years, I was the director of pastoral education and the director of administration. Msgr. Favalora was an excellent administrator, and he was there during a rebuilding time for the seminary. He knew very well the program for priestly formation and implemented all the dimensions of that program, and he also built a very good faculty. When he left to become Bishop of Alexandria, I became rector for the next 14 years. If you put together the 19 years I served on the faculty, plus the four years that I was there as a student and the four years most recently that I’ve been the chair of the Board of Trustees, I’ve been associated with the seminary for 27 years of my 63 years of life. So, Notre Dame Seminary has a special place in my heart. I’m also proud to say I’m a graduate of St. Joseph Seminary College, which prepared me very well for theology.
    Is there a special place in the seminary for you?
    The chapel. When I was there both as a student and as a faculty member, I would always sit on the right-hand side of the chapel where I could gaze at the altar and the tabernacle and also at the beautiful stained-glass windows that provide great meditation.
    How is Notre Dame Seminary doing now?
    Very well. I’ve done many apostolic visitations of seminaries across the country, and we can certainly say that Notre Dame Seminary has one of the finest and most qualified faculties in the U.S. We have priests and religious on the faculty, and there are also a number of lay theologians who have added a great deal to the seminary. Father Jim Wehner has come to us as rector with a great deal of experience. He had served as rector in two other seminaries for a total of nine years, and he is very much respected and appreciated by the faculty and the students. He has made some very good progress in the two years that he’s been with us. I enjoy working with Father Wehner.
    You recently completed a $7 million renovation of the main seminary building.
    That was made possible by the generosity of Tom and Gayle Benson. They came to me because they realized the living conditions at the seminary were really poor, so they offered $7 million to do Phase I with the understanding that others would be given the opportunity to contribute to Phase II and Phase III. We’re very indebted to them for their incredible generosity. What we have left now is St. Joseph’s Hall, and those living conditions are very poor. There’s a lot of mildew and the plumbing and the electrical are bad. It’s just not a very pleasant place to live right now. So we are asking specific individuals to give, and the Bensons and others have been very helpful in coordinating this part of the campaign. In the not-too-distant future, we’re going to open it up to anyone who is interested. I hope and pray there will be a lot of people out there interested in contributing to the renovation of both Notre Dame Seminary and St. Joseph Seminary College. St. Joseph also has major needs for improvement to its physical plant. We are in the midst of a very ambitious campaign, and we hope to raise in excess of $20 million to accomplish everything that needs to be done.
    Each seminary has a big gala coming up.
    Yes. St. Joseph Seminary is hosting its “Deo Gratias” gala on Oct. 26. Deo Gratias means “thanks be to God,” and we certainly are thankful for God’s many blessings. Notre Dame will host its annual gala Nov. 2. We are praying that both events will be big successes and that we will be able to provide worthy facilities for the men who are preparing for the priesthood.