At evening vespers on Tuesday, April 26, 2022, St. Mary’s welcomed Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight, Patrick Kelly, and Most Reverend William E. Lori, Archbishop of Baltimore and also the Supreme Chaplain of the Knights, at a special charter ceremony inaugurating the Blessed Michael McGivney Council of the Knights of Columbus at St. Mary’s. The development of the Council is notable as it is established at the very seminary from which Fr. Michael McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus, graduated in 1877.

The ceremony took place in St. Mary’s Chapel where a portrait of Fr. McGivney and a relic were placed in honor with flanking candles. Archbishop Lori presided at the Evening Prayer and preached the homily. In addition to Supreme Knight Kelly, Knights of Columbus State attended along with Very Reverend Daniel Moore, Acting Provincial of the Society of Saint Sulpice, United States Province.

The service was followed by a celebratory dinner and additional addresses, including a speech by the first Grand Knight of the new Council, Mr. Michael Schultz, Second-Year Seminarian from the Archdiocese of Louisville. 

Knights of Columbus video summary of the event

Charter presentation during Evening Vespers.

Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly speaks to the congregation.

(In the center) Most Rev. William E. Lori, Archbishop of Baltimore and Supreme Chaplain of the Knights of Columbus, (to the immediate left) Mr. Patrick E. Kelly, Supreme Knight, (next left) Rev. Phillip J. Brown, P.S.S., President-Rector of St. Mary’s Seminary & University. (To the right of Archbishop Lori) Mr. Michael L. Schultz, 2nd Year Seminarian of the Archdiocese of Louisivlle. (Remainder) The faculty and student members of the new Council.

Acting Provincial of the United States Province of the Society of Saint Sulpice, Very Rev. Daniel Moore, P.S.S., speaks at the dinner with fond memories of his membership in the Knights.

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For Release: November 29, 2021

Contact
Bruce Baumgarten
communications@stmarys.edu

(Baltimore, MD) – St. Mary’s Seminary & University–the nation’s first Roman Catholic seminary established for the formation of priests in the United States–has been awarded a grant in the amount of $1 million from Lilly Endowment Inc. to support the design and implementation of St. Mary’s Institute for Pastoral Leadership. The mission of the Institute will be to strengthen St. Mary’s recognized leadership in forming 21st century pastors equipped to minister collaboratively with lay ministers and parish leaders to address the spiritual and pastoral needs of those served through the wide variety of ministries and outreach programs in Catholic parishes.

The initiation of the Institute is being funded through Lilly Endowment’s “Pathways for Tomorrow” Initiative, a three‐phase initiative designed to help theological schools across the United States and Canada prioritize and respond to their most pressing challenges as they prepare pastoral leaders for Christian congregations both now and into the future.

“We could not be more grateful to Lilly Endowment for its recognition of St. Mary’s commitment to forming authentic and effective pastors, equipped in every way for the rigors of pastoral ministry in the 21st century,” said St. Mary’s Seminary & University President‐Rector Revered Phillip J. Brown, P.S.S. “With this significant grant, we will be able to accelerate and expand programs to provide model human and pastoral formation, not only for those seminarians currently in formation, but continuing education and essential resources for priests already in parish ministry addressing the varied pastoral needs of those who depend on them and their pastoral teams each and every day. St. Mary’s mission is to provide the people of God with the kind of priests and pastors they truly deserve.”

St. Mary’s Seminary & University is the birthplace of priestly formation in the United States. At the invitation of Bishop John Carroll, first Roman Catholic Bishop in the United States, Father François Nagot, S.S., led a group of Sulpician priests and seminarians to Baltimore to begin priestly formation here on October 3, 1791. Since then, St. Mary’s has been operated by the Sulpician Fathers, a community of diocesan priests dedicated to the formation of parish priests. Currently, 76 seminarians are in formation at St. Mary’s from 13 dioceses throughout the United States, as well as Hamilton, Ontario and Zhao Xian China, in addition to 4 graduate student priests, for a total enrollment of 80. Among them are also 2 religious seminarians from the Trinitarian Order, one Cistercian, and one seminarian from the Société des Missions Étrangères de Paris.

St. Mary’s already provides a holistic curriculum focused on the human, spiritual, pastoral and intellectual dimensions necessary for effective priestly ministry. The changing landscape of the Church in America demands ongoing assessment of the way seminaries prepare men to serve the needs of parishioners in the present day, however. These changing dynamics call for enhanced ongoing formation opportunities for enhanced ministerial skills to support clergy in their ministries. As part of the Institute for Pastoral Leadership initiative St. Mary’s will utilize the Lilly Endowment grant to upgrade and expand its existing Center for Continuing Formation.

Inspired by Pope Francis and his insistence that ordained ministry be understood first and foremost as a call and commitment to service, St. Mary’s Institute for Pastoral Leadership will focus on three key areas: seminary formation, ongoing formation, and faculty development. The upgrading of formation programs will include academic courses on philosophy of pastoral leadership and communication skills; workshops on essential and foundational communication skills and collaboration skills; experiential learning opportunities to build collaboration skills; and facilitated learning sessions to more effectively integrate pastoral field experiences. Ongoing formation programs will focus on the critical first five years of priestly ministry, in addition to courses on preaching, parish administration, clergy/lay collaboration, guiding volunteers and enabling lay leadership. These areas of concentration were identified based on feedback from interviews conducted for developing ongoing formation programs that can be offered as distance learning modules, along with continued onsite programs. Faculty Development will be designed to ensure that faculty members, supervisors and mentors are able to effectively help seminarians implement and integrate what they learn in formation into their lived experience.

In developing the Institute for Pastoral Leadership, St. Mary’s will create a nationally accessible innovative formation program as a resource for other seminarians and priests across the country. It is envisioned that the impact of the Institute will reach far beyond St. Mary’s seminarians and alumni and the parishes they serve.

St. Mary’s Seminary & University is one of 84 theological schools designated to receive a total of more than $82 million in grants through the second phase of the Pathways initiative. Together, the schools represent evangelical, mainline Protestant, nondenominational, Pentecostal, Roman Catholic and Black church and historic peace church traditions (e.g., Church of the Brethren, Mennonite, Quakers). Many schools also serve students and pastors from Black, Latino, Korean American, Chinese American and recent immigrant Christian communities.

“Theological schools have long played a pivotal role in preparing pastoral leaders for churches,” said Christopher L. Coble, the Endowment’s vice president for religion. “Today, these schools find themselves in a period of rapid and profound change. Through the Pathways Initiative, theological schools will take deliberate steps to address the challenges they have identified in ways that make the most sense to them. We believe that their efforts are critical to ensuring that Christian congregations continue to have a steady stream of pastoral leaders who are well‐prepared to lead the churches of tomorrow.”

Lilly Endowment launched the Pathways initiative in January 2021 because of its longstanding interest in supporting efforts to enhance and sustain the vitality of Christian congregations by strengthening the leadership capacities of pastors and congregational lay leaders.

About St. Mary’s Seminary & University
America’s first Catholic seminary, St. Mary’s Seminary & University continues its tradition of excellence since 1791 in preparing candidates for the Roman Catholic diocesan priesthood. Following the Sulpician Tradition of priestly formation, which takes place within a single community of formators and seminarians sharing one rule of life with strong mentoring relationships,

This past summer, Mary Pat Seurkamp, Ph.D. was named chair of the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) by Maryland Governor Larry Hogan. Dr. Seurkamp, who is the president emerita of Notre Dame of Maryland University, is a former member of the Board of Trustees of St. Mary’s Seminary & University who continues to serve on the Education & Formation Committee of the Board. She brings more than 40 years of experience in higher education administration and governance to these roles.

MHEC is Maryland’s higher education coordinating board which establishes statewide policies for the state’s public and private colleges and universities and for-profit career schools. MHEC also administers state financial aid programs for students

Dr. Seurkamp chaired the board of the Council for Independent Colleges (CIC) from 2003 through 2005 and is a senior advisor for the New Presidents Program. She led the Maryland Independent College and University Association Board (MICUA) from 2008 to 2011, served on the board and executive committee of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities and was chair of the Maryland Hospital Association Board. She is a founding partner of MPK&D, a higher education consulting firm.

Dr. Seurkamp, a magna cum laude graduate of Webster University (’68) with a B.A. in psychology, holds a M.A. in counseling from Washington University, and a Ph.D. in higher education from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She is a graduate of Maryland Leadership ’99 and was recognized as one of Maryland’s Top 100 Women, Circle of Excellence, by The Daily Record. She lives on the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, with her husband, Bob.

ST. MARY’S SEMINARY & UNIVERSITY
invites you to a piano recital by
Rev. Paul Maillet, P.S.S.

Bach: Selected Chorale Preludes
Schubert: Sonata in A Major, D. 664
Rachmaninov: Moments Musicaux, Op. 16

Sunday, November 14, 2021 • 3:00 pm
St. Mary’s Chapel at St. Mary’s Seminary & University
Light reception to follow

Free and open to the public, but we encourage you to RSVP: rsvp@stmarys.edu

Before discerning a call to the priesthood, Paul Maillet received critical acclaim and international recognition for his performances with orchestra and in recital. He studied under full scholarship with Cécile Genhart at the Eastman School of Music. An alumnus of the Peabody Conservatory, he studied with Leon Fleisher and received the prestigious Artist’s Diploma.

“Maillet remains a fluent technician who boasts a particularly lovely quality of sound and who excels in subtlety of voicing. Most of all he has something to say, feelings to express and thoughts to communicate….Maillet’s playing is about his spirit, about his beliefs, about his experience of life…”
The Boston Globe

“One of the best of the many brilliant students who have emerged from Leon Fleisher’s studio. He’s a pianist with an abundance of technique, a beautiful tone, and a deep streak of poetry.”
The Baltimore Sun

On August 24, St. Mary’s Seminary & University welcomed 17 new seminarians to the newly renovated Baltimore seminary. They were greeted by a large orientation team of current students across all classes, from Pre-Theology to those in their four (and final) year.

The new arrivals come from diverse backgrounds and regions. At St. Mary’s, they will study for the priesthood for the (arch)dioceses of:

• Albany
• Baltimore
• Buffalo
• Pittsburgh
• Scranton
• Syracuse
• Wilmington
• Worcester.

Two new seminarians are members of the Trinitarian Order. And four priests from two dioceses in Cameroon arrived to study for the Licentiate of Sacred Theology (STL) degree. 

This results in a total of 80 men studying at the Roland Park seminary.

Following their arrival, the new seminarians commenced multiple days of orientation and introduction to life, prayer, study, and pastoral service in the seminary. Beginning Tuesday, August 31, they opened their year with several retreat days. Classes began on Thursday, September 2.

[Recording below]

On Tuesday, August 17, 2021, from 7:00-8:00 PM EDT, St. Mary’s, the first Roman Catholic seminary in the United States, presented Part III of the virtual discussion series created in honor of Blessed Michael J. McGivney, Class of 1877, and founder of the Knights of Columbus.

This third segment of “The McGivney Series” addressed the question: “what should seminaries be doing today to develop priests in the model of Blessed Michael McGivney?” The panelists for this presentation were:

• His Eminence Cardinal Edwin F. O’Brien, Former Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem, former Rector of the North American College in Rome and St. Joseph’s Seminary & College (Dunwoodie) in New York, and Archbishop Emeritus of Baltimore.
• Mr. Michael Schultz, 2nd Year Seminarian of the Archdiocese of Louisville and Grand Knight of the Blessed Michael McGivney Council of the Knights of Columbus at St. Mary’s.
• Rev. Phillip J. Brown, P.S.S., President-Rector of St. Mary’s Seminary & University (Host/Moderator).

We look to those the Church calls “venerable,” “blessed,” or “saint” as models. Their virtues, actions, and dispositions provide guideposts for measuring our lives and examples to strive for. Blessed Michael McGivney is no different. His life and ministry as a priest, particularly as an American priest formed in our own seminary, provides further opportunities for reflection. His priestly witness reveals a life that many priests can, and should, model their own after. Therefore, it is entirely appropriate to ask our thematic question: “what should seminaries be doing today to develop priests in the model of Fr. McGivney?” We will approach this question by way of two prior inquiries:

1. What are the “qualities” of Blessed Michael McGivney exhibited in his priesthood?
2. How can today’s priests (particularly the newly ordained just out of seminary) embody these qualities in their own ministry in the twenty-first century church?
3. Finally, what should we be doing in seminaries to develop these kind of priests: priests in the “model” of Michael McGivney?

On January 29, 2021, St. Mary’s Seminary & University presented a special online symposium on Catholic doctrine and the Church’s teaching about the sanctity of human life at all stages, featuring a panel consisting of:

• Archbishop William Lori (Archdiocese of Baltimore)
• Dr. Matthew Dugandzic (Professor of Moral Theology at St. Mary’s Seminary & University)
• Kevin Upendran (Seminarian, Diocese of Hamilton, Ontario)
• Mike Misulia (Seminarian, Archdiocese of Baltimore).

The presentation was recorded and uploaded to the St. Mary’s Seminary & University YouTube channel. It is available below:

By PHILLIP J. BROWN | FOR THE BALTIMORE SUN | NOV 18, 2020 AT 11:29 AM

In this Nov. 10, 2003 file photo, Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick, Archbishop of Washington, D.C., center, joins fellow clergy in prayer at the end of the opening session of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops meeting in Washington. McCarrick – who was defrocked by Pope Francis in 2019 – served as head of Catholic dioceses in Metuchen and Newark, New Jersey, and in Washington. A report released by the Vatican on Monday, Nov. 9, 2020, found that three decades of bishops, cardinals and popes dismissed or downplayed reports of McCarrick’s misconduct with young men. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

The McCarrick Report investigating sexual abuse by disgraced former Washington, D.C., cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, released this month by the Vatican, catalogs facts that cannot be ignored, denied or explained away. The harm inflicted by Mr. McCarrick over decades is a source of deep remorse and shame for the Catholic Church. Like most, I am bewildered that he was able to advance in the ranks while preying on victims even while serious accusations about him were known or credibly rumored.

Before priesthood, I served as assistant attorney general for Pardons, Parole and Probation in North Dakota. I reviewed the files of every inmate in the corrections system, which included every kind of sex crime. Later I served as guardian ad litem for the juvenile court, representing the interests of children, including those who had been sexually abused. As a priest and canon lawyer, I have been deeply involved in cases of clerical sexual abuse of children and young people. I have had a life-long commitment to the welfare and well-being of children and young adults — that they be protected from sexual predators especially. That life experience has informed my work as a canonist and now as a seminary official.

The greatest value of the McCarrick Report will be what we learn from it to ensure that nothing like this is able to happen again.

We know so much more than ever before about how to cultivate human maturity, psychological and emotional well-being, and the qualities necessary to be a well-integrated, virtuous person. We need to be guided by scientific data and well-articulated criteria in judging whether a man is suitable to be ordained a priest, given the tremendous responsibility to care for others and everything else this vocation entails. There can be no room for wishful thinking or a misguided trust that sacramental grace will compensate for deficits in the human qualities needed to be a good pastor; no one should ever again simply ordain a man and hope for the best.

There must be a willingness to exclude anyone who does not fulfill objective criteria of maturity, self-possession, self-control, self-discipline and goodwill toward all others; to exclude anyone who presents any identifiable risk of the capacity to do harm to others. A “pastoral heart” full of good intentions is not enough; there must be a demonstrated capacity to behave in every circumstance as a good pastor and to function as a mature, psycho-sexually healthy person. The criteria have to be applied rigorously. Everyone must agree that “looking the other way,” waiting for someone else to make the hard calls, claiming “plausible deniability,” or naive credulity — all features of the institutional culture revealed in the McCarrick Report — are wholly unacceptable.

Seminaries must shed the veneer of being sacred enclaves that non-clerics are just not able, or qualified, to understand or critique — clerics forming future clerics with no input from others. Laypersons, and especially women, must be an integral part of seminary faculties with prominent roles in the formation and evaluation process. They bring an essential perspective to the closed clerical world with its inevitable blind spots that led to tragedies like the depredations of Theodore McCarrick.

Seminary officials have often had good instincts about suitability without the technical knowledge and other tools we have today for making sound judgments (sophisticated psychological evaluations, holistic developmental models based on sound science, etc.). Those in positions of authority and officials who serve them need to listen to the people charged with the responsibility of formation and evaluation and follow their recommendations, regardless of pressures to get men ordained and get them into service — service that has too often been marred, if not contradicted, by human immaturity and a lack of virtue in men who should never have been ordained in the first place.

Better to lose one priest than gain even one more victim of a morally depraved cleric. And those in authority have to want to know and be willing to turn those away who, however well-intentioned, are ill-suited to the rigors of ministry and a lifetime of service. That is what the seminary I serve is committed to. All schools of formation must be committed to these standards. Future failure is not an option. “Many are called, but few are chosen” must be a constant reminder for all those who dare to pursue the Catholic priesthood.

Rev. Phillip J. Brown (brownpj@stmarys.edu) is president-rector of Saint Mary’s Seminary & University, the United States’ first and oldest Catholic seminary, in Baltimore, Maryland.

The article can be found here in the Baltimore Sun.