St. Joseph's Seminary, Dunwoodie
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St. Joseph's Seminary and College called Dunwoodie is one of the United States more prestigious and theologically orthodox Roman Catholic seminaries. As a college and seminary it has been accredited both through Middles States Commission on Higher Education and the Pontifical Univeristy of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum), respectively.
Located in the Dunwoodie section of Yonkers, New York, it is about 15 miles north of midtown Manhattan. St. Joseph's serves as the major seminary for the Archdiocese of New York, as well as a national and international training center for smaller dioceses which do not maintain a seminary for the training of priests and deacons.
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[edit] Academics
The seminary offers the degree 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 are eligible for a M.A.
Attached to the seminary is an Institute for Religious Studies for non-seminarians wishing to earn a M.A.
Each spring, the seminary publishes the Dunwoodie Review, 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
Previous seminaries had been located at Fordham (now Fordham University) and then Troy, New York. St. Joseph's was openned in Yonkers in 1896. Originally it was staffed by Sulpicians and diocesan priests.
In 1995, the seminary hosted Pope John Paul II who led an afternoon prayer service and visited with the seminarians.
[edit] Well-known 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 Military
- 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
[edit] Faculty
The current rector is Msgr. Peter G. Finn.
