Papal Seminary

Papal Seminary, Pune, India
Motto "The seer sees the self through his/her own self"
Established 1893
Type Private
Rector Jose Thayil, SJ
Academic staff
 60
Students 800
Location Pune, Maharashtra, India
18°31′25″N 73°50′52″E / 18.5236°N 73.8478°ECoordinates: 18°31′25″N 73°50′52″E / 18.5236°N 73.8478°E
Mascot Meditating person under a tree with roots up
Website www.papalseminary.in

Papal Seminary, Pune, India, is a Catholic educational institute, primarily meant for the training of future priests of India. At the moment it caters to the formation of about 180 Seminarians from all over India.[1]

The altar of the Papal Seminary Chapel

Pope Leo XIII

“Filii tui India, administri tibi salutis” (Your own sons, O India, will be the heralds of your salvation) These are the words with which Pope Leo XIII, a great visionary and a missionary, established the Papal Seminary for India, Burma and Ceylon in 1890. The task of exploring a suitable place for the Papal Seminary was entrusted to Msgr. Ladislaus Zeleski. Subsequently Msgr. Zeleski became the Apostolic Delegate to India, Burma and Ceylon and took up residence in Kandy. After much travelling in India and Ceylon, he chose a place called Ampitiya (the present site) in Kandy, which is at an elevation of 2000 feet and overlooking a panorama of extraordinary scenic beauty across the Dumbara Valley.

The students were selected from dioceses of India and Ceylon, to be formed as future leaders of the Churches in their own countries. This was one of the first major seminaries to be supported by the Pontifical Society of St. Peter the Apostle. In 1926 Kandy Papal Seminary was empowered by Rome to confer Ecclesiastical degrees in Philosophy and Theology. History records that during its 62 years of existence in Kandy, over 700 students were ordained to the priesthood among whom 51 became Bishops and 3 Cardinals, to spearhead the missions in India and Sri Lanka. Servant of God Mar Varghese Payyappilly Palakkappilly was ordained a priest on 21 December 1907 in Kandy.

1955 - Transfer to Poona, India

The transferring of the Papal Seminary to India was a long felt need due to financial and traveling difficulties that arose with the time. The independence of India (1947) and the consequent political separation of India and Sri Lanka made it difficult for Indian seminarians to travel to Kandy. However the decision to transfer the Seminary to Poona (Pune) was implemented in 1955. The Papal Seminary which was in Kandy until then was shifted to Poona, India with the students and formators. Thus the uniquely beautiful setting of the Papal Seminary became the home for training of the future priests in India.[2]

Established in 1893 at Kandy, Sri Lanka, it moved to Pune in 1955.[3] 2015 it celebrates its diamond jubilee in Pune.

Papal Seminary is attached to Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth, Pontifical Institute for Philosophy and Religion, Pune, India.

Rectors of Papal Seminary

See also

References

  1. ↑ For details see Directory, Jesuit Conference of South Asia, 2010 p. 35.
  2. ↑ "Papal Seminary in Kandy". Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  3. ↑ Carlos de Melo, The Papal Seminary of Kandy-Pune: A Hundred Years of History, Pune: 1993