Saint Joseph's Seminary (Dunwoodie)

St. Joseph's Seminary and College, sometimes referred to as Dunwoodie after the Yonkers, New York neighborhood it is located in, is the major seminary of the Archdiocese of New York.[1] Its primary mission is to form men for the priesthood in the Catholic Church. It educates men destined to serve within the Archdiocese and other archdioceses and dioceses both in the United States and abroad.

St. Joseph's Seminary and College
TypeSeminary
Established1896 (1896)
AffiliationRoman Catholic Archdiocese of New York
Location
Yonkers
,
New York
,
U.S.

40°55′51.69″N 73°51′51.1″W
Websitewww.dunwoodie.edu
Campus entrance

Once called the "West Point of Seminaries" for its thorough education and strict discipline, St. Joseph's Seminary holds a reputation as one of the more prestigious and theologically orthodox Roman Catholic seminaries in the United States. As both a college and seminary, it has been accredited both through Middle States Commission on Higher Education and the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum), respectively. It can, thus, offer the degrees 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 and fulfill other academic requirements are eligible for a Master of Arts. Attached to the seminary is an Institute for Religious Studies which prepares candidates for the diaconate and offers non-seminarians, both laity and clergy, an opportunity to earn a M.A. With the inter-diocesan collaboration from the Diocese of Brooklyn and the Diocese of Rockville Centre, the formation of laity and permanent deacons, as well as the continuing education of priests will be through the Sacred Heart Institute, located at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception, Huntington, Long Island, New York, beginning in September 2012.

The seminary is about 16 miles north of the Cathedral of Saint Patrick in midtown Manhattan.

History

The Archdiocese of New York had operated seminaries at Fordham (once affiliated with what is now Fordham University) staffed by diocesan and, later, Jesuit priests, and then Troy. In 1896, under Archbishop Michael Corrigan, the seminary was transferred to Yonkers under the charge of the Sulpicians.[2] Originally it was staffed by Sulpicians and diocesan priests.

The Seminary hosted Pope John Paul II in 1995 and Pope Benedict XVI on April 19, 2008. They each led an afternoon prayer service and visited with the seminarians.

Intellectual life

In addition to offering the degrees of M.Div., S.T.B., and M.A., the seminary, through its various chairs, hosts visiting scholars throughout the academic year. Seminarians are given the opportunity to take part in interreligious discussions with students of non-Catholic seminaries of the metropolitan area. Each spring, the seminary publishes The Dunwoodie Review, successor to the early 20th century New York Review (1905-1908). Previously published at least annually and bi-annually from 1961 until 1974, the journal has been annually published since 1990 as a student-managed theological journal whose content is provided by seminary faculty members and students.

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 Thursday the Blessed Sacrament is exposed for two hours for private adoration by the seminarians.

Each year, approved seminarians progress towards the Priesthood by receiving various ecclesiastical 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 archbishop himself ordains archdiocesan seminarians to the Priesthood at the Cathedral of Saint Patrick in May of the final semester. New priests are immediately assigned to serve in a parish.

Seminary functions

The seminary's main building serves many other archdiocesan 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 was also the St. John Neumann Seminary Residence and Hall, which in collaboration with St. John's University in Queens offered courses in philosophy equivalent to a B.A. for men studying for the priesthood. Students now attend the Diocese of Brooklyn's Cathedral Seminary House of Formation in Douglaston, Queens, New York.

Beginning in August 2012, St. Joseph's Seminary has been the major seminary for the Archdiocese of New York, the Diocese of Brooklyn and the Diocese of Rockville Centre.

Faculty

Rectors
  • Edward R. Dyer, S.S. 1896-1902
  • James F. Driscoll, S.S 1902-1909
  • John P. Chidwick 1909-1922
  • James T. McEntyre 1922-1930
  • Arthur J. Scanlan 1931-1940
  • John Michael Fearns 1940-1956
  • Charles O'C. Sloane 1956-1958
  • Francis Frederick Reh 1958-1962
  • Thomas A. Donnellan 1962-1964
  • Edwin B. Broderick 1964-1968
  • Edward J. Montano 1968-1973
  • Austin B. Vaughan 1973-1979
  • John J. Mescall 1979-1982
  • Edward M. Connors 1982-1985
  • Edwin F. O'Brien 1985-1989
  • Raymond T. Powers 1990-1994
  • Edwin F. O'Brien 1994-1997 - Named Archbishop of Archdiocese of Military Services
  • Francis J. McAree 1997-2001
  • Peter G. Finn 2001-2007
  • Gerald Thomas Walsh 2007–2012
  • Peter Ignatius Vaccari 2012-2019
  • James Massa 2020-Present

Notable faculty

Notable alumni

Notes
  1. Remigius Lafort, S.T.D., Censor, The Catholic Church in the United States of America: Undertaken to Celebrate the Golden Jubilee of His Holiness, Pope Pius X. Volume 3: The Province of Baltimore and the Province of New York, Section 1: Comprising the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn, Buffalo and Ogdensburg Together with some Supplementary Articles on Religious Communities of Women.. (New York City: The Catholic Editing Company, 1914), p.294.
  2. "Sulpicians in the United States", Catholic Encyclopedia

Sources
  • Shelley, Thomas J. Dunwoodie. Christian Classics Inc.: Westminster, Maryland, 1993.
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