By the Way...from the Seminary

The term at the seminary (the college where we train to be priests), and another academic year, comes to an end. It has been a busy time for the seminarians with ordinations to the priesthood and diaconate, public lectures, exams and personal assessments to be done. Now we all return to our home diocese to work in local parishes for the summer.

At Allen Hall Seminary in London, where I and another of the Lancaster seminarians study, we trace our routes back to Douai College in France which was founded by a Fleetwood man, Cardinal Allen. Many of the previous students of Douai College were from the area now covered by the Diocese of Lancaster, and
many others former students were martyred in Lancaster for defending the Catholic faith. The site the seminary is situated on is the former home of another of our English Martyrs, St Thomas More. He was tried and executed for refusing to acknowledge Henry VIII as head of the Church. These men died for two key
beliefs, love of the Mass and love of the Holy Father. These close links to the martyrs make our seminarians similarly proud to profess our Catholic faith.

Thinking back to September, when our Holy Father Pope Benedict was with us, we remember with great joy the public witness given by so many to the faith. This is in stark contrast to the time when our seminary was founded. Then priests spent their time serving their people in secret. It is easy to forget the great privilege we have now of being able to freely express our Catholic faith. Perhaps this is a call to be proud of our
faith for which so many good men and women gave their lives.

John Millar, Seminarian