S.O.S - Support Our Seminarians
As a faithful member of our Church, you may be aware of our severe shortage of priests. Our church needs more priests. They lead our parishes, offering God’s grace everyday through delivery of the Sacraments. They sanctify the milestones of our lives and care for our communities.
Having heard God’s call, seminarians must be properly prepared to serve as priests in our Archdiocese. The Seminary of St. John Vianney and The Martyrs of Uganda (the Seminary), located on Mount St. Benedict, was founded in 1943 as an archdiocesan seminary to prepare priests for service in the Archdiocese.
As sons of our church, priests sanctify the milestones of our lives and shepherd our communities. In life and death, sorrow and joy, they preach the gospel of truth and remind us of the Grace of God through the delivery of celebration. Youth is the lifeblood of faith and new priests bring vitality to the mission of fellowship, peace and salvation. Our church is starving for want of the new shepherds needed to minister to the Body of Christ. As a family of believers we must come to her rescue and answer the call to revive our mission and help the priesthood to flourish. In so doing, we can offer our country a strong, vibrant community of priests to pray for, guide and care for the faithful
Did You Know?
That the seminary does not produce priests? God alone gives them gifts and God alone can call people to ministry.
That the Seminary gives access to specialists to cultivate gifts and confirm the purpose in the person called and, send out preachers of the gospel?
That after a period of discernment and as part of their formation, a Seminarian must pursue 2 years of philosophy and 4 years of study in theology?
That without a Seminarian you do not have a priest – and without a priest you do not have the Eucharist or for that matter any of the Sacraments?
That ministry costs money and that Seminarians depend on the generosity of the Catholic community to assist with the cost of their studies?
That the cost of taking a Seminarian through one year of formation is TT$75,000?
That presently there are 15 Seminarians in training to become priests, 9 of whom are from Trinidad and Tobago, who need your support?