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Life in a Seminary

Mark Tully is intrigued by life in a seminary. Trainee Catholic priests must be involved themselves in the world of the congregation, but also need space for spiritual development.

Mark Tully is intrigued by life in a Roman Catholic seminary. How are young men trained for the priesthood?

In 2012, he visited Allen Hall Seminary in the busy heart of London, where Dean of Studies and Formation Advisor Father Stephen Wang explained the need for his students to train for their pastoral role within the Catholic community. Seminarians at Allen Hall spend much of their time in local parishes, schools and hospitals preparing for life as a Diocesan priest. And yet it's also crucial that they have the quiet, contemplative space they need to develop spiritually. They must become men of God and men of communion.

Mark explores the history of the seminary system, with readings from Anthony Kenny and Denis Meadows, and hears music written by ancient monks in isolation. He speaks to writer and academic John Cornwell, whose own time at Upholland Seminary in the 1950s left a strong imprint on his spiritual life. The Junior Seminary system he experienced from the age of 12 no longer exists, but John believes that there are still serious flaws in the way the Catholic Church trains its priests. He argues that seminarians are too separated out from the world and from the people they are destined to serve once ordained.

Ultimately, becoming a priest requires huge dedication - what Jesuit Father Pedro Arrupe described as a 'falling in love' with God. Perhaps what is also needed is a balance, between the prosaic and the spiritual, between being within the world and being apart from it.

Producer: Hannah Marshall
A Loftus production for 大象传媒 Radio 4

28 minutes

Last on

Sun 24 Jul 2022 23:30
大象传媒 Radio 4

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Music Played

  • Maurice Durufl茅

    Ubi Caritas

    • Hallelujah 鈥� Great Sacred Choruses.
    • Virgin TV.
    • B0001FUIQU.

  • Trad.

    Summer is Icumen In

    Performer: The Choir of New College, Oxford

    • Early One Morning.
    • Erato.
    • 0630-19065-2.
    • 12.

  • Samuel Barber

    The Monk and his Cat

    Performer: Leontyne Price

    • Leontyne Price Sings Barber.
    • 09026 61983 2.
    • BMG Classics.
    • 8.

  • Schola Cantamus

    Exsultet 鈥� Easter Proclamation

    • Exsultet 鈥� Chant for Holy Week and Easter.
    • The Music Makers.
    • LCD006.
    • 16.

  • Charles Villiers Stanford

    St Patrick's Breastplate Prayer

    Performer: Winchester Cathedral Choir

    • Sacred Choral Music - 3.
    • Hyperion.
    • CDA66974.
    • 5.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 10 Jun 2012 06:05
    大象传媒 Radio 4
  • Sun 10 Jun 2012 23:30
    大象传媒 Radio 4
  • Sun 24 Jul 2022 06:05
    大象传媒 Radio 4
  • Sun 24 Jul 2022 23:30
    大象传媒 Radio 4