I read in the newsletter of the Dome of Home that the Institute of Christ the King will have three British men joining their seminary in Gricigliano, near Florence, in September. This is great news for the Institute who have two English priests, but currently no seminarians from this country. I know two of the young men concerned and associate both of them with the shrine at New Brighton.
This news is particularly pleasing, because the Institute has taken a huge risk in opening two missions in England. At both New Brighton and Preston, it was far from certain that the congregations would grow to justify taking over such large churches. Furthermore, particularly at New Brighton, the Institute have taken over huge maintenance and repair commitments,
Our hope must be that these three are the beginning of of a steady flow of new priests.
Excellent news. I think that England would be the ideal place for the Institute to one day establish a second seminary, given their ever increasing number of English-speaking seminarians. At some point, they are going to have to do something about their French-only formation because of this. Let's hope the English bishops entrust them with more of these beautiful historic churches to save, and increase their vocations at the same time.
ReplyDeleteI was of the impression that one man is attributed to New Brighton, one to Preston but previously did come to New Brighton and the other is not aligned (for want of a better word) to either location. Either way, this is great news and thanks be to God.
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