Tower Topics ~ Summer 2002

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Seminary closing a 'great, great loss'

Citing “insurmountable” costs and low enrollment, the Diocese of Jefferson City closed St. Thomas Aquinas Minor Seminary in Hannibal, Mo., May 20.

Founded by the late Bishop Joseph Marling in 1957, St. Thomas is the diocese’s high school seminary for boys exploring a possible vocation to the priesthood, and has long been a primary feeder school for Conception Seminary College.

“The seminary has been an important part of the diocese,” Bishop John Gaydos wrote in an April 19 letter to priests of the diocese. “But we cannot ignore the impact recent headlines will have on future enrollment, which has been in decline for some years. With only 27 students this year, the school was already economically unsustainable. The events of the past six weeks have only hurried the inevitable.”

Recently the school became the focus of nationwide publicity when it was revealed that former faculty members had sexually abused students at the school.

“There are no allegations of abusive behavior by any current members of the school’s faculty, ”Bishop Gaydos said. “But, in the current environment, we do not believe it will be possible to build enrollment to the level the school needs.

“I do not relish this decision, but I do think it is best for our diocese,” he said. “It is sad that the end comes in the shadow of scandal, but we must not let that be the memory of St. Thomas. It has given many young men a solid first step in their journey to the priesthood. For many more it has provided a unique and invaluable foundation for their higher education and formation for their roles in the life of the Church.”

Father Benedict Neenan, president-rector of Conception Seminary College, said that while he understands the dilemma the diocese faced in recruitment and finances, “we are very sad that such an excellent high school, which has produced so many fine graduates over the years, has to close.”

He noted that the faculty of Conception “always recognized the graduates of St. Thomas as among the best prepared entering students at Conception – academically, socially and emotionally.”

St. Thomas and Conception alumnus Father Dan Merz, a priest of the Diocese of Jefferson City who currently is assigned to the faculty of Conception Seminary College, called the closing “a great, great loss.”

“St. Thomas was not so much a place to learn how to be a priest,” he said, “but a place to learn how to be a young Christian man. For me the saddest part is that there is nowhere else in the diocese, or the country for that matter, where young men can receive such a solid grounding in life and faith.”

St. Thomas’ enrollment of 27 students was down from 96 in 1967. Bishop Gaydos said the decline has come as young people increasingly postpone selection of a vocation until after high school. “This is not an issue unique to our diocese,” he said. There are only two Roman Catholic high school seminaries still operating in the United States.”

Due to the dwindling enrollment, parishes throughout the diocese have been required to subsidize the school. Parishes contributed $360,000 to keep the school in operation for the 2001-2002 school year.

Information for this report was provided by the Catholic Missourian, newspaper of the Diocese of Jefferson City.

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