Annual report 2010-2011

St. Charles’ Seminary
Seminary Hills, Nagpur
M.S. – 440 006, INDIA
(0712) 2511353
(0712) 2510154
E-mail: stcharlengp@gmail.com

Annual Report of the Academic year 2010-11

Inauguration of the academic year: The Seminarians returned to the Seminary on the 16th of June after their summer vacation. The inauguration of the academic year took place on the 19th of June. Archbishop Abraham Viruthakulangara presided over the Inaugural Eucharist which was followed by the inaugural ceremony held in the centenary memorial auditorium. Fr. Rector presented the annual report of the year and Fr. Sunoj OP delivered the inaugural lecture titled: “Comparative study on God in St. Thomas Aquinas and Madhvacharya”.
The total number of students was 248 out of which 164 were residents. Besides the usual 47 dioceses and 3 religious congregations we had students from the diocese of Aizawl and Purnea, and from the following religious congregations: Vocationists, CFIC, MSFS, Palottines, Daughters of St. Paul, MSMI.
The newly ordained priests and the new deacons were felicitated on the 26th of June. The New Comers day was celebrated on the 30th of July. The students of first year Philosophy and first year theology staged a cultural programme in the evening. Sr. Besky and Fr. Peter Fernandes were the chief guests at the cultural programme.

On the feast of St. John Vianney eleven brothers of first year Theology received their clerical garb at the solemn Eucharist presided by the Rector. After the Mass, the Rector blessed the statue of St. John Vianney which was installed in garden facing the Philosopher’s refectory.

On the feast of St. Dominic, the statue of the saint was blessed installed in the garden facing the Theologians refectory. On the eve of the 64th anniversary of the independence of India, the Carolian family staged a cultural evening in which the diverse traditions cultures of our country were shown and celebrated. Mr. Thomas Jose, the CBI officer in Nagpur department was the chief guest.

The annual retreat for the brothers was held from the 16th to 20th August. Bishop Franco, the auxiliary bishop of Delhi and an ex-Carolian was the retreat preacher. His inspiring talks and sermons which were well appreciated by brothers also included many practical tips and anecdotes coming from his own experience as a student of St. Charles.

Seminary Day: The feast of St. Charles, the Seminary Day, was celebrated with great happiness and solemnity on the 3rd, 4th and 5th of November. The presence of several Carolian jubiliarians added a great joy and life to our celebrations. Among the Carolian Jubiliarians there were three batches present: those celebrating the 40th, 25th and 10th year of their priestly ordination. We had fourteen priests who were celebrating their fortieth year of ordination. 5 of them came all the way from the USA.

The festal mass that was celebrated on the 4th evening was presided by His Grace Rt. Rev. Abraham Virutakulangara, with a good number of concelebrants. Just before the Eucharist the Archbishop blessed the newly prepared Adoration chapel. At the conclusion of the Mass the Blessed Sacrament was brought in a procession by the Archbishop and the concelebrants and was placed in the adoration chapel. The jubiliarians were felicitated by the Archbishop and then followed the festive supper in the basketball court.

A cultural programme was staged on the 3rd and 4th of November. The Rector presented the annual report of the academic year 2009-2010. The Chief Guest, the Archbishop of Nagpur, in his speech made a reference to Pope Benedict’s letter to Seminarians and highlighted importance of study in the life of a seminarian. The brothers entertained the guests with colourful dances which demonstrated the different cultures of our Country. The music and songs, a short

Hindi comedy and a dance-drama on the passion of Christ were the other prominent programmes of the evening. The Carolian family appreciates the hard work done by our brothers with the leadership of Fr. Biju and other staff members.

The Carolian Theological Forum organized an input session on Ecological crisis and Christian Response to them. In his well delivered lecture Fr. Saji Kanayakal CST presented the burning ecological issues and demanded from us a truly Christian response to these challenges. The CTF also organized an Inter-faith Meeting in the auditorium of St. Joseph’s school on the occasion of the birth anniversary of the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi. Representatives of different religions were able to share with us the role their religion is playing in forming the youth for a bright future.

Annual House Picnic: was conducted very efficiently by the students of first year Theology at the Telangadi garden. It was a joyful celebration for all the Carolians: laughing, playing, dancing and singing besides many other forms of relaxation and enjoyment. All appreciated the organizing capacity of the brothers from the first year theology.

Sports day: The annual sports day was conducted on the afternoon f the solemnity of St. Francis Xavier. The chief guest was Professor PT Thomas the newly appointed principal of SFS College. Archbishop Abraham Viruthakulangara and Fr. Jerome Pinto, the vicar general of the Archdiocese, were the guests of honour. Br. Anto Vijay of Ajmer diocese was awarded the prize for the best sportsman of the year. The students of third year Philosophy won the championship in the inter-class category; the students of philosophy were the champions in the inte4r-house category. The hard work put in by the sports committee, under the leadership of Fr. Paul Pereira and Deacon Sumit Lugun was highly appreciated.

Christmas Ministry: As usual the students of Theology went for three weeks ministry in the month of December. The first year Theology students went to the mission stations in the dioceses of Jashpur and Raigarh. The students of second year theology went for social work in the diocese of Amravati. The students of third year Theology went to Varanasi for an Ashram experience. We thank the Bishops and priests of these dioceses for their collaboration and guidance.

Christmas: The students of third year Philosophy under the guidance of the staff organized a Carol singing competition on the 17th of December. Many catholic and Christian institutions from the diocese took part in the competition.

The brothers of the second year Philosophy prepared a maga crib in front of the seminary which attracted thousands of people from different religions.

Unity Octave: The CTF organized an Ecumenical worship service to mark the conclusion of the Unity Octave on the 25th of January. After the prayer service a symposium was held which was moderated by Rev. Fr. Thomas Vijay SAC. The theme of the symposium was “The Role of the Christian Youth in promoting Justice and building up national integration.

Conferral of Ministries: on the 28th of January, on the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Archbishop of Nagpur, Most Rev. Abraham Viruthakulangara, conferred the ministry of Lector to twenty one brothers from the first year of Theology and the ministry of Acolyte to sixteen brothers from the second year of Theology.
Grotto feast: The seminarians were actively involved in the celebration of the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes on the 13th of February. The main activities were: choir at masses in different languages, praying over the sick, distributing communion, carrying the statue of Our Lady at the procession and minding the shop.

Visitors: Among the prominent visitors to the seminary in the academic year 2010-11 was Fr. Bruno Cadore, the Master General of the Order of Preachers. He stayed in the seminary on the 14th to 16th of Feb. He was kind enough to preside over the Eucharist and preach an appropriate homily on the 16th of Feb.
Farewell Programme was conducted on the 18th of March. The Carolian family bid goodbye to the outgoing students of Fourth year Theology and third year Philosophy.

Retreat for priesthood and diaconate: The retreat for the candidates for priesthood and diaconate was preached in the pastoral centre by Rev. Fr. Davis George from the diocese of Jabalpur from the 26th to 30th March. Through his inspiring talks and payer sessions Fr. David created a truly spiritual atmosphere. It was truly a fruitful preparation for the ordinations.

Diaconate: as per the request from the students and many bishops the diaconate was held in the seminary itself on the 31st of March. His Grace Abraham Viruthakulangara, The Archbishop of Nagpur, conferred the Order of Diaconate on 12 brothers. The Solemn Eucharist was celebrated on a stage in front of the Seminary.

The Academic year ended on the 31st of March.

17 brothers were ordained to priesthood this summer in their respective dioceses. and another five will be ordained in the course of the year. On the 27th of May The Archbishop of Nagpur ordained priests 7deacons of the Archdiocese. The Ordination ceremony took place in front of the seminary. It was a very solemn and inspiring ceremony which was attended by a large number of people and the mass was concelebrated by nearly hundred priests. The seminary and the archdiocese is grateful to Fr. Biju and the seminarians (Philosophers) who worked tirelessly for this function. We wish and pray that all our newly ordained priests remain committed and faithful to God and to the Church until the end.

As usual the summer philosophy course was conducted at Upasana, St. Camillus Study house, Bangalore, by Fr. Praveen, the dean of philosophy, with the help of other priests from the philosophy department and some guests professors. There were 24 Students, of which 21 were religious sisters belonging to 14 Congregations, 1 religious brother, and 2 married men studying for permanent diaconate. They are and will be studying in various parts of our country. Four Sacred Heart sisters will be studying in St. Charles.
During the Summer Fr. Biju, the procurator of the seminary, with the help of some brothers, took care of the maintenance and repair works: The adoration chapel, the infirmary, the toilets on both floors.
As we thank our Lord for his guidance and care during the academic year 2010-11 we look at him with hope for his mercies for this new Academic year. May He bless each one of us so that we may continue his work with dedication and love.

Fr. Dominic Mendonca, O.P.
Rector