The new Blessed Michael J. McGivney Propaedeutic House of Formation in Baltimore was formally dedicated and blessed by Archbishop William E. Lori at a ceremony Jan. 23 after extensive renovations to a former visitor center and the completion of an additional building.
“I’m delighted we now have a seminarian formation program back on Paca Street after all these many years,” Archbishop William E. Lori said beforehand. “I’m very happy it is being named after Blessed Father Michael J. McGivney.”
Blessed McGivney was the founder of the Knights of Columbus, which Archbishop Lori serves as supreme chaplain. The Connecticut priest was a seminarian at St. Mary’s from 1873 to 1877 and attended chapel services where the dedication ceremony was held.
The Paca Street location for the new House of Formation was the original site of St. Mary’s Seminary, the first Catholic seminary in the United States. The seminary, which opened in 1791 under the direction of Sulpicians, was home to future priests from across the country for generations.
St. Mary’s Seminary opened a second campus in 1929 in Roland Park. After the program was consolidated at Roland Park in 1974, the original seminary building on Paca Street was demolished with the exception of the chapel that dates to 1808, a house where St. Elizabeth Ann Seton once lived and a former convent for the Sisters of Divine Providence who served at the seminary.
The $8 million McGivney House of Formation is a project of the U.S. Province of Sulpicians and will serve as the home for future seminarians from St. Mary’s Seminary, Theological College at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and possibly some other houses of formation.
The “propaedeutic year” of priestly formation, instituted by Pope Francis, focuses on human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral formation.
“We have a range of ages. For some, it is their first time being away from home. We have a West Point graduate,” Suplician Father Shawn D. Gould director of the McGivney House said. “Everyone is here for the same purpose. The goal is the same. All are faithful Catholics.”
Currently seven seminarians from the Archdioceses of Baltimore and the Dioceses of Erie, Wilmington, Scranton and Buffalo, live in the house, though there is room for 12. Father Gould and Father James Yeakel, Oblate of St. Francis de Sales, administrator of McGivney House, each have their own suite. Bright, open modern spaces provide places to socialize and relax, and there is a small oratory in the basement for prayer.
“This was a big mud hole,” Karen French, a member of the Seton Hill Neighborhood Association said, as she admired the lounge and oratory. “It is nice to see the finished product.”
Members of the community, as well as representatives from Lewis Construction, the firm responsible for the work, and the architects from Ewing Cole were invited to the dedication and to the reception following it.
“There is such history for such a tiny neighborhood,” French said. “This is huge for them. It is very cool (that they) are back in the house.”
Throughout the construction and renovation process, the Seton Hill neighborhood was kept up to date on the process, according to Father Gould. A crow distractor was even added to the house’s roof to help the neighborhood distract a giant flock of crows that had called the neighborhood home.
“It made a big difference,” said Dean Radcliffe-Lyness, of the Seton Hill Neighborhood Association. “It’s nice to have someone here.”
Patrick Kelly, supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, said Blessed McGivney was a “great example for young men.”
“He had great concern for the families of his parish, that was his number one concern,” Kelly said. “I am very honored to be here. I have tremendous respect for the young men who will be here discerning to do this with their lives, to make their lives a gift to others.”
Email Katie V. Jones at kjones@CatholicReview.org
Also see: Coming home: First-year seminarians returning to historic Paca Street location
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