THE CENTRAL Seminary will celebrate its diamond jubilee as an interdiocesan seminary starting Nov. 22, with the theme, “Renewal:God’s gift, our mission.”
The event will formally open with a three-day consultation congress on seminary formation on Nov. 22-24.
The first conference would be on pastoral priorities of the Philippine Church and their implication to seminary formation by Archbishop Orlando B. Quevedo, OMI. This would be followed by a eucharistic celebration by Central Seminary Rector Rev. Fr. Honorato C. Castigador, O.P.
Other distinguished speakers include Bishop Luis Antonio Tagle of the San Carlos Seminary, Fr. Filemon de la Cruz, O.P., Msgr. Gerardo Santos, Fr. Daniel Patrick Huang, S. J., and Msgr. Mylo Vergara.
The mass will be celebrated by Bishop Benjamin Almoneda and Fr. Herminio Dagohoy, O.P.
Sem. Carmelo P. Arada Jr., chair of the diamond jubilee committee, said that the celebration will be a year-long event.
“It would not only focus on festivities but on consultative congress on seminary formation. It would be like communal discernment on the situation of seminary formation by seminarians and their formators,” he said.
He said that theology seminaries from Luzon and some regional seminaries from Visayas and Mindanao were invited.
One of the highlights of the jubilee will be the pilgrimages, not only in different churches, but also with the youth, elderly, and poor communities.
In addition, the petition on the practice of indulgence was approved by the Apostolic Penitentiary last June 8 with the consent of the Pontiff.
Upcoming events include the first ever family recollection, which will be attended by the seminarians and their parents on Dec. 7-8; an ecumenical gathering, hosted for the first time by a Catholic university and attended by representatives of different religious denominations; and regional alumni gatherings.
There will be a grand alumni homecoming of graduates on November 2003. Jubilee awards will also be given to alumni bishops, outstanding priests, and past rectors like Archbishop Leonardo Legaspi—the first Filipino rector of the Central Seminary, Fr. Jaime Boquiren, Fr. Efren Rivera, and Fr. Frederic Fermin. Anna Rachelle S. Ariola
