Co-Sponsored Seminarians Celebrate Labor Day Weekend in Nation’s Capital

BY TAYLOR HENRY

Thirty prospective Catholic U.S. Military chaplains from 23 dioceses and one religious community assembled in the Nation’s Capital 3-5 September for the annual Labor Day Weekend Gathering for cosponsored seminarians. The gathering, hosted each year by the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (AMS), is a three-day celebration of prayer, fraternity, and face-to-face dialogue between the chaplain candidates, AMS clergy and staff, and His Excellency, the Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio, Archbishop for the Military Services. This year, for the first time, Father S. Matthew Gray, the new AMS Director of Vocations, directed the gathering.

CO-SPONSORED SEMINARIANS GATHER WITH ARCHBISHOP TIMOTHY BROGLIO AT THE ALTAR OF THE CRYPT CHURCH IN THE BASILICA OF THE NATIONAL SHRINE OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION AFTER MASS ON 4 SEPTEMBER 2021.

The prospective chaplains converged on Washington from seminaries throughout the U.S. and in Rome. They took part in a Friday evening dinner, a Saturday morning briefing, and afternoon barbeque provided by the Knights of Columbus, James Cardinal Hickey Assembly #2534, with Mass on Saturday and Sunday celebrated by Archbishop Broglio. The Saturday morning Mass took place at the Crypt Church of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception; the Sunday morning Mass, in the Chapel Center at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling.

continued on page 32

The Co-Sponsored Seminarian Program (CSP), of which these chaplain candidates are members, is a vocations partnership between the AMS and cooperating dioceses and religious communities around the country. Cosponsorship means that a cooperating, non-AMS bishop or religious superior agrees to accept a prospective chaplain as a seminarian in his territorial diocese or religious community. The seminarian will participate in the chaplain candidacy program of one of the U.S. Military branches. The AMS and the seminarian’s home diocese or religious community split the cost of his five-year, $40,000-per-year formation.

ARCHBISHOP TIMOTHY BROGLIO ADDRESSES CO-SPONSORED SEMINARIANS AT THE EDWIN CARDINAL O’BRIEN PASTORAL CENTER IN WASHINGTON, D.C., ON 4 SEPTEMBER 2021.

Under the co-sponsorship agreement, once the seminarian is ordained a priest, he will work in his home diocese or religious community for three years before coming on active-duty. Once he completes his military service, he will return to his home diocese or religious community to serve out his vocation.

The AMS established the CSP in the 1980s to encourage military service commitments from candidates for the priesthood. As a result, enrollment has grown from seven in 2008 to an all-time high of 47 before the pandemic, producing 10 new ordinations and 8 transitional deacons this year alone. This

continued on page 34

LT. CHARLES WILTON, USNR, A CO-SPONSORED SEMINARIAN IN FORMATION AT MOUNT ST. MARY’S SEMINARY IN EMMITSBURG, MD, PREPARES TO SAMPLE BARBEQUE COOKED BY THE KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS JAMES CARDINAL HICKEY ASSEMBLY #2534 ON 4 SEPTEMBER 2021 IN WASHINGTON, D.C.

growth is welcome news for the U.S. Military, which is struggling to fill a chronic shortage of Catholic chaplains as aging priests retire from active-duty faster than they can be replaced.

Meanwhile, the AMS is struggling to pay the co-sponsored seminarians’ tuition and other formational expenses. The AMS receives no funding from the Military or the government and gratefully welcomes donations at www. milarch.org/donate.

Young men interested in discerning a priestly vocation and the vocation within a vocation to serve those who serve in the U.S. Military can find more information at www.milarch.org/vocations or contact the AMS Vocations Office at vocations@milarch.org or (202) 719-3600. V

The Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA

Pathway of Honor

Show your support for service members, veterans, chaplains, military families, and all who have served or continue to serve by reserving a commemorative brick today. Your brick will join hundreds of others lining the pathways of the Edwin Cardinal O’Brien Pastoral Center in Washington, D.C.

A suggested donation of $150 will ensure that the brick you order, in memory of your loved one, will be placed in the “Pathway of Honor”.

To dedicate a brick, visit https://www.milarch.org/bricks/

You can donate online or print a donation form.

If you have any questions, please contact the Advancement Office at: (202) 719-3622 or support@milarch.org

(continued on page 36)