Just like in the Stone Age!
Seminarians at the Redemptoris Mater House of Formation (peopled by those called from the Neocatechumenal Way) on the John Paul II Center for the New Evangelization campus in Denver (they can also be found all over the world, including Perth and Sydney) lead a more disciplined life than their brothers in other, typical seminaries. They are not allowed to keep their own money, but must instead ask for it from their superiors to make purchases of any sort. They do not keep mobile phones or personal computers. They must generally always be accompanied by a peer. This stands in stark contrast to the life lead by another, larger seminary on the same campus, St John Vianney.
SJV mirrors contemporary seminary life. The men take notes on laptops, carry Blackberries, live in single rooms, gather for TV-watching in a common room, maintain their own blogs and spread news about snow-cancelled classes on Facebook. Basically, that’s the rule when it comes to contemporary Catholic seminary life in the U.S.
The men of Redemptoris Mater — the name is Latin for “Mother of the Redeemer” — take notes on steno pads, must seek permission before hanging anything on their residence hall walls and share everything, down to a single e-mail address on a second-floor computer.
I’m reminded of a glimpse I had once through the window of the monastery at St Peter Julian’s on George Street from a bus stop across the road. All I could see was an ink-jet printer, and for some reason the mental image of a robed monk dealing with a paper jam has stuck with me since.
As far as I can tell, the Redemptoris Mater boys aren’t forced to speak (Vat.) Latin to each other at all times, so they should count themselves lucky.
apud Eric Gorski ‘Catholic seminarians embrace strict rules‘, msnbc.com (29/8/09)
