100 years ago, Bishop Morris had a vision for more priests

Published: September 10, 2011

By Malea Hargett
Editor

Diocese of Little Rock archives

Newly ordained as deacons in December 1958, young men studying for the priesthood at St. John Home Mission Seminary pose with Bishop Albert L. Fletcher (center left) and Msgr. James E. O’Connell, the seminary rector. This photo includes Msgr. Thomas Sebaugh (third from left) who is now director of information services for the diocese.

Diocese of Little Rock archives

When Bishop John B. Morris established St. John Seminary in Little Rock on Sept. 19, 1911, some Catholics thought it was not a good idea.

Amazingly, they thought it would produce too many priests for Arkansas.

In 1947, reflecting on those early years, Bishop Albert L. Fletcher said, of course, that was a "groundless" fear.

"The demand and need for priests always increased more rapidly than supply," he wrote in his first pastoral letter to his flock.

Bishop Fletcher received the distinct honor of being the first St. John graduate to become a bishop.

Historical Fragments: Facts about St. John Seminary
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"I often heard the bishop say when he came to the diocese in 1906, he was determined to develop and expand the missions," he wrote. "He soon found that he did not have sufficient priests to do that. He attempted to obtain students to study for the diocese in other seminaries but failed to obtain any appreciable number. This forced his decision to establish a seminary of his own. The number of priests then began to increase. But how slow was the net increase. How often, just when he began to feel that he could spare a priest for a new work, would something happen to make this impossible."

At the turn of the 20th century in Arkansas there were 35 priests in Arkansas to serve 15,000 Catholics in 58 churches and 31 schools.

Bishop Morris opened St. John Seminary at 25th and State streets in Little Rock with 10 students and four priest-teachers on the Little Rock College campus and placed it under his patron saint, St. John the Baptist. Msgr. W.H. Aretz, the first priest ordained by Bishop Morris, was the first rector. Tuition was $250 a year.

The bishop wanted to be able to supply priests to the diocese and he wanted to encourage more native vocations. He didn’t like the fact that the state’s seminarians were educated "far away from the scene of their future labors."

The heart of the diocese

St. John Seminary, often called the "heart of the diocese," became Bishop Morris’ crowning achievement.

Msgr. Richard Oswald, who arrived at St. John Seminary as a 17-year-old college freshman, agreed that the seminary was at the center of diocese.

"The seminary was always considered like the heart of the diocese because most of the (diocesan) priests were ordained from the seminary," he said. "They often came back to the seminary for anniversary celebrations, for funeral Masses for priests, for retreats so the seminary was very much a part of our lives as we served in the diocese. Most of our professors were diocesan priests themselves. … Our professors were our future brother priests here in the Diocese of Little Rock. The seminary had a special place in the hearts of most priests."

Diocesan priests who graduated from other seminaries were inducted as honorary alumnus, said Msgr. Oswald, who was ordained in 1965.

After outgrowing its buildings, from 1916 to 1920, Little Rock College and St. John Seminary moved to a new campus in the Pulaski Heights area of Little Rock. It was recognized as the south’s "oldest and finest" seminary," located on 40 acres bordering the city limits.

In 1920 the seminary separated from the college and moved back to the buildings downtown. In 1929, at the beginning of the Depression, Bishop Morris announced he was closing Little Rock College and moving the seminary back to the Heights. The old seminary building then became home to the new Catholic High School for Boys.

When Bishop Fletcher was ordained an auxiliary bishop in 1940, he continued to support the seminary, having been associated with it as a student and professor since 1917. He taught advanced moral and dogmatic theology and canon law. Until 1949 Bishop Fletcher even lived at the seminary.

World War II brought on some trying times for the seminary. Starting in 1944 the seminary temporarily became a 12-month program instead of the usual nine months. In the 1930s and 40s a victory garden, founded by Bishop Fletcher, was maintained on two acres of the seminary land.

When Bishop Morris died in 1946, he had ordained 100 priests in 40 years. The diocesan seminary also was educating priests from other dioceses in the region. It was designated as St. John Home Missions Seminary in 1934 for this work.

A fixture at the seminary from 1944 until it closed was Msgr. James E. O’Connell, the rector. Even into his retirement he oversaw the seminarian burse fund, which was named after him.

"He had a certain style about him," Msgr. Oswald said. "He conducted himself as a real gentleman, almost a gentleman about town. He was very well-dressed and presented himself well. He was a very talented speaker. He was quite a model for us to follow."

A structured life

Life at the seminary was structured and cut off from the world around them, Msgr. Thomas Sebaugh said. A 1959 graduate, he works at St. John Center in the same building where he once studied and lived. Many boys arrived as freshmen in high school to begin their formation. All students were required to wear a cassock and Roman collar during the school day.

Classes to learn Latin were required.

"Latin was very important," said Msgr. Sebaugh, who arrived in 1945 as a high school junior. "Ordinarily you had to have six years of Latin to get into (major) seminary."

Younger seminarians were not allowed to associate with older seminarians. During their free time, the students were only allowed to read the sports section of the daily newspaper and watch the evening news.

"We could not subscribe to any magazines," Msgr. Oswald said.

Trips off campus or to visit home were infrequent.

"Very rarely we could go into town on the street car," Msgr. Sebaugh said. "When we did, we always had to be properly dressed, wearing black suits and white shirts."

After night prayer until prayer before breakfast, "grand silence" was strictly enforced.

Even though they were secluded from the world, Msgr. Oswald said, "They prepared us to be very human priests. They kept us in touch with reality. They did a good job in helping us maintain our humanness."

Most seminarians looked forward to the times they got to play sports, including basketball, football, baseball, tennis and handball, especially when tournaments would be arranged between the minor and major seminarians.

"We built a swimming pool," Msgr. Sebaugh said. "The creek that goes through here, the water that goes through the ravine, we dammed that up. When we would come back in September, there wouldn’t be much water in it. We would get the fire department to come out here and turn their hoses on and fill that up for us."

In 1954 the Little Rock seminary was called the largest seminary in the South. Even until the early 60s the seminary continued to grow, with the seminary making plans to build two new dormitories.

Unsettled times

But changes in society and the Church in the 1960s started to influence the seminary. Vatican Council II opened in 1962 and many younger priests and laypeople were eagerly anticipating the changes. While the Church’s moral teachings and doctrines were not changing, its liturgy and relationship with the modern world were. Mass in vernacular instead of Latin was introduced in 1965. Fewer men were choosing to enter the seminary.

Msgr. Oswald said he believes that the drop in seminarians was influenced more by cultural changes.

"Things were happening in society, questioning of authority, questioning of tradition, emphasis on individuality and individual fulfillment. Maybe that was the beginning of all the narcissism we refer to today."

In May 1967 it was announced that the college seminary, also called the minor seminary, was closing. At the time, it was believed that the high school seminary and major seminary would continue to remain open. High school seminarians would, however, begin taking their classes at Catholic High School.

Three reasons were given for the closure: the insufficient number of faculty and personnel to teach all the courses required; the lack of funding; and the difficulty of accrediting a college with less than 100 students. Only nine men, none from the Diocese of Little Rock, were in the 1967 ordination class.

"The possible necessity of such action has been studied and discussed for more than a year," Bishop Fletcher said.

Events were clearly still unsettled in the diocese. In July 1967 Father James Drane was relieved of his duties as a seminary professor and priest in the diocese. He authored five articles in the Arkansas Gazette on artificial birth control.

"It would evidently be inconsistent to use his services to represent the Church as a priest when he does not believe what the Church teaches," Bishop Fletcher wrote.

One week later, it was announced that the theology department, or major seminary, would close as well. The seminary could no longer recruit a sufficient number of qualified professors and was expecting to only enroll 50 major seminarians in the fall.

"For the coming academic year, only three of the 50 registered theology students are studying for the Arkansas priesthood," according to a July 14, 1967, article in The Guardian.

"Substantial and growing financial deficits with no prospect of future relief" was also cited as a reason.

The seminary had served the state for 56 years.

Msgr. Oswald said the closure certainly lowered the exposure Catholics in the state had to seminarians and the importance of vocations.

"Over the last few decades, the whole idea of seminary and seminarians became less visible," he said. "We assumed that the visibility would happen automatically."

Following its closure though, the seminary buildings continued to be a place of faith formation. St. John Catholic Center opened in 1968 as the offices for the bishop and diocesan ministries. Morris Hall, once used for dormitory rooms, offices, chapel and classes, became diocesan offices. Byrne Hall, the former refectory, is now offices for the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and Christopher Homes. Fitzgerald Hall, where the high school and minor seminary were housed, is now meeting rooms and apartments for retired priests. Fletcher Hall, built in 1965 as dormitory rooms, is now used as overnight lodging for retreat guests and is also a temporary site for the House of Formation. The current dining hall once served as a gymnasium and chapel.

"In a way the seminary lives on with all the things going on here now (at St. John Center)," Msgr. Oswald said. "For me, it will always be more than some nice buildings."