Courtney McGrailPhiladelphia seminary sees record number of new entrants
St Charles Borromeo seminary in Philadelphia has received its largest class of seminarians in a decade, with 20 of the 52 seminarians coming from the Archdiocese of Philadephia alone.
The rise in numbers is all more striking since it comes before the archdiocese, home to 1.5 million Catholics, launches a major new initiative to encourage priestly vocations. Pope Francis is expected the visit the seminary in September when he is in the city for the World Meeting of Familes.
Archbishop’s hi-viz appearance
A major traffic jam was disentangled in Manila on Sunday, August 23 by the city’s former archbishop. Returning from Mass, Archbishop Emeritus Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales spent 40 minutes stuck in a traffic jam before putting on a jacket, walking to the cars causing the gridlock, and directing them to move so traffic could flow again.
“They did not recognise me because I was wearing a jacket, but later on somebody did recognise me because the jacket’s zipper went down and they saw my pectoral cross,” he said