St John's Seminary

Rev Valentine Erhahon ordained deacon

Stephen Dingley — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 19:12:11 +0000

On 12 January Valentine Erhahon was ordained to the diaconate at St Joseph’s Church in Bromley by Bishop Patrick Lynch, auxiliary bishop in Southwark. We offer Rev Valentine our congratulations and prayers.

More Priestly Ordinations

Stephen Dingley — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 19:02:22 +0000

Three more of our former Anglican students have been ordained to the priesthood recently.

Frs Nicolas von Malaise and Stuart Meyer were ordained for Southwark archdiocese in their cathedral on 19 January.

Fr John Gilbert was ordained a few weeks earlier for Plymouth diocese on the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception in Penzance.

Congratulations to all three. We pray that they will enjoy many years of fruitful and joyful ministry.

Diaconate Ordinations Dec 2012

Stephen Dingley — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 13:02:37 +0000

Here are some pictures of our recent Ordinations (also noted in the post Advent 2012). Congratulations to Revv. Sam, Simon, Tom, Paul and Harry – and thanks to Bishop Kieran Conry.

Cardinal Danneels and the Year of Faith

Stephen Dingley — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 12:36:57 +0000

On 18 October Cardinal Godfried Danneels gave a lecture at Southwark Cathedral, marking the beginning of the Year of Faith and the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council. The whole seminary community was able to attend, and we also had the privilege of celebrating Mass with the Cardinal. In the lecture, entitled “Vatican II – A Council Unlike Any Other”, he reflected interestingly on his own experiences of being at the Council and on its ongoing significance for the Church.

Advent 2012

jonathan.how — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 12:51:50 +0000

The Advent Season began with what has now become our customary Advent Service. The seasonally decorated chapel was full as over 100 visitors joined the Seminary Comunity to celebrate Evening Prayer for the First Sunday of Advent. The schola were in particularly good voice, and visitors were reminded to make good progress with the mince pies and mulled wine out of charity for those who might be tempted to eat the left overs.

On the Feast of the Immaculate Conception representatives from the Seminary travelled down to Penzance for the Priestly Ordination of Fr John Gilbert. Former students joined the local choir to support the music.

The Advent Retreat was led by Fr Stephen Langridge, Vocations Director for Southwark, while the deacons-elect made their ordination retreats.

Term ended on 15th December 2012 with the ordination to the diaconate by Bishop Kieran Conry of Revv. Samuel Davey (Swk), Simon Dray (A&B), Harry Heijveld (Plym), Paul Keys (Plym), and Thomas Lynch (Swk). We were pleased to welcome many family and friends to celebrate this important day in their lives and in the life of the Church. They will minister as Deacons mainly in the Seminary Community and in the places where they exercise their weekly pastoral commitments.

To all our newly ordained -Ad multos annos!

Ministries, Candidacy and Holy Orders, Summer 2012

Stephen Dingley — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 13:55:19 +0000

The seminary year ended in the usual and wonderful way, with many members of the community taking significant steps in their journey towards priestly ministry. It reminds us of the reason why we are all here and fills us with hope and thanksgiving to God.

Our congratulations go to:

Colin Groombridge and Mark Wharton, who received the ministry of Lectorate;

Thomas Bakulumpagi (right), John Browne, Ross Bullock, Philip Carroll, Colin Groombridge, Mark Higgins, Jacek Kostuch, Dermott O’Gorman and David Pearce, who received the ministry of Acolytate;

Samuel Davey, Simon Dray, Harry Heijveld, Thomas Lynch and Paul Keys, who were admitted to Candidacy for Holy Orders;

Revv. John Gilbert, Nicolas von Malaise, Stuart Meyer, Matthew Bemand-Qureshi and Nicholas De Keyser, ordained Deacons;

and finally Frs Kurt Barragan, Oladele Craig, Chris Dobson and Alan Sharpe (not pictured), ordained Priests (also to Fr Alan Burgess, who received priestly formation at the Beda College in Rome and was ordained with Frs Kurt and Ola).

St John’s Association Summer Event 2012

Stephen Dingley — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 13:34:41 +0000

St John’s Association is the alumni organisation of the seminary. For this year’s event we were delighted to welcome Mgr Keith Newton, the Ordinary of Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, who presided at Mass and also gave a fascinating address about the identity and work of the Ordinariate.

St John’s Day and Holy Week 2012

Stephen Dingley — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 13:09:50 +0000

St John’s Day

Since St John’s feast day falls in the Christmas holidays, we always celebrate our patronal feast on a convenient Tuesday in February – a time of year when a bit of cheering up is always welcome. This year we were delighted to welcome Rt Rev John Hine, auxiliary bishop of Southwark as the principal celebrant.

Holy Week

The celebration of Holy Week and the Easter Triduum is the very centre of our life.

Visit from Pontifical Council for Migrants and Itinerant Workers

jonathan.how — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 14:05:02 +0000

The Seminary were very pleased to welcome today Bishop Joseph Kalathiparambil and Fr Bruni Ciceri from the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Itinerant Workers, and Mr Martin Foley, National Director of the Apostleship of the Sea. They joined the community for lunch and spoke about the work of the Council and the importance of this ministry of Christian hospitality. “In so much as you did it to the least of these, you did it to me.”

For more details on the work of the Council visit http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/migrants/index.htm

Recent (and not quite so recent) Ordinations

Stephen Dingley — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 17:30:38 +0000

Congratulations to Rev. Kurt Barragan and Rev. Oladele Craig, who were ordained to the sacred diaconate on Saturday 17 December 2011. The ordination was the last event of the term, and provided a fitting and joyful way to focus on the whole purpose of the seminary, and a great beginning to the holidays.

Also, congratulations to Fr Paul Andrew, who was ordained to the priesthood in Exeter on the feast of the Immaculate Conception. And belated congratulations to Frs John Chandler, Daniel Kelly, David King and Jonathon Routh, who were ordained priests last summer.