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History The establishment
of a diocesan seminary in lower Louisiana was a keen concern of
Bishop Louis Dubourg (1815 – 1826). It also proved a point of honest
disagreement between himself and Bishop Joseph Rosati, C.M., the
first Rector of St. Mary’s Seminary of the Barrens in upper
Louisiana (1818), and his coadjutor since 1824. Rosati reasoned
that, although property was available for a seminary on a
thousand-acre site donated for that purpose by Father Bernardo de
Deva in Plattenville on Bayou Lafourche, priests were too scarce in
both upper and lower Louisiana to assure staffing adequately a
second seminary.
Dubourg’s plan was
finally realized by Bishop Antoine Blanc (1835-1860) who, in 1838,
negotiated an agreement with Father John Timon, C.M., Superior of
the Congregation of the Mission or Lazarist Fathers, to open a
seminary in Platteville next to Assumption Church on Bayou
Lafourche.
The official name of
the institution was "The Ecclesiastical Diocesan Seminary of St.
Vincent de Paul," but it was popularly known as Assumption Seminary.
The first rector was Father Bonaventure Armengol, C.M. In describing
the building, the editor of the 1839 issue of the Catholic Almanac
noted, "The house … is 75 feet long, 50 feet deep and two stories
high, with a basement."
This brick building
housed seminarians until 1855 when fire completely destroyed it. The
students moved to Faubourg Bouligny, a New Orleans suburb, and
lodged in the rectory of St. Stephen’s Church on Napoleon Avenue.
Three years later a building was erected next to St. Stephen’s
and served as a seminary staffed by Lazarists until 1867 when it was
suppressed due to the financial distress of the diocese following
the Civil War. Despite the shortage of funds, another effort was
made little more than a decade later to establish a diocesan
seminary. At the end of his life, and just before he sailed to Rome
for the First Vatican Council, Archbishop Jean Odin, C.M., had plans
drawn up for a building to be constructed next to the Old Ursuline
Convent (then his residence) on the site of the former Ursuline
chapel which had been known as St. Mary of Consolation. This
building was functioning by the end of 1870, at which time Napoleon
Joseph Perche was the new Archbishop. Although by 1873 this
seminary, which was much later remodeled to become St.
Mary’s Italian School, had forty students and was
staffed by priests of the archdiocese, it too succumbed to financial
pressure and was closed in 1881. Nearly another twenty years passed
before it was decided to reopen the seminary that had been built in
the Faubourg Bouligny district next to St. Stephen’s Church;
however, Archbishop James H. Blenk, S.M., rescinded that decision
after only seven years.
Two years after his
arrival as Blenk’s successor, Archbishop John W. Shaw (1918-1934)
called a meeting of laymen at his Esplanade Avenue residence for the
purpose of discussing with them the ways and means of erecting a
substantial building on a site acquired in 1910 through the efforts
of Father Francis Prim, a pastor of Mater Dolorosa Church in the
Carrollton section of New Orleans.
An outcome of the
August 20, 1920, meeting was the launching of a capital campaign. By
the following January the campaign netted close to $1 million from
some 50,000 subscribers. Encouraged by this broad-based display of
interest and generosity towards a permanent major seminary, the
Archbishop commissioned the architect, General Allison Owen, to draw
plans for Notre Dame Seminary.
The corner stone
was laid for the handsome chateau-like building on May 7, 1922. The
seminary began functioning on September 18, 1923, with 25 students
from the three Louisiana dioceses registering for philosophical and
theological courses. In 1925, the present Archbishop’s residence was
built next to the seminary.
From the beginning
of the seminary until 1967, the Marist Fathers of the Washington
Province were in charge. The first rector was Father Charles Dubray,
S.M. The number of students remained small through the formative
years, not exceeding 60 until September 1932.
In the early
1950’s, as enrollment proved too large for the 90 students’ rooms,
Archbishop Joseph Francis Rummel (1935-1964) dedicated funds raised
to memorialize his 25th
anniversary of Episcopal consecration and his 50th
in the priesthood for the erection of St.
Joseph Hall. The architect for this building, which was also close
to $1 million, was Jack J. H. Kessels.
St. Joseph Hall has
some student and faculty rooms, houses the seminary library with a
capacity of 200,000 volumes, and has an auditorium attached.
Previously, Archbishop Rummel had provided a permanent brick
residence on the campus for the Sisters of the Holy Family, which is
now occupied by the Order of Discalced Carmelites and is now known
as the John of the Cross House of Studies.
During his
relatively short tenure as apostolic administrator and archbishop,
the Most Reverend John P. Cody (1962-1965) laid the groundwork for
the emergence of Notre Dame Seminary into a provincial seminary
exclusively for theological students. Prior to the establishment in
1964 of the St. John Vianney Preparatory School, also located in the
Carrollton section, diocesan seminarians normally spent six years at
St. Joseph Preparatory Seminary (established by the Benedictines at
Gessen, Louisiana in 1891) and then six more years at Notre Dame
Seminary.
St. Joseph Seminary
College (at St. Benedict, Louisiana since 1902) became a four-year
college seminary in 1968, serving principally the province of New
Orleans. It serves as the local feeder institution for Notre Dame.
In addition to the
Marist Fathers, diocesan priests and others of specialized
competence have been professors and lecturers at Notre Dame Seminary
since the arrival of Archbishop Philip M. Hannan in 1965.
In 1984 a special
evaluation team created by the Vatican for the purpose of studying
and advising American seminaries visited Notre Dame Seminary. In
1993, Notre Dame Seminary completed its 70th
year of service to the Archdiocese of New
Orleans and to the Gulf South Region. In 1995 a self-study was
conducted and was followed by visits from the accrediting agencies.
A few noteworthy events have occurred which have become a part of
the seminary’s history. Outstanding among these has to be the visit
of Pope John Paul II in 1987. Not only was this the first visit of
any Roman Pontiff to New Orleans, but for the two nights of his
sojourn here, the Pope slept in the adjoining residence of the
Archbishop. The first enthusiastic group to greet the Pope were the
Notre Dame seminarians.
In 1993, the archdiocese
celebrated its bicentennial. Many different events marked the
year-long festivities: special liturgical services, an exhibit at
the New Orleans Museum of Art, the publication of a nearly 700-page
volume of collected essays, gatherings for the young and events for
the faithful. The faculty and seminarians were active participants
at many of the events. A substantial benefit for the seminary was
designated from the Capital Campaign, which was begun by Archbishop
Francis B. Schulte.
In 1997, the first history of
Notre Dame Seminary was published and entitled, The History of
Notre Dame Seminary. It was written by Reverend Mark Raphael
who was a student at the time. This history was produced for the 75 th
anniversary of the seminary’s opening, a
jubilee celebrated throughout the academic year of 1998-1999 with an
Open House in September, a special Eucharistic Celebration in
October, and a special Alumni Day celebration in February 1999.
As a graduate
school and a seminary, Notre Dame Seminary continues to be a center
of theological studies and of formation for the priesthood and to
many outside of the seminary community.
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