Pope expected to encourage vocations in visit to New York seminary

Published: 2008-02-15

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, N.Y., one of the stops for Pope Benedict XVI during his three-day visit to New York this April, is no stranger to the pope or his predecessor, Pope John Paul II. In 1988, years before he was pope, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger gave a talk at the seminary about the study of Scripture. Seven years later, Pope John Paul II spoke to seminarians on the 40-acre campus commonly known as Dunwoodie for its location in the Dunwoodie section of Yonkers, just a few miles north of New York City. Baltimore Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien, a former student at St. Joseph's Seminary and also its rector for seven years, called the pontiff's planned April 19 visit a "great privilege" for the seminary. The archbishop told Catholic News Service Feb. 7 that he assumed Pope Benedict would encourage vocations during the scheduled meeting with youths and seminarians on the seminary grounds.

Copyright (c) 2008 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .