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Letter from the Rector
 Welcome to Theological College! We hope that you will enjoy your visit to our newly designed Web site which was introduced in May. The information provided here which covers academics and formation, seminary news and events, and alumni affairs have each been thoroughly reviewed and updated during the past year in order to provide you with the most accurate and current information in these areas. Whether you are a prospective seminarian, an interested alumnus, a bishop or vocation director, we hope that you will find the information you are looking for here quickly and easily, and that you will also be inspired as you learn more about the seminary community at Theological College, the national seminary of The Catholic University of America, as it exists today. This is my first letter to you and I am delighted to be able to introduce myself to you. I was appointed as the 14th rector of the Theological College on July 1. I am delighted to assume my duties and responsibilities as pastor of this seminary which I love very much because of the unique features of being a house of formation on the campus of Catholic University where our seminarians take their theological and philosophical studies. I am the unearned beneficiary of all those rectors who have served in this important place of priestly formation, and in particular to Father Thomas R. Hurst, S.S., who served here so well and faithfully for the past five years. In this new millennial time of growth and change, it seems that “transition” has become the norm and “continuity” the exception. My hope and prayer for many of us is that the transition to becoming rector of Theological College will be a transforming experience for me as well as all the seminarians who are students here. I ask for your prayers, and I promise mine in return, as we each begin our journey of transition and of getting to know each other, again, in a new way. On behalf of the faculty and seminarians of TC, let me also express our congratulations to those 12 deacons, members of TC’s Class of 2007, who were ordained over the summer and who have begun their ministry as active priests. They will be joined later this fall by another deacon who will be ordained in October. Earlier this spring, Father Hurst provided a very thoughtful overview of the seminary community at TC in his welcome letter. First and foremost, the seminary is a community of faith and prayer. Next he elaborated on the place of study and reflection and, then, of service and ministry as essential to the whole of priestly formation and in the spirit of Sulpician formation which is “to form men after the heart of Jesus, the Good Shepherd.” Let me restate that these remain the primary focus of the formation program at Theological College in accord with the guidelines and norms of the revised Program of Priestly Formation. (See Formation for program elaboration in these areas.) Once again, welcome to our Web site! Let us hear from you with your comments and suggestions on how to make the site even better for all our visitors. May your visit here serve as a window into the life of faith, study and service in the Sulpician tradition that is Theological College today. Sincerely yours in Christ,  Rev. Melvin C. Blanchette, S.S. Rector |
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