12 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
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Leaders say ‘The Seminaries of Saint Paul’ better conveys institutions’ identity, mission By Maria Wiering • The Catholic Spirit
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e’s slightly embarrassed to admit it, but Bill Malkowiak didn’t know St. John Vianney College Seminary existed until 2010 when his then-pastor, Father Michael Becker, was appointed to serve as its rector. Now Malkowiak is a member of its board of trustees and well versed in not only its program, but also those of the St. Paul Seminary, which forms aspiring priests in the years immediately preceding ordination. But he, like other seminary leaders, is convinced that his initial unawareness isn’t unique among local Catholics, even those deeply involved in the life of their parishes or the broader Church. “There are many local Catholics who know of St. Paul Seminary and don’t know about St. John Vianney seminary,” Father Becker said. “We’re a little more hidden.” In an effort to boost the community’s awareness of the archdiocese’s two seminaries and the programs they offer — including significant opportunities for lay formation — St. John Vianney and St. Paul Seminary are uniting under a single brand: The Seminaries of Saint Paul. “It does increase our visibility,” Father Becker said of the new brand. It also conveys “the unity of vision between the seminaries in our formation,” said Bishop Andrew Cozzens, the St. Paul Seminary’s interim rector. The brand’s tagline, “Joyful Catholic Leaders,” “captures the goal of our formation process, which is not just for our seminarians, but also for all of our students,” he added. Seminary leaders were expected to unveil the new brand Oct. 23 at the annual Rector’s Dinner. Until that point, St. John Vianney, St. Paul Seminary, St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity and SPS’ seven institutes used different logos, fonts and color schemes, with little to visually indicate they are related. And there wasn’t a way to easily speak about the work the seminaries are doing as a whole. “There were some really strong brands in place; what we lacked was a unifying effort across each of these individual activities,” said Malkowiak, who works in sales and marketing at General Mills and is a
parishioner of St. Michael in St. Michael. “Wha become apparent to me in my time working wi Seminaries of Saint Paul is that there is so much going on here than I believe the average memb our archdiocese knows.” In studying the question of brand recognition seminary leaders found that St. John Vianney C Seminary, which serves college-aged men consi priesthood, is better known outside of the regio while St. Paul Seminary — the graduate-level se — is known better within the archdiocese. Mea the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity, which includes graduate-level theology programs for l students, has been flying under the radar for m local Catholics — even those engaged in their p and in the larger archdiocese. Many Catholics a didn’t realize that some of the St. Paul Seminary regarded institutes — especially the popular Archbishop Flynn Catechetical Institute, which lay men and women — were actually seminary programs. Despite the new name and logo — which fea navy blue shield with an archiepiscopal, or dou barred, cross — nothing about the institutions changing, its leaders emphasized. The new bran reflects no tweak to the seminaries’ institutiona structures or their relationships to the Universit St. Thomas in St. Paul, on whose campus both seminaries are located. However, it does reflect the way the major an minor seminaries have grown together in recen While they are independently incorporated, th merged their boards of trustees in 2010 and late combined operations. Tom Ryan, the seminaries’ vice president for institutional advancement, echoed Malkowiak’ assessment of the seminaries’ situation before t “umbrella” brand. “It was difficult to talk about all the things go without having one ‘umbrella statement’ to cap it,” he said. “[The new brand] was a way of unif of that work under one board, and certainly, an ‘umbrella’ to describe all of the good things hap between two seminaries. ... What we’re doing is forming the next generation of lay leaders to se community.” Archbishop John Ireland founded St. Paul Sem in 1894. St. John Vianney College Seminary wa founded in 1968. For years they existed as sepa institutions serving men of different levels of st with SJV serving as a natural pipeline into SPS, especially for priesthood-bound men of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Each seminary also forms seminarians from o dioceses. SJV is the second largest college-level seminary in the U.S., with 98 men representing 19 dioceses enrolled this year. St. Paul Seminary 87 seminarians in formation from 14 dioceses a religious community. More than 1,000 men an women are enrolled in SPS’ various programs. “Together, we’re one of the largest formation in the United States,” Bishop Cozzens said. Sarah Mealey, a Catholic communications consultant in the Twin Cities, performed much groundwork, including interviews and surveys, THE SEMINARIES O F S A I NT PAU L
PHOTOS BY DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
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The Seminaries of Saint Paul
The Seminaries of Saint Paul
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The Seminaries of Saint Paul
The Seminaries of Saint Paul
The Seminaries of Saint Paul
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