Quigley (Chicago's High School Seminary) Closing

[Norseman82]

So today I received in the mail the first Quigley alumni newsletter since the announcement of Quigley’s closing.

Is this available online?

Though there is a Norseman from 82 listed, also.

Could you tell me who that is? I know it’s not me…

 

[Norseman82]

I found the Wikipedia entry on Quigley interesting:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archbishop_Quigley_Preparatory_Seminary

Unfortunately, they had to include such alumni as Richard Phelan (who reinstated abortions at Cook County hospital) and Dan Savage (who did not even graduate from Quigley but left sometime in his sophomore year).

 

[chicago]

Is this available online?

I don’t think so, but if you email me, I’ll happily scan a copy of Fr. Snieg’s article for you, at least. If you’re not on the mailing list, call their development office and make sure you’re added.

Could you tell me who that is? I know it’s not me…

Um, yeah, just as soon as I find where I put the newsletter now! lol

Ok, so it’s Allejandro Castillo.

 

[chicago]

Unfortunately, they had to include such alumni as Richard Phelan (who reinstated abortions at Cook County hospital) and Dan Savage (who did not even graduate from Quigley but left sometime in his sophomore year).

In fairness, I think it is worth mentioning such notables (or at least those who graduated, though a guy who left in Sophmore year?) If nothing else, perhaps it’s a call to repentance for them. For example, I think Alderman Burke was involved somehow in the honorary street designation for Hugh Hefner a few years ago. Now, if I had been rector at the time, every student at Quigley would have marched out onto Michigan Ave. to attend the ceremony and publically pray for Ed.

 

[Luchesio]

It may be of interest, it may not be?!? I’m currently pursuing my Master of Education in Catholic School Leadership and I had to write a paper about “If I could create a fantasy school, what model or philosophy would it use and what would it look like.” As I graduated from a high school seminary and *no one ever knows *what that model is like I decided to research as much as I could on the philosophy ungirding high school seminary formation. I quote extensively from Fr. Snieg and others in the paper and it is a good primer on what a high school seminary is and could be according to various experts (both in the late sixties when there were hundreds of them and today when there are less than a ten of them).

cidadeharkleroad.net/Adolescent_Formation_Communities.pdf

 

[chicago]

Barren Walls

I watched them taken,
Too soon, away
Today:
Melancholy May

Photos - forward looking
Embracing us always
Inspire

Many young men;
Priests

Past, present, soon to be
All around

Line the halls
Tell the story
Passing through the years
Living still
Ever anew

Now the end approaches
Barren are the walls
Emptiness encroaches

O Sacred Head surrounded
Breath which soon expires
Ascension Day
You leave us lonely

Only Hope
New Life’s Love Given
Survives

 

[chicago]

Barren Walls

I liked that title originally. It communicated something of the depths of having something important taken away which was experienced and now shows itself so starkly. It’s not inappropriate, especially considering that it occurred on that day when we once celebrated ordination anniversaries there, the Thursday Christ ascends, leaving us only his apostles on earth, themselves feeling destitude; alone.

Yet I like something more positive, affirming about the face that gazes outward or upon another, revealing something of hopeful trust for the future; even in the emptiness.

Holy Faces

 

[chicago]

Tonight the Archdiocese of Chicago’s crown jewel, Quigley Seminary, graduates it’s last class. In commemoration of this occasion, I offer this reflection:

The name “Quigley” speaks so loudly. It represents to the world a value in Catholic priesthood and discernment of call. No, not everyone goes on to be ordained. But all who attend Le Petit Seminaire make a statement, by our very lives, to the worth of giving God a chance.

See, Quigley stands for something. And in a world bereft of meaning, searching for itself, this is significant.

At one time, when minor seminaries were strong and many, the system spoke of glory for the Church; that was what we respected. Parishes, then: center of life for families immigrant, or first generation natives to the U.S. - their pride. So send your sons to seminary; and Quigley provided priests. Even among those who went on, instead, to professional life there was height of appreciation for that institution from which they came.

Our culture has changed. Yet Q still serves. It takes courage to attend. The priesthood is deplored these days (even among people of faith). As such, her witness developed. Now it’s quite the accomplishment to “make it through” the seminary system to ordination day. Not that it wasn’t before, but eyebrows are especially raised. “Why would a young man want to do THAT?” For those many more of us in secular society a witness to the world is gained. “You did WHAT?” we have all been asked, and have to provide a response.

The building, also, opens doors. “What is this beautiful place?” ask passersby.

“It’s the seminary high school,” they are told. And this, too, widens eyes for faith.

“Chicago has a high school seminary?” comes the astonished reply.

Some are intrigued, drawn beyond their typical thoughtlessness of anything greater than the earth. Others wish to show support. Unique in a culture which wonders, “Where, God?”, it’s power transcends, surfacing that silent desire.

For a moment, perhaps, people stop. They pause and possibly pray. Christ has broken through. His presence among us, incarnate, serves.

It’s a shame this sign evangelical will soon be lost. Sacrificed for “Francis’s Folly”. Can a bureaucratic building, though the walls remain, accomplish the same? Hardly… once unvivified by it’s Sacred Heart, long pulsating, has stopped.

“Ah, the Church and her riches!” people may mock, then, returning to their previous ways.

“Where have all the young men gone?” others will lament.

Above the entrance doors shows the shield of that Archbishop, come cardinal, who established this place: “Humilitas” crowned. Yes, it takes a humble priest to stand between; and more so: a minor seminarian.

 

[stbruno]

While it is sad that another Catholic high school is closing…vocations are not dependent on just high schools. I hope people will realize that vocations come from God and He never fails. So rest assured if men will just respond faithfully to the call, people will begin to realize that high schools do not make priests…God makes priests. Its when men deny their vocation that everyone is hurt. First, the men themselves, because they will never realize how fulfilled they will feel when they respond to the call…and all the people they will then serve.

Let’s keep praying for vocations…not just high schools.
Good luck to all the young men who will be seeking their education, hopefully in other Catholic high schools.

Personally, many young men attended Quigley because it was small and they received personal attention during their education. Plus there was great comaraderie between the small classes. Unfortunately, it was not fiscally workable.

 

[chicago]

While it is sad that another Catholic high school is closing…vocations are not dependent on just high schools.

We must remember that Quigley is not merely “another Catholic high school”. It is the seminary high school for the Archdiocese of Chicago which was long considered the Archdiocese’s crown jewel. With the closing of Quigley, Chicago truly becomes a “second” class city and archdiocese.

I hope people will realize that vocations come from God and He never fails. So rest assured if men will just respond faithfully to the call, people will begin to realize that high schools do not make priests…God makes priests.

No high schools, alone, do not make priests. But vocations must be nurtured. And, traditionally, these seeds of vocations come from an early age. As Archbishop Mundelein (he wasn’t a cardinal yet) noted in his letter to priests upon the establishment of the present location for the minor seminary, reliance upon other high schools where boys were educated alongside those preparing for other careers wasn’t all too fruitful of a “farm system”. There is a necessary importance of having a dedicated place, therefore, to foster vocations and enable boys to more freely discern. This is why he grew the high school level seminary in Chicago to it’s height.

Its when men deny their vocation that everyone is hurt. First, the men themselves, because they will never realize how fulfilled they will feel when they respond to the call…and all the people they will then serve.

But if the vocation is not nurtured because the People of God in some place fail to respect the need, then these men may never even hear the call in the first place, let alone be able to deny it.

Let’s keep praying for vocations…not just high schools.

Which is precisely why we need Quigley. Those who are just for “high schools” and not, more significantly, vocations are the ones who think that this closing is in the best interest and no big deal. Frankly, it’s closing is largely hurting faith, undermining vocations among the young men now enrolled at the minor seminary, and sending boys off to places where vocations will likely never even be discussed much.

Good luck to all the young men who will be seeking their education, hopefully in other Catholic high schools.

They need more than luck, a pat on the back, and a kick out the door. That’s all they are getting as it stands. They need our prayers and support. They even need us to stand up for them against the ones in control who don’t truly value them and what they are about. And they need something more than mere education.

Personally, many young men attended Quigley because it was small and they received personal attention during their education. Plus there was great comaraderie between the small classes.

This is true. Though it was also a place for discernment. Of course, the classes were not always all that small. And, until a few years ago, Quigley was growing. It was (perhaps still is) the largest high school seminary in the United States. Indeed, if they’d properly commit to it’s growth and recruit right, there is no reason why the school could not have had 400 - 500 students today… or in a few short years.

Unfortunately, it was not fiscally workable.

I disagree. It just was not fiscally well managed and financially developed as good as it could have been. Further, alumni and others have long been told (until this year) that Quigley was running in the black, balancing it’s budgets annually. It could have (and could still) be quite fiscally workable if anyone were dedicated enough to see it operate so.

Don’t believe the archdiocesan spin, designed to offer a worst case assesment apologetic to justify a closing which never needed to occur. Plainly, there are people who have long wanted this institution dead and buried. They are now prevailing. It is only a shame that Cardinal George didn’t put his own foot down and simply say, “No!” as everyone knows he ought to have. His real commitment to the institution could have made it a glowing star for the Archdiocese once again. Alas, we don’t have many men of vision, like Mundelein, in the episcopate of the U.S. Church anymore.

 

[Andy_K]

While it is sad that another Catholic high school is closing…vocations are not dependent on just high schools. I hope people will realize that vocations come from God and He never fails. So rest assured if men will just respond faithfully to the call, people will begin to realize that high schools do not make priests…God makes priests. Its when men deny their vocation that everyone is hurt. First, the men themselves, because they will never realize how fulfilled they will feel when they respond to the call…and all the people they will then serve.

Let’s keep praying for vocations…not just high schools.
Good luck to all the young men who will be seeking their education, hopefully in other Catholic high schools.

Personally, many young men attended Quigley because it was small and they received personal attention during their education. Plus there was great comaraderie between the small classes. Unfortunately, it was not fiscally workable.

Regardless of the argument that the current Catholic High schools are “failing”, Quigley’s mission entails the basic understanding that vocations are from God: it does not seek to “impose” the priesthood on anybody! You want to make sure young men are following God’s call? Keeping Quigley open is the best way to do that!

As a member of the last graduating class of Quigley, let me assure you that there is no better place to discern God’s will in your life, be it marriage, priesthood, religious life, or single life.
You can’t find it in otherCatholic high schools today, but even if you COULD, Quigley’s ability to foster vocations is indispensible in today’s world, and closing an institution so successful in accomplishing this is only a hindrence to the Catholic faithful and Christ’s holy mission.

 

[stbruno]

The fact remains…as a high school seminary,
only one Quigley graduate, Rev. Pawel Komperda, has been ordained since 1990. And he was ordained last year, not this year. By the way, Rev.Pawel is a Polish immigrant, not native born to the United States.

 

[Andy_K]

The fact remains…as a high school seminary,
only one Quigley graduate, Rev. Pawel Komperda, has been ordained since 1990. And he was ordained last year, not this year. By the way, Rev.Pawel is a Polish immigrant, not native born to the United States.

Yet another example of spinning the facts to paint a completely inaccurate picture of the success of Quigley and it’s mission.

Realize that it takes a whopping 8 YEARS from high school graduation to be ordained if one takes the archdiocesan route, and that it has been only 16 years since Quigley’s reorganization, as you have said. Also keep in mind that there are currently 5 Quigley grads in St. Joseph’s college (with two more on the way from this graduating class of 2007) and 5 in Mundelein.

Even in the “days of the giants” (the euphemism for Quigley’s golden age during the 50’s and 60’s), Quigley only had roughly 10% of its graduates go on to study for the priesthood. Given that this year’s graduating class is only 36 in number, and that Quigley’s class sizes in general are just so very small nowadays, seeing only 2-3 per year going to the seminary shouldn’t be alarming to anyone.

One can argue the merits of closing Quigley for financial reasons, but to suggest that it is failing in its mission is an assertion that is simply not true. Quigley deserves to remain open as it has for the past century to continue this mission, because if it doesn’t, the Chicago archdiocese will find very quickly that no one else will rise to fulfill it for them: the closing of Quigley could very well be the beginning of a decline in the Chicago archdiocese, and considering all the promising signs that have occured since the tenure of Cardinal George began (and most especially in the seminary system of the archdiocese, ironically!), this is most unfortunate indeed.

 

[Norseman82]

By the way, Rev.Pawel is a Polish immigrant, not native born to the United States.

What difference does that make? He still went through the system. How many ordinands in years past were immigrants or children of immigrants? Is not the Catholic Church in America itself an “immigrant church”?

 

[Norseman82]

Realize that it takes a whopping 8 YEARS from high school graduation to be ordained if one takes the archdiocesan route, and that it has been only 16 years since Quigley’s reorganization, as you have said. Also keep in mind that there are currently 5 Quigley grads in St. Joseph’s college (with two more on the way from this graduating class of 2007) and 5 in Mundelein.

Not only that, but Quigley also served as a high school seminary for other dioceses as well when their high school seminaries closed. And some graduates were ordained for non-diocesan priesthood (one of my classmates is a Legionnaire priest).

This is my fear: is this a move to get funds for lawsuit settlements? We need to watch archdiocesdan finances and what happens to the multi-million alumni endowment fund.

 

[chicago]

Regardless of the argument that the current Catholic High schools are “failing”, Quigley’s mission entails the basic understanding that vocations are from God: it does not seek to “impose” the priesthood on anybody! You want to make sure young men are following God’s call? Keeping Quigley open is the best way to do that!

As a member of the last graduating class of Quigley, let me assure you that there is no better place to discern God’s will in your life, be it marriage, priesthood, religious life, or single life.
You can’t find it in otherCatholic high schools today, but even if you COULD, Quigley’s ability to foster vocations is indispensible in today’s world, and closing an institution so successful in accomplishing this is only a hindrence to the Catholic faithful and Christ’s holy mission.

Today a feature article was printed in the Chicago Tribune:

chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-quigley_bd03jun03,1,2717032.story

Despite certain inaccuracies and buying into the archdiocesan spin with which I would take issue, I think that the general gist of the piece paints a very good picture of the spirituality of these students. Allow me to offer some citations.

I really want to know what I’m aiming for and what God wants me to do," Huicochea said. “When I think about it and I go home and I pray, literally I hear God saying ‘Hey, this is the right path for you, kid. Go for it.’”

But God works in mysterious ways, Leonard noted.

(Joe Leonard, the article mentions is a junior and athlete at Quigley whose father is a Quigley South alumnus)

Most of the rest of the students will continue at Catholic high schools, including about 50 at DeLaSalle Institute.

There, Brother Michael Quirk, the school’s president, launched a Quigley transitional program that he hopes will become a seminary track.

A couple of months ago a parent shared a story with me from earlier this year. The ruling powers had a meeting with parents in the fall. The parents were allowed to have their say as the official forces politely sat there and let it go in one ear - out the other. The students were uninvited. So they held vigil in prayer outside the auditorium. At one point, the room fell absolutely silent. For piercing through the windows was the sound of Quigley’s seminarians singing their perpetual anthem, the Salve Regina. The rector, I am told, was moved to tears. At last a solitary parent stood and asked, “What other school’s boys would have to courage to stand on the sidewalks in the midst of downtown Chicago and do that?”

In this era where we rightly complain about the failure of Catholic education, Quigley is clearly doing something right. Even if it were producing no priests, you just will not find another institution like this. It’s closing can be considered nothing less than a “damn shame”.

 

[chicago]

Not only that, but Quigley also served as a high school seminary for other dioceses as well when their high school seminaries closed. And some graduates were ordained for non-diocesan priesthood (one of my classmates is a Legionnaire priest).

A classmate of mine (one from those now infamous “16 years” is in a religious order and still training for the priesthood. He works for the Archdiocese in his apostolate. Naturally, he doesn’t count.

This is my fear: is this a move to get funds for lawsuit settlements? We need to watch archdiocesdan finances and what happens to the multi-million alumni endowment fund.

No one is talking about the endowment. There was a Quigley priest who had been publically questioning the Archdiocese’s intentions in the press. But then he suspiciously got sent away to another Archdiocese (officially “for health reasons”). There needs to be a big push to start asking LOTS of questions. The press ought to watch it closely. Could become a BIG story if they pocket the cash or shuffle it elsewhere. Then we’ll know for certain why Quigley really got the axe. Any use other than vocational development (and particularly among youth) or alumni affairs, save perhaps retention of the building and turing it (instead) into a cultural/recreational/vocational center which would preserve the history and tradition of Quigley is utterly unacceptable. And the business community/donors of the Archdiocese (let alone everyone who gives to the more general Annual Appeal or special collections for seminary funds of the Archdiocese) ought to put their foot down, also, at that. For if the Quigley endowment money isn’t truly safe, then nothing is ultimately sacred. You might as well just take a ride on the L and get your pocket picked playing such shell games.

 

[chicago]

The fact remains…as a high school seminary,
only one Quigley graduate, Rev. Pawel Komperda, has been ordained since 1990. And he was ordained last year, not this year. By the way, Rev.Pawel is a Polish immigrant, not native born to the United States.

What you are essentially stating is that Quigley had some serious restructuring problems following the merger of North and South. This is undeniable and something which we who were students there at the time warned them about. We were essentially told to shut up and take a hike. Well, the results are telling, are they not? For it took several years to rebuild following such a break with the tradition. Only now is Quigley experiencing renewed growth. It takes time to build something of value when the attitude in 1990 coming from school administration was essentially, “To hell with the past!” rather than, “Let’s build upon the best of both traditions to form something dynamic for the future!.” The attempt to impose a different system which wasn’t appropriately contemporatized was doomed to fail… and it did.

Further, we must adjudicate the value of the seminary high school by it’s actual benefits to the modern world, not merely against what it once effectively served 50 years ago. The times are different. Thus, the way in which the minor seminary serves will also, necessarily, be more responsive to the moment. There are no “priest factories” anymore, though certainly more could be done to attract serious potentiates for the priesthood. This is something which has been generally improved upon in recent years (with good results both generally as well as for continuance of men towards priesthood.) In the coming years, I believe that you will be pleased to discover that there may well be numerous men from Quigley who continued on and reached ordination. For, at present, these are the young people at Mundelein, St. Joe’s, and Quigley that are desirous of becoming priests.

Also, please recognize the politic of it all. It is no secret (though you have to be talking to the right people on the inside to discover the reality, as the Archdiocese certainly isn’t going to advertise it’s prideful mistakes and the press isn’t saavy enough to go hunting or even find it a saleable story) that there have been institutional problems in Chicago’s seminaries which repeatedly led to a discouragement and decline of native vocations. This is a mismanagement issue, not one of lack of call or ultimate inability to develop it from within. Rather, it is a matter of fostering vocations well rather than turning them off and away. (The latter being something which the present misstep seems to be doing yet again.) If the Archdiocese of Chicago truly wanted more native priests, they could have them. Indeed, they likely lost out on many good men in the past three decades. They just don’t exercise the right judgement and dedication to foster the young men who might be interested. And they don’t admit to past mistakes in order to correct the problems which they caused themselves. They just keep blindly doing the wrong things and wondering what went wrong rather than fixing the problems to make things work right.

 

[chicago]

Just one thing more which must be mentioned.

A commonality among Quigley kind is for there to be a general supportiveness towards discernment of the priesthood.

It is awkward for a teenager, especially in our day, to admit to his interest in such a vocation. Even at Quigley in ain’'t all that easy. But the other students at Quigley will, ultimately, respect your desire as it is understood that this is what the seminary is about. Indeed, those kids who might not be all too interested in the priesthood, themselves, will even go around making innocent jokes about, “When I become a priest someday.” It’s alright and acceptable to do such a thing in this environment.

Long after they graduate, Quigley alumni look back and ask, “Who from my class made it?” These men, even those who no longer are religious, want to see some success from the seminary. Indeed, among those years classes now noted when no one was ordained, there is often sadness. Comments of disappointment may be heard such as, “You would have thought ONE guy from a class of (however many) could have got through.” Or, “What about so and so? We thought he was a sure thing!” Awhile back, some of us from my time there were standing around talking about what ordination years our classes would have been, lamenting that no one of us was made a priest in those years and feeling a sense of loss.

So even where statistics show seeming failures. I see signs of hope. For the seminary did not fail to impress upon each of us the signifigance of the priesthood. And this has long term effect for our Church and world.

 

[chicago]

It is the last day of school for this historic institution, 102 years lasting… alive still today.

There’s something about Quigley. But it’s difficult to grasp. Unless you went there.

“Well, it’s a school, right?”

Sure, but that isn’t all it is. Much more than a school; it’s an institution.

“Alright: an institution; with significant history. Nice.”

But it’s greater than that.

“I see. It’s the seminary.”

Well, certainly. And of this we must never lose sight. Still, I mean something more.

“It’s a brotherhood.”

In the truest sense, yes. We unite not only in faith, but experience, and sharing of a life. As young men discerning should. And this lasts. To the extent that boys now look at the pictures on the wall, wondering, “What year was he?” We’re one across the years, across the schools; we were seminarians, and many become priests.

But, yet, this isn’t all.

“A beautiful building, surely it’s a place.”

Ah, you’re getting at it now. For without a place we are wanderers, left out alone; unprotected, no clear sense of self which can be seen, that ties it all together. And absent all of us, it’s seminarians here and gone, the place, itself, is empty; no pulsating blood, no Sacred Heart, no warmth of love; no home.

Yes, Quigley is our home. Not just a location to visit, to look around and see. Nor architecture alone. This is a place of comforts’ rest. There, that genuine, loving heart; an Immaculate Alma Mater tied to her holy Son - as to the sons she loves, seminarians: us.

Soon we shall be homeless; left in the cold, tossed out to the streets surrounding, with the rest; shuttered from the shelter of her wings which we seek. Never to return, no welcome in the arms of her embrace. No hallowed halls to wander, no clocks upon their walls to keep watch o’re us - ever present time, not a stairway step remaining will mark our path across these many immortal years. No nooks, nor crannies, no warm, wooden doors leading only we know where. No singing shall be heard, “Salve, Regina” here again. Nor lockers slammed shut on that first fall day. Nowhere can we truly come, to return, to touch base once again. Familiarity sacrificed; our eternal loss - for heaven has been snatched.

Soon, my friends - my breathren- soon, our home shall be no more.