City seminary launches website on its golden jubilee

St Pius seminary, the only major religious institute in the city where Catholics can train to be priests, brought in its 75th anniversary on Thursday by launching a website.

St Pius seminary, the only major religious institute in the city where Catholics can train to be priests, brought in its 75th anniversary on Thursday by launching a website.

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The portal, www.stpiusxcollege.in, was inaugurated at the seminary’s Goregaon (East) campus after a grand evening mass for the institute’s residents and ex-students as well as prominent members of the Mumbai Archdiocese.

“Almost all Catholic institutions function with the help of websites today, so having our own was the need of the hour,” said Fr Harry Vaz, rector of the seminary.

Besides detailing the history of St Pius, the website will provide information about the institute’s academic and pastoral training programmes for the benefit of those interested in joining priesthood.

“Admissions will also now be possible online, and it will be a common platform for ex-students to get back in touch with each other,” said Vaz.

The seminary, which also completed 50 years since it moved from Parel to Goregaon, teaches a range of courses beyond religion to aspiring priests.

“Priests are also required to know subjects such as counselling, yoga, accounting, management and dealing with drug addicts,” said Fr Larry Pereira, an ex-student of the seminary who is now a parish priest in Malad.

The sprawling, 29-acre residential campus offers individual rooms to all students along with large grounds for recreation and meditation. However, only eight or ten men from Mumbai’s Catholic community join the seminary every year.

“The number of people opting for priesthood has reduced over the years. People now join the seminary only after completing post-graduation or getting some work experience,” said Pereira.