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In an effort to prepare for extended growth, then-Archbishop Flores announced the $13 million expansion campaign in 2004, which to date has raised $9.2 million.
For the past year, Archbishop Gomez has worked tirelessly on the seminary expansion campaign. The campaign will provide the seminary with the necessary means to build the new Flores Residence Hall, named in honor of Archbishop Emeritus Flores. With the number of resident seminarians expected to increase over the next 15 years, the Flores Residence Hall, designed by Morkovsky and Associates Architects, will provide much needed space for current as well as future resident seminarians, said Barbara Spinner, director of the archdiocesan Office of Stewardship and Development.
“Today, we celebrate this milestone for our spiritual community and we reflect on the many years of guidance and service Archbishop Patrick F. Flores gave to the San Antonio and Catholic communities,” said Archbishop Gomez.
The expansion campaign has been a success due to many contributors. The Flores Residence Hall chapel will be named the Benninger Family Chapel, in honor of Nelda and Ed Benninger, who donated $1.1 million to the campaign. Other contributions include the Archdiocese of San Antonio with a pledge of $1 million and the Kenedy Foundation with a pledge of $200,000. One anonymous donor has posed a challenge pledge of $1 million which has yet to be met, according to Spinner.
Once completed, Flores Residence Hall will replace the 50-year-old structure that is known as St. Alice Hall. Archbishop Gomez said, “We are proud of the service this building has given to the many men who now minister to the church as priests. However, as we look to the future, we must continue to renew and expand Assumption Seminary and develop a state of the art facility that will meet the demands of priestly formation today and in the future.”
The archbishop also used the occasion of the groundbreaking and his first anniversary to issue a pastoral letter encouraging instruction of Catholics in the teachings of the Catholic Church. The letter, titled, “To Grow in Knowledge and Love of Jesus Christ,” underscored Archbishop Gomez’ belief that there is a need for more complete formation in the faith as the basis for life in Christ.
Archbishop Gomez said, “I have spoken many times in the past year about the great treasure that is our Catholic faith. In order to fully appreciate it, I believe it is vital for our people to know the teachings of the faith better.”
“To Grow in Knowledge and Love of Jesus Christ” is intended to be an encouragement to the faithful to seek out, in a variety of ways, authentic Catholic teachings to enrich their lives. The archbishop said, “At its deepest level, the formation in faith which empowers us to live lives modeled on the life of Christ is not accomplished by anything we do but by the grace of God working in us. At the same time, however, we also must do our part, by seeking his grace, disposing ourselves to receive it and cooperating with it when God responds, as he surely will do.”
In addition to Archbishop Flores and Archbishop Gomez, others who spoke at the groundbreaking included Father Larry Christian, rector of Assumption Seminary; San Antonio City Councilwoman District 7 Elena Guajardo; and Michael Belz, chief executive officer of Catholic Life Insurance and co-chair of the seminary expansion campaign, along with Msgr. Larry Stuebben and Sister Charlene Wedelich, CDP.
In a question and answer session with the media held in the Student Union Building before the groundbreaking ceremony, Archbishop Gomez said he was pleased that he was able to attend meetings in all deaneries and was able to listen to the people of the archdiocese. “I’m very happy about that,” he said. He called the present time “a special moment in the life of the archdiocese” and said he hoped to continue to build on the work of the former archbishops here.
While acknowledging that his first year “went by fast,” Archbishop Gomez said he was able to learn that the people of the archdiocese get along and are open and welcoming, as evidenced by the response to Hurricane Katrina and the number of volunteers who came forward. “People opened their hearts and wallets to help the victims, and the second collection that we conducted was the largest in the history of the archdiocese,” said the prelate. |