St. Patricks
13 March 2013
As white smoke rose over the Vatican, members of the St Patrick's Community began to cheer, applaud, send text messages, and ring bells across the campus.
We then assembled in the dining hall to watch the televised proceedings and learn for the first time that the Cardinals had electe Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina to become Pope Francis I.
Fr. McKearney led us in prayer just before our lunch break--where we shared thoughts and impressions of this historic moment.
Pictured here are seminarians Brandon Dang (Orange), and Guadalupe Vargas (Fresno) and Raj Derivera (Sacramento) as they first learned the news.
Today, Wednesday, March 13, 2013 has been made extraordinary by the election of the first Pope from the Americas!
As our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI resigns as Pope today, he goes forth with the prayer and support of the entire St. Patrick's Seminary & University community. Finding it necessary and important at this stage of declining health and stamina, the Pope has chosen, and the first time a pope has done so in nearly six hundred years, to resign in order that the Church may with energy, fidelity and enthusiasm carry out her mission in these crucial and fast-moving times.
Fr. James McKearney, S.S., the President and Rector of St. Patrick’s Seminary and University in Menlo Park, California is pleased to announce the appointment of Rev. Anthony E. Giampietro, CSB, as Executive Vice-President and Academic Dean effective July 1, 2013. His responsibilities will include overseeing both the advancement office and the academic programs. A member of the Congregation of Saint Basil, Fr. Giampietro now serves as Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Saint Thomas in Houston.
