His Lordship Mgr Enrico dal Covolo, Rector of the Lateran Pontificial University, recently paid a visit to the Major Seminary in Gozo. He had been invited to Malta to hold conferences on the island.

One of these conferences was held at the Gozo Seminary and it was attended by members of the Clergy, members of religious orders and the Gozitan seminarians. The theme of the conference was La sintesi tra consacrazione e missione nella vita del ministro ordinato.

The conference was held on the occasion of the hundred and forty sixth anniversary of the founding of the Sacred Heart Seminary, which was last Sunday, the 4th of November.

During the conference, Mgr dal Covolo explained how throughout the ages there has always been a strong bond between the consecration of the ordained minister (the intimate union between the priest and Jesus Christ) and the priest’s mission (the priest who herds Jesus’ flock). Mgr dal Covolo traced the history of the Church, from its very foundation by Jesus Christ, to the times of the School of Antioch (making special references to St Ignatius of Antioch and St John Chrysostom), the thoughts of St Augustine, the Decree Presbyterorum Ordinis of the Vatican Council II and on to the post-Synodal exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis.

Mgr dal Covolo also explained how the Vatican Council II, instead of using new terminology, used the maxim of St Augustine to show that there is no dichotomy between the consecration and the mission of the priest: “Sit amoris officium pascere dominicum gregem” (to herd the Lord’s flock should be a duty of love). By the life they led and in their writings, both St Ignatius of Antioch and St John Chrysostom had already affirmed the declaration of St Augustine. Pope John Paul II confirmed all this in the exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis 23, when he stated: “La carità pastorale è quella virtù con la quale noi imitiamo Cristo nella sua donazione di sé e nel suo servizio. Non è soltanto quello che facciamo, ma il dono di noi stessi, che mostra l’amore di Cristo per il suo gregge.”

Bishop Mario Grech, who had just attended the Synod about the New Evangelisation, confirmed that what Mgr Enrico dal Covolo had just stated embraces the spirit of the ministerial priest that the Church contemplated during the Synod. He exhorted the members of the clergy to do an examination of conscience, quoting thereby Fr Michael Attard who used to remind fellow priests and the seminarians that: “one does not become a priest on the day of one’s ordination; one becomes a priest gradually, day by day.”At the conlusion of the conference by Mgr Enrico dal Covolo, Seminarians Joseph Hili and Michael Grima gave a presentation of the new website of the Seminay of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Gozo. All the articles presented in the website were prepared by the seminarians themselves.

The Rector, Fr Daniel Xerri, made a speech for the occasion. He explained that, as stated by one the Padres of the Synod, the Church needs to come closer to the virtual world. “The fact that there are people who live solely in a virtual world should motivate us to move in this direction. A website is a useful means by which the Church can reach these people and deliver to them God’s message of love.”

“If we want to reach out to today’s man and convey Christ to him, we have to go to the place where we can find man. Moreover, we have to convey Christ in a language which man understands.”

The Reverend Rector went on to say that the aim of the website is not to be simply “a source of information” about the community and life at the Seminary. “Those who visit us on the site will share with us our same experience of faith, the reason why we are here, the joy we feel in our journey with Jesus, the challenges we have to face, and the hopes that, as the Church of Christ, we wish to offer to today’s world. Above all we wish to share the Lord’s love for us and for all mankind”. The Rector augured that whoever visits the website, even if just for curiosity’s sake, “will feel in some way or other, the joy which emanates from our meeting with Christ.”

Seminarian Joseph Hili rounded up by explaining the sections of the site, accompanied by a virtual presentation on screen.

Photographs – Major Seminary of Gozo.

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