Denver Catholic

LOCAL NEWS I 13 DENVER CATHOLIC REGISTER I JULY 31, 2013 Renovations pave way for ongoing harvest of priestly vocations A NEW HARVEST: TO DONATE Contact: The Catholic Foundation I Call: 1-888-754-1470 Email: hgoldwire@thecatholicfoundation.com August 12-21 September 11 September 13-15 September 20-22 September 27-29 October 1 Eight-Day Silent Directed Retreat Day of Prayer: 9:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. Weekend Retreat (Women) Weekend Retreat (Men) Vietnamese Retreat (Men & Women) Day of Prayer: 9:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. 4801 North Highway 67, P.O. Box 185, Sedalia, CO 80135 Phone: 303-688-4198 ext. 122 (information/reservations) Website: www.sacredheartretreat.org PHOTO BY JULIE FILBY/DENVER CATHOLIC REGISTER IN MID-MAY, workers began the process of moving everything out of St. John Vianney Seminary at 1300 S. Steele St. in Denver, to prepare for yearlong renovations to the main building. BY JULIE FILBY To convey the status of A New Harvest, the Denver seminaries' fundraising campaign, an agricultural analogy might be in order: the crops (seminarians) have been rotated (moved) to replenish the ground (complete seminary renovations). In mid-May, workers began emptying St. John Vianney Theological Seminary to prepare for a yearlong construction project to replace the antiquated heating, electrical and plumbing systems in the 1927 building at 1300 S. Steele St. in south Denver. Also, for the first time, the building will be air conditioned. "As soon as school ended we began a massive process of relocating a floor of seminarians and the entire faculty and staff," Rector Msgr. Michael Glenn told the Denver Catholic Register from his temporary office in the former periodical room of the seminary's Cardinal Stafford Library. Overall it involved shuffling the 22 seminarians and four priests who resided at St. John Vianney along with 40-plus faculty and staff members. The majority of those seminarians will reside at the rectory of St. Joseph Church at 600 Galapago St. in Denver for the year. Most staff offices have been moved to side rooms of the library, and some of the 26 faculty members elected to work from home. "We've tried to be creative in our timing," said Msgr. Glenn. "While it's very disruptive to our lives, we're being careful in our planning to avoid having to create secondary spaces or rent extra buildings—things that would be very expensive." Renovations were able to start due to the generosity of nearly 20,000 households from 130 parishes in the Denver Archdiocese that committed to A New Harvest, the first-ever, archdiocesan-wide capital campaign for the two seminaries: St. John Vianney and Redemptoris Mater Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary. The campaign aimed to raise $35 million—$9 million for capital repairs and $26 million for an ongoing endowment to cover operating expenses. About $42 million has been pledged. "The seminaries are just extraordinarily blessed by the generosity of people in the archdiocese," said Msgr. Glenn. "This campaign has relied on the donations of many, many people." In the past, he said, a "handful" of families made large donations to open the seminaries and fund them. "With (A New Harvest), the whole archdiocese stepped forward and really expressed their love and support for priestly formation by supporting the seminarians," he said. Seminarian Derek Curnow, 23, from Denver, will begin his second year of philosophy at St. John Vianney in August. "It's very humbling," said the seminarian, with an anticipated ordination date of 2018. "Most of those people have never laid eyes on us and they're willing to give up something, to make a donation, to ensure the future of the Church. "It makes me feel I should be on my extra best behavior to live up their expectations," he said. "It really touches my heart." Curnow is one of more than 120 men in formation at the two seminaries. During the upcoming school year, classes will be held in the shared classrooms at Redemptoris Mater. The project, which also includes upgrading the adjoining Christ the King Chapel, is expected to be done by May 2014. At that time, a two-month process will start to renovate the library and refectory (dining hall). Architectural services were provided by The Abo Group and preconstruction contracting by Haselden Construction. For A New Harvest to be fruitful, pledges must be fulfilled. To date about $10 million of the $42 million pledged has been collected. "The campaign is not a success till we receive the pledges," Msgr. Glenn said. "All the money isn't sitting in the bank; it's coming in each month as people fulfill their pledges. "For the seminary to endure, it's very important to have really strong endowment, like any university or school." A New Harvest is a partnership between the seminaries and The Catholic Foundation of Northern Colorado that manages the funds on behalf of the seminaries. The foundation, which is responsible for collecting the pledges as well, plans to provide quarterly updates to parishes to pass on to donors. The fulfillment period is five years, lasting through 2018. For donation-related questions, call 1-888-754-1470 or email Hal Goldwire at hgold wire@thecatholicfoundation. com. Julie Filby: 303-715-3123; julie. filby@archden.org; www.twitter. com/DCRegisterJulie ADVERTISING FOCUS CALENDAR August 14 Deacon Appreciation Health August 28 Labor day Back to School Seniors September 4 Financial: Estate Planning September 11 September 18 September 25 Health Seniors Education NOW - THE TRUTH OF THE EUCHARIST REVEALED AS... "Science Tests Faith" This DVD presents the findings from the investigation of a Eucharistic miracle commissioned by Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1999. 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