The Diocese of Bangalore

St. Peter's Major Seminary

This seminary was started in 1778 at Ulgaret by the Parish Foreign Mission Society to cater to the spiritual needs of the people and to foster indigenous vocations to priesthood. In 1790 the seminary was transferred to Pondicherry and took the name of St. Joseph, and then onto Bangalore in 1934. As the Society for St. Peter Apostle bore a considerable expense for the construction of the seminary and the maintenance of the seminarians, the new institution assumed the name of St. Peter's, as it is known today. As many as 1,720 priests have been ordained since its inception. The latest funds have been secured and used to purchase food, books, medicine, and salaries for teachers and professors.

"We always appreciate and thank the services done by your esteemed office and for this we wish and pray that God may bless you and all the benefactors who sacrifice their mite for our seminarian's formation towards the altar of God. Thanking you for all your love and support of our seminary." - Father Kochupurayil Joseph Thomas

Bhakti Bhavan Minor Seminary

In Bhakti Bhavan, your financial assistance was of great help to meet the needs of the seminarians. Together with foreign and local benefactors, the seminary can help make the face of the church strong in this area. This minor seminary is the initial formation house for young candidates aspiring to become priests. It comes under the aegis of the Archbishop, Rev. Dr. Bernard Moras. It is located in the heart of Bangalore City and was erected in 1940. With a good response from candidates, there are a total of 104 seminarians in Bhakti Bhavan preparing them for priesthood. They stay for a total of seven years under formation at this Minor Seminary after which they will be sent to St. Peter's Major seminary. During their stay here, expenses such as food, board, education materials and transport are taken care of by the Archbishop, who in turn, praises your kindness and generosity as benefactors. On behalf of the Archbishop, Fr Sudeep writes:

"With joy and grace to the almighty God, we thank you for raising funds to cater to the well-being of the young-hearts, and future priests of Bangalore. At this juncture, I would like to bring you notice that we are making all efforts to bring awareness among the local faithful their responsibility of supporting the seminarians. We in the seminary do remember and pray for all our benefactors from Ireland. May God and Mary bless your ministry abundantly." - Father John Sudeep

________________________________________________________________________

The Diocese of Baruipur

Samarpan Propedeutic Seminary

This seminary offers a two year orientation programme for the young men who aspire to become priests for the diocese of Baruipur. Formation to the candidates of priesthood is given with utmost care, keeping in mind the spirit of the Catholic Church and the present situation of the modern world where the Good News of Jesus Christ is a challenge to practice and proclaim. Funds sent in 2010 were utilised here for the general running costs of the seminary, namely board, electricity, medical, staff wages, news periodicals, postage and transportation. In other words, the money was spent for the formation of the seminarians for the Diocese of Baruipur.

"First of all I would like to express our sincere gratitude and thanks to you and all the loving concern, support and generosity that Samarpan has received from its Irish benefactors. We started this academic year with eleven seminarians. One of the second-year seminarians left the seminary of his own accord, so at present there are ten. It is very encouraging to see them growing in the presence of the Lord in all aspects of life. For this, I humbly solicit your kind prayers for our Diocese, priests, faithful and seminarians. Thank you for your support." - Father Himangshu Poti

_____________________________________________________________________

The Diocese of Burhampur

Vianney Bhavan Major Seminary

The staff and students wrote to tell us that they are grateful for this very precious gift of funds. They are conscious of the fact that this donation is made possible through the sacrifices and magnanimity of many Catholic benefactors in Ireland. They also assure us that they will make the best use of the donation sent, and promise to pray for their benefactor's well-being, peace, joy and happiness. This year the seminary houses and educates 38 students in philosophy from five different dioceses. Their mission is to impart an integral, human, spiritual, social and physical formation to the seminarians, and send their utmost gratitude. The following is a message of thanks from one of the current seminarians, studying for a BA in Philosophy:

 ________________________________________________________________________

The Diocese of Bhopal

Khrist Premalaya Major Philosophical Seminary

The members of the Khrist Premalaya Regional Philosophate deeply appreciate and immensely thank you and the staff of World Missions Ireland for the interest they take for their integral and all round formation. This year, the seminary schooled 76 scholastics at KPRP. All of them are doing their bachelor studies together with their philosophy studies. A bachelor degree is pursued by attending regular classes in a secular college while philosophy classes are held in the seminary itself. The money that we receive as a subsidy is used for food and lodging and for academic expenses: college fees, examination fees, honorarium for the philosophy of visiting professors, and text books. We also get some local contributions with which we are able to meet the other expenses of the community such as medical, building maintenance, water, electricity, telecommunications, postage, furnishing, transportation, lay staff salary, and other administrative expenses. Our brothers make a very valuable contribution by taking care of the dairy farm that provides enough milk for the seminary and also by cultivating some types of vegetables. 

Khrist Premalaya Major Theological Seminary

"The amount we received from our generous benefactors as used for the training and formation of priesthood candidates, all students of theology at Khrist Premalaya Regional Theologate Ashta. This year, we have 74 theology students in four-year courses, including a religious sister who is doing her bachelor in theology. They come from seventeen different dioceses and six congregations. Practically all of them will be working in the missions in North India. Money is used for providing food, maintenance of their stay and academic programmes. We are grateful for this support and God bless you." - Father Clarence Srambical

______________________________________________________________________

The Diocese of Bongaigaon

St. Aloysius Seminary

There were 129 seminarians at various stages of their formation in St Aloysius Seminary in 2010. There are six days of classes each week and, on Sundays, the seminarians visit the nearby Catholic villages for various activities. Three priests, two brothers and lay teachers look after the seminarians. The seminary was established in 1996 as the minor seminary in the Archdiocese of Guwahati but was passed to the newly erected Diocese of Bongaigaon in 2010. The seminary received a grant of almost €19,000 in 2010 from the Irish office.

"Most of the seminarians are from economically poor families and our Catholics are rather new to the Catholic faith," wrote Fr Paresh Brahma, Rector of St Aloysius Seminary. "Every month we collect a small amount of money from the seminarians towards various needs of the seminary and along with the subsidy we get from the Pontifical Society of St Peter Apostle, we manage the day-to-day running of the Seminary."

______________________________________________________________________

The Archdiocese of Calcutta

Morning Star Major Seminary

This seminary began in 1968 with just twenty students, and today boasts a population of 227 seminarians studying in three different departments: Arts, Philosophy and Theology. The students come long and wide from over 31 dioceses and seven religious congregations. With the exception of three women, the remaining students are studying to become priests. The international support they receive is crucial to their survival because this region of India (West Bengal) is severely economically disadvantaged. It was Calcutta that Mother Theresa began her worldwide Mission of serving the poorest of the poor. Be assured of our daily prayers for you. Everyday at the end of Mass we pray for our benefactors.

St. Paul's Minor Seminary

The subsidy received from Ireland was spent as a part payment of some of the main needs of the Seminary. Last year there were seventeen students, two priests, two brothers and six visiting professors. Academic expenses, food and board, salary costs, electricity, telephone and water charges are the primary route of expenditure. Apart from that there were expenses relating to medical needs, clothing, education materials and pastoral activities.

"We thank you kindly for your generous contribution to our Catholic community. The formation of minor seminarians is given much importance in the diocese and I as Rector know for certain that formation to priesthood should take place at a young age when a solid foundation can be laid."

The main concerns of this minor seminary is to strengthen in the novices their call to God, give orientation towards future studies and teaching them discipline, deepening their vision that has already been accrued from their own parishes and parents. We establish a good basis of preliminary elements of study regarding grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation, giving them awareness of the new trends in the world in the field of developments, so that they may be able to picture the sign of the times in a concrete way. I hope that our benefactors know that we keep them in our prayers at all times, and hope they accept our deepest gratitude. 

_________________________________________________________________________

The Diocese of Chikmagalur

St. Joseph's Minor Seminary

The money distributed to this seminary was basically used towards food costs of the seminarians. Every month, this cost comes to a significant sum. The other expenses include lodging of scholastics, and the maintenance of the building and administration of the staff. However, some of this is covered by the diocese and through local support.

St. Paul's Minor Seminary, Padanpur & Balliguda

The amount received was mainly used for the day-to-day running expenses. Namely, for the seminarians daily food, study materials, pocket money, remuneration for visiting professors, salary to domestic lay staff, ordinary maintenance of the building, games articles and pastoral activity.

"Dear Sponsors,

Please accept our greetings and convey our respect to your staff and benefactors. There are 47 seminarians, three staff members and two domestic lay workers. You may or may not know that the Hindi fundamentalists attacked this seminary and many other churches, institutions and properties which resulted in destruction and deaths. Of the many that died however, they did not forget Jesus. It was a miracle that this place survived without casualty, as we were also affected by this violence. We are grateful for your prayers and support for this seminary. On behalf of all the seminarians we thank you abundantly." - Brother Anil Jirkey

________________________________________________________________________

The Archdiocese of Goa

Infant Jesus Minor Seminary

The subsidised amount was used to supplement the seminarians' school fees and additional tuition fees besides from food and medical needs. The missionary activity is carried out among the tribal people belonging to the Koknnas, Warlis, and Dhodiya tribes. The seminarians come from these tribes. They form the tribal community here, which has its own complications in the matter of teaching Basic English language skills, mathematics and science. This is overcome with the help and aid of tutors who come to the seminary to conduct additional coaching. Each seminarian is given personal attention by the tutors to help them cope with their studies.

__________________________________________________________________________

The Diocese of Kottapuram

St. Francis Assisi Minor Seminary

We have given formation to 29 candidates of priesthood in this year. We are trying to provide them with six years of integral formation after their school studies. Besides their pre-university course and university degree course, we give training and coaching in Biblical Studies, Literature, spoken English, Latin, speech, sports, musical instruments and many more. Moreover, seminars on relevant subjects are given to them periodically. Besides these expenses, we have to find a huge amount of money in order to provide them with the basic facilities like food and accommodation. You have helped us immensely with this and for that we commend you in our prayers and thanks.