Menlo Park, CA, 10/3/2018 – St. Patrick Seminary & University honored the Archdiocese for the Military Services (AMS) with Most Rev. Timothy P. Broglio, J.C.D., Archbishop of AMS, accepting the Patrician Award, at St. Patrick’s premier fundraising event, the 11th Annual Gala, on Saturday, September 29th at its beautiful grounds in Menlo Park. This year was the largest Gala ever for St. Patrick’s with more than 670 persons attending, including military personnel from Beale AFB and local VA chaplains from Menlo Park and Palo Alto. St. Patrick’s Seminary started the Gala in 2006, through which it raises the operational funds necessary for its mission to form courageous men of reflection and action who live joyous lives as a priest.
In accepting the Patrician Award, Archbishop Broglio said in part, “Allow me to express my gratitude for this prestigious award given to those I am privileged to serve. I am grateful to this seminary, Father Schultze, and to the whole seminary community. Every year, the AMS brings here a group of young men who are considering the priesthood and the chaplaincy. You always welcome them, shower them with hospitality, and inspire them with your good example.”
Our honoree, the Archdiocese for the Military Services, was created by Pope John Paul II to provide the Catholic Church’s full range of pastoral ministries and spiritual services to those in the United States Armed Forces. This includes more than 220 installations in 29 countries, patients in 153 V.A. Medical Centers, and federal employees serving outside the boundaries of the USA in 134 countries. Numerically, the Archdiocese for the Military Services is responsible for more than 1.8 million men, women, and children.
“We were proud to honor the Archdiocese for the Military Services at our Annual Gala as the seminary has graduated a number of priests who have become military chaplains,” said Rev. George E. Schultze, SJ – President-Rector, “For instance, one of our more famous graduates was Bishop William J. Moran, who spent 50 years as an Army chaplain and achieved the rank of brigadier general. He was wounded twice in World War II during the Allied invasions of North Africa. His courage in the face of adversity is exemplary of the behaviors we form into our seminarians.”
In addition, for the past ten years, St. Patrick’s Seminary has hosted an AMS retreat, originally started by Bishop Michael Barber, SJ of the Diocese of Oakland. The retreat normally has 30 to 40 men who are enlisted, academy cadets, or seminarians interested in the military chaplaincy and spend three days at St. Patrick’s listening to the experiences of military chaplains from each branch of the armed services. The discernment retreatants have Masses with the seminarians, spend time in prayer, and meet with priests to learn more about priestly formation. St. Patrick’s is the only seminary on the West Coast that has a military discernment retreat.
Speakers at the Gala included Most Rev. Salvatore J. Cordileone, Archbishop of San Francisco, Rev. George E. Schultze, S.J., President-Rector, and Most Rev. Thomas A. Daly, Bishop of the Diocese of Spokane. Also in attendance were Most Rev. Michael C. Barber, Bishop of the Diocese of Oakland, Most Rev. Robert F. Vasa, Bishop of the Diocese of Santa Rosa, and Most Rev. William J. Justice, Retired Bishop of the Diocese of San Francisco. The program included vespers, tours and cocktails, dinner, raffle, and a silent and live auction.
ABOUT ST. PATRICK SEMINARY & UNIVERSITY
St. Patrick’s Seminary & University is located on 40 beautiful acres in Menlo Park in the heart of Silicon Valley. Its expansive park-like grounds, historic chapel, modern classrooms, and extensive library provide an ideal environment for prayer, meditation, and study, within close proximity to major urban centers that provide rich field education opportunities.
For the past 120 years, St. Patrick’s Seminary has successfully prepared men to become Roman Catholic priests in conformity to Christ. The integrated process of human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral formation at St. Patrick’s Seminary revolves around our core values of Spiritual Fatherhood, Fidelity, Holiness, Wisdom, Evangelization, Resiliency, and Compassion. Priests formed at St. Patrick’s Seminary become courageous men of reflection and action who live joyous lives as priests.
The seminary serves Catholic dioceses throughout California, Nevada, the Pacific Northwest, Hawaii, Guam, South Korea, and other Pacific Rim countries. Learn more at our website, www.stpsu.edu. You can also follow St. Patrick’s on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter.