Support for 43 Slovakian seminarians

ACN supports seminarians all over the world. Slovakia has seen a growth in vocations since the collapse of communism. This year, ACN is supporting the formation of 43 seminarians in the major seminary in Spis.

By ACN Staff

Support for 43 Slovakian seminarians. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)

Slovakia is a strongly Catholic country, with around 60% Catholics among its 5.4 million population. Prior to the pandemic half of them still regularly attended Sunday Mass, and consequently four or five Masses on a Sunday morning were commonplace. Interestingly, there are also a considerable number of adult baptisms in the country today.

Support for 43 Slovakian seminarians. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)

But, like everywhere else, the Church in Slovakia is facing many social challenges. Christian values are increasingly attacked and undermined in public and the mass media in particular continue to promote a relativistic and liberal worldview.

So good priests are greatly needed, priests who can embody the Gospel values and convey them to the people, strengthening believers and encouraging them to stand up for these values, so that healthy families can build a healthy society – which in turn is the most fertile soil for new vocations.

Today there are 43 young men currently training for the priesthood in the major seminary in Spis. Under communism, in the second half of the 20th century, the seminary suffered a difficult fate, one that it shared with many other Church structures in Eastern Europe. Shut down by the communists in 1950 its was confiscated and used for 40 years as a police academy and archive centre. It was not until 1990, following the political changes, that it was finally returned to the Church, albeit in a profoundly derelict condition.

Support for 43 Slovakian seminarians. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)

When it was finally officially reopened, there were no fewer than 235 seminarians enrolled. One reason why the number of candidates was so high at the time was the fact that initially, those older men who had not had the opportunity to be ordained during communist times and who had already completed other kinds of study were now finally able to embark on the long-desired priestly formation. Additionally, in those first few years there were still many candidates for the priesthood from three different dioceses, including the archdiocese of Kosice, which was finally able to open its own seminary only in 1995. Since then the buildings of the seminary in Spis have been used for many other events and activities in addition to priestly formation. Among other things there are training courses for the laity and remote learning theological studies and conferences.

ACN has been supporting the seminary for almost 30 years now, and the fruits of its work are happily visible today. For whereas in communist times the clergy of the diocese of Spis were all very elderly, most of the priests today are young. And while in the past there were many places in the country without any priests at all, today Slovakian missionaries are already working in many other parts of the world, proclaiming the Gospel and helping to alleviate the shortage of priests.

This year ACN is once again supporting the seminary for the current academic year, with a contribution of €12,900 for the 43 seminarians now studying there.