Holy Spirit Seminary is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

provincial seminary for

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

located in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, Australia. Originally known as the Pius XII Provincial Seminary, it was founded in 1941 on top of Beehive Hill in the Brisbane suburb of Banyo, in a large Romanesque style building designed by

Hennessy & Hennessy Hennessy & Hennessy was an architectural firm established in 1912 in Sydney, Australia that was responsible for a series of large scale office buildings in the 1930s in all capital cities in Australia, as well as New Zealand and South Africa, de ...

. The number of students peaked at 134 in 1967, but later gradually declined. In 2002, the seminary relocated to St Paschal's parish in

Wavell Heights Wavell Heights is a suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Wavell Heights had a population of 9,684 people. Geography Wavell Heights is located north of the Brisbane central business district. The land use is almost ...

, and the building became the Brisbane campus of the

Australian Catholic University Australian Catholic University (ACU) is a public university in Australia. It has seven Australian campuses and also maintains a campus in Rome. History Australian Catholic University was opened on 1 January 1991 following the amalgamatio ...

. By 2007 vocations were increasing, and Holy Spirit Seminary was re-founded by the Queensland bishops. In 2008 the Seminary returned to the grounds of the former seminary at Banyo, and is co-located with the

's McAuley campus. The seminary serves the Catholic province of Queensland, covering the Cairns, Rockhampton, Townsville and

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 C ...

dioceses as well as the Brisbane archdiocese. Cardinal

William Levada William Joseph Levada (June 15, 1936September 26, 2019) was an American cardinal of the Catholic Church. From May 2005 until June 2012, he served as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under Pope Benedict XVI; he was the h ...

opened the new seminary campus following the completion of construction in May 2008 at a cost of $4.5 million. Preaching at the dedication of the chapel, Cardinal Levada said ''"convestitum Spiritu Sancto"'' (clothed with the Holy Spirit) was more than a motto for the seminary. There were eight resident students including five Africans and a further three students in pastoral placements. The seminary Rector, Father Michael McCarthy and the Vice-rector Fr Ken Howell were present. In 2006 there were seven students for the whole of Queensland studying in the Seminary, including one man in his 60s. Fr. McCarthy said a "desperate shortage" of priests across Queensland had prompted the church to look further afield.Church turns to Africa for priests
/ref> At that time the dioceses of Cairns, Townsville, Rockhampton and Toowoomba had no seminary students. "The church cannot operate without priests and the seminaries in Nigeria are extraordinarily dynamic, packed with 600 and 700 students," Father McCarthy said. Originally designed for 16 seminarians, it was extended in 2010 to accommodate the 31 men in training at that time. In February 2012, six students entered the Seminary and in June 2012, eight more commenced: four for Brisbane, two for Townsville and two for

Umuahia Umuahia () is the capital city of Abia State in southeastern Nigeria. Umuahia is located along the rail road that lies between Port Harcourt to its south,and Enugu city to its north. Umuahia has a population of 359,230 according to the 2006 Nig ...

, Nigeria. In 2015 twenty students were studying there. Monsignor Tony Randazzo, a former official of the

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of the Holy Office in Rome. It was founded to defend the Catholic Church from Heresy in Christianity, heresy and is ...

, was appointed Rector of the seminary at the beginning of 2009. Currently the spiritual formation director is Fr. Paul Chandler O.Carm. Monsignor John Grace, formerly Vicar General in the Diocese of Rockhampton, was appointed to the position of Rector in 2016. He had left the seminary as a young priest at the end of 1970. In February 2016, four new men joined the seminary, bringing the total number of students to 18. Among these students there were fourteen from the Archdiocese of Brisbane, two from Diocese of Toowoomba and the Diocese of Townsville respectively, and one from Rockhampton although none from the Diocese of Cairns. In 2017 five new seminarians joined the Seminary. Each year the Seminary conducts the Xavier School of Mission for members of all Queensland dioceses. The School aims to "equip and form leaders" in Catholic evangelisation.

External links

Holy Spirit home page

References

{{authority control Seminaries and theological colleges in Australia