MAY THE SEMINARY BE "A SCHOOL OF APOSTLES"

VATICAN CITY, JAN 16, 1999 (VIS) - The Pope today received in audience the community of the Pontifical Seminary of the Italian region of Puglia on the occasion of the 90th anniversary celebrations of the founding of the seminary.

From this anniversary, John Paul II said, "two particularly significant indications emerge: the opportunity, above all, to ... institute a philosophical and theological educational structure in Puglia. This has helped entire generations of young people to deepen the relationship, which is problematic and yet unavoidable, between faith and reason. Collaboration between faith and reason has given rise to great projects and their very separation has led to great tragedies."

The second indication, he said, is linked to the lives of two pontiffs: "St. Pius X founded the seminary and established the headquarters in Lecce. Pius XI increased its numbers immediately and transferred it to Molfetta. ... Their witness is an invitation to doctrinal steadfastness and at the same time is a courageous level of openness. Moreover, it is an stimulus for holiness of life and for apostolic audacity faced with the circumstances of the today's world."

The Holy Father ended by expressing the hope that the seminary "be 'a school of apostles'; ... apostles ready to serve the people of God with all their energy. May your seminary train priests who will be sure guides for the faithful, in the footsteps of Jesus, the Good Shepherd."

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