Last Thursday evening, we had our annual board meeting for our Redemptoris Mater Seminary with Giuseppe Gennarini, his wife Claudia, and the other board members.

I'm pleased to say that all the reports were very encouraging. It's been 15 years since the seminary was established, and in that time, they have ordained 16 men. The seminary is currently forming 25 seminarians.

90th anniversary Mass

On Friday, I flew to Miami to celebrate a Mass to mark the 90th anniversary of the Agrupacion Catolica Universitaria. We had the celebration at the Jesuit Church of the Gesu in Miami, where we were happy to have Archbishop Wenski concelebrate with us. They also received 14 young men into the organization at the Mass.

The ACU is a Marian congregation that was founded at the Jesuit Colegio de Belen in Havana to help bring young men closer to the Church. They have a great devotion to the Blessed Mother, follow an Ignatian spirituality, and espouse three core principles: spirituality, professionalism, and apostolate.

Their participation in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius really brought home to me how the exercises can truly transform people. They have a very strong community, which has made for strong families, many vocations, and strong marriages. All of them are very involved in ongoing formation in the teachings of the Church, particularly the social encyclicals, and involvement in the different ministries and works of mercy of the Church.

I became associated with the ACU when I was in the seminary in Washington 53 years ago. So, I've been associated with them for more than half of their 90-year history. Many of the people who had been with me in Washington were with us for the anniversary celebration, and it was very moving to see them after so many years.

When we started the Centro Catolico in Washington, the Agrupados were key in most of the programs that we established. Many of them were doctors, dentists, and other professionals. So, we were able to begin such programs as a free dental and medical clinic, classes in English, high school equivalency degree programs, bilingual secretarial training programs, and a job placement office. The Agrupados and their wives were very involved in all these different ministries. So, I was very honored to be asked to preside at their 90th anniversary celebration.

The young Jesuit who is in charge now, Father Christian Saenz, told me that he was an altar server when I celebrated the Mass for their 75th anniversary. So, I announced that I hoped that a number of the altar servers would be Jesuits by the time I come to celebrate their 100th anniversary!

Catholic University of America

Monday afternoon was the meeting of the CUA board. We continued our discussions on the search for a new president of the university.

Following the board meeting, President Garvey asked me to meet with a delegation from Brazil, made up of members of the government, human rights groups, and others who were visiting Washington. They had visited the Oliveira Lima Library of CUA, which is the largest Portuguese language library in the United States, and were touring the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

It was very nice to meet them, and they gave me a lovely packet containing examples of Brazilian art.