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Getting away can be very good for the soul. Getting away to Florida can be even better.
Bethany Center was the idea of our former Bishop Robert N. Lynch. He has a connection to Boston -- he's an alumnus of Pope St. John XXIII Seminary, Class of 1978. His dream was to have a place where people could come to get away, to pray, to learn, and to work with each other.
Our center is more than a retreat house, but it is that. We have retreatants who are local parishioners from our diocese; from other dioceses in Florida and beyond; bishops, priests, and deacons from our Sunshine State and other states and countries. We can host national Catholic organizations and ministries.
The center also serves, as Bishop Lynch had planned, as a meeting place for parish organizations, for marriage preparation, for ongoing formation for our priests and deacons, and for the continuing education of the lay staff of our parishes and the diocese, and for the initial formation of lay ecclesial ministers and permanent deacons.
Take a tour of our center through our website. If you are in our area in suburban Tampa on Florida's Gulf Coast, you can drop by to visit us.
You can also ask some of the priests of your archdiocese about us. One of your auxiliary bishops, Robert Hennessey, organizes an annual retreat, usually in early February, for 50 of your priests. He told me that he has a list of over 100 of your priests, "alumni retreatants," who have come to Bethany Center over the past 15 years he has been organizing "the Boston Priests Retreat."
If you need to get away, contact us and come on down!
Danielle Debrino is the executive director of the Bethany Center, a ministry of the Diocese of St. Petersburg, Florida. BethanyCenterfl.org.