Building Dedication: A Sense of Joy and Community and Empowerment

Dozens of priests, seminarians, other religious order members, lay supporters and those who lent a hand in constructing the new seminary gathered cheerfully for the outdoor dedication ceremony of the St John Paul II Seminary in Dona Aurora St., Digos City, on June 24th, 2023 at 3PM.

The bishop, Most Rev Guillermo D. Afable DD who shepherded much of the work to construct the new building was overwhelmed with joy and gratitude as he officiated the blessing, prayer of thanks, sprinkling of holy water, cutting of ribbon, unveiling of the statue of St. John Paul II being the patron saint of the seminary and the thanksgiving mass prior to the formal dedication of said building.

The two-story, four-classroom and four-bedroom seminary is located few meters from the Diocesan Chancery, the Diocesan Pastoral Offices and the Bishop’s residence.

Rev. Fr. Billy Lee P. Ulan Ulan, seminary rector opened his message by expressing his profound gratitude to various groups and individuals including the donors, architects, builders and others who were essential to the completion of the project. He further explained that St. John Paul II seminary is designed to facilitate the seminarians in becoming faithful and dedicated servants to the mission and vision of the Diocese of Digos.

The Seminary will be the residence for the 10 or so men in the formation together with the Diocesan/Pastoral order at any given time, as well as a handful of diocesan priests who will staff the formation program and others who may be working or visiting the seminary in particular.

The building has state-of-the art communications equipment in keeping with the current social media needs. For example, its chapel, the Good Shepherd Chapel and meeting rooms are equipped to livestream liturgies and to document meetings and events with ease.

In addition to its residential areas, the two-story building has a library, kitchen and dining area, an outdoor exercise field and a covered court which is still towards completion.

Like many recent construction projects, the pandemic and related delays dragged out the process longer than expected. But with the grace of God, in His perfect timing, the construction committee pulled it through.

“This is everyone’s work, the efforts, generosity and involvement in one way or another by each Catholic who shared yielding this fruitful result, we now have our own formation home for our seminarians and we will continue to pray to the Lord of harvest, to send us more shepherds to care for the vineyard which is the Diocese of Digos,” the emotional Bishop Jimmy said.

Lastly, Bishop Afable invited everyone to a moment of prayer in honor of the PME priests who had been instrumental in propagating and founding of the Catholic churches in the provinces of Davao del Sur, Davao Occidental and the neighboring provinces.

Indeed, it was a blissful day, a day to mark in the history of the diocese, a day that brought us joy, community and empowerment. Bishop Jimmy was absolutely right in saying “this is everyone’s work,” now we could rightfully say, we did this!

To God be all the glory.

(Blaze Cantaros – SocCom Sta. Cruz | Photos by Ryanje Durano Estinoso)