Catholic Diocese of Spokane, Washington

From the

Official News Magazine of the Diocese of Spokane

(From the Sept. 29, 2005 edition of the Inland Register)

The Bishop White Seminary community began the new school year with a completely full house of 16 seminarians and three priests.

To accommodate the increased number of seminarians, two basement storage rooms were converted into bedrooms and two other rooms had to be renovated as well.

The maintenance man for Bishop White, Jim Sever, spent most of the summer months cleaning, installing sheetrock, re-wiring and painting. The finishing touches were completed just in time for the new men to move in.

Two additional seminarians are currently in the application process for entrance in the spring semester. “Although we don’t have any more available bedrooms at the moment, we are not going to turn anyone away,” said Father Darrin Connall, Bishop White’s rector. “The guys will just have to double up. It is a nice problem to have.”

The new academic year began with a special orientation, welcome Mass, and a pizza party sponsored by the Serra Club of Spokane. Seminarians also participated in a Day of Recollection led by Msgr. Robert Pearson. The day focused on the priestly service of St. Damien of Molokai, otherwise known as the “leper priest.”

Msgr. Pearson is the Director of Spiritual Formation at Bishop White, as well as the Vicar for Priests for the Diocese of Spokane.

Father Gene Glatt, senior priest in residence, joins Msgr. Pearson and Father Connall as a member of Bishop White’s community. Father Glatt celebrates Mass for the seminarians, hears confessions, and fills in as a substitute for a variety of parishes in and around the City of Spokane.