History

HISTORY OF SAINT MARY’S SEMINARY

When Laoag was established as a Diocese in 1961, Pope John XXIII, of venerable memory, also decreed the foundation of a high school seminary. Its special mission in the local church is to provide a conducive atmosphere and formation for the young men who are capable and willing to undergo a high school curriculum in the context of a well-rounded Christian formation, and in the process, to assist them discover and grow in their vocation.

Bishop Antonio Mabutas started the construction in 1962 with the help of the late Richard Cardinal Cushing of Boston and other benefactors. To be called the St. Mary’s Seminary, It opened its doors in 1963 and in 1965, it had its first 9 graduates.

Until his transfer as Archbishop Coadjutor of Davao in 1970, Archbishop Mabutas saw the growth of St. Mary’s Seminary.

After nearly a year of interregnum, Bishop Rafael M. Lim was ordained Bishop of Laoag at the Lucena Cathedral on April 27, 1971. Bishop Lim continued what his predecessor had started. He assigned priests who were fit enough to guide the seminarians in their formation to the priesthood, gaining positive results.

In may 1978, Bishop Lim left the Diocese of Laoag to become the first residential bishop of his home province, Boac, Marinduque. On December 6, 1978, Bishop Edmundo Abaya was named Bishop of Laoag.

Under Bishop Abaya’s administration and with his fatherly concern for vocations, we saw an increase of priestly vocations in the Diocese. He manifested his fatherly concern through an unprecedented number of benefactors for the seminarians who up to the present are giving their all-out- support to the seminary.

The seminary is visibly resplendent as a formation school along with the other formation schools of educational stature with the untiring guidance and genuine concern of the then Bishop of the Diocese of Laoag for four years, now the Archbishop of Nueva Segovia his Excellency Ernesto A. Salgado D. D., STh. D.

Indeed the St. Mary’s Seminary has withstood the test of time under 17 rectors. The seminary has distinguished itself for having been run by rectors of characters par excellence. Fortunately the incumbent rector, Very Rev. Fr. Rey Magus S. Respicio, just like others before him, is an alumnus of the seminary. It is noteworthy that Most Rev. Fr. Jacinto A Jose, the newly ordained Bishop of Urdaneta is one from among the 32 alumni priests, 31 of them serving in the Diocese of Laoag and that of Nueva Segovia.