Something Understood

Original version

BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

BBC Radio 4

Radio 4

Radio 4 (FM)

Religion & Ethics

Ethical and religious discussion that examines some of the larger questions of life

Ethical and religious discussion that examines some of the larger questions of life, taking a spiritual theme and exploring it through music, prose and poetry

BBC Radio 4 LW

Something Understood: Life in a Seminary

Life in a Seminary

BBC Radio 4 - Something Understood, Life in a Seminary

Mark Tully explores life in a seminary. How are young men trained for Catholic priesthood?

Mark Tully is intrigued by life in a seminary. Trainee Catholic priests must be involved themselves in the world of the congregation, but also need space for spiritual development.

Mark Tully is intrigued by life in a Roman Catholic seminary. How are young men trained for the priesthood?

In 2012, he visited Allen Hall Seminary in the busy heart of London, where Dean of Studies and Formation Advisor Father Stephen Wang explained the need for his students to train for their pastoral role within the Catholic community. Seminarians at Allen Hall spend much of their time in local parishes, schools and hospitals preparing for life as a Diocesan priest. And yet it's also crucial that they have the quiet, contemplative space they need to develop spiritually. They must become men of God and men of communion.

Mark explores the history of the seminary system, with readings from Anthony Kenny and Denis Meadows, and hears music written by ancient monks in isolation. He speaks to writer and academic John Cornwell, whose own time at Upholland Seminary in the 1950s left a strong imprint on his spiritual life. The Junior Seminary system he experienced from the age of 12 no longer exists, but John believes that there are still serious flaws in the way the Catholic Church trains its priests. He argues that seminarians are too separated out from the world and from the people they are destined to serve once ordained.

Ultimately, becoming a priest requires huge dedication - what Jesuit Father Pedro Arrupe described as a 'falling in love' with God. Perhaps what is also needed is a balance, between the prosaic and the spiritual, between being within the world and being apart from it.

Producer: Hannah Marshall
A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Something Understood

Life in a Seminary

Genres

Brand

BBC Radio 4 FM

About BBC Radio 4