ST JOSEPH'S SEMINARY (1879)
The Jesuit pioneers started the Seminary within ten days of their arrival. It had ten students. Today it is run by the Diocese of Mangalore and Calicut. From the first Superior, Fr Angelo Maffei, to the Rector, Fr Pradeep Sequeira (last Jesuit Rector and the seminary was handed over to the Diocesean administration in 1995) Superiors and Rectors have, with an active band of professors, built up every aspect of the formative period of young candidates to the priesthood. The flourishing Diocese of Mangalore with zealous, talented and efficient priests, and many others distributed all over India witness to what the Seminary has done. It has been a most dear work of the Society, to fashion priests for God's work: 'Your sons, O India, will be your saviours'.
The origins of St Joseph's Seminary are deep down in the Catholic history of Mangalore when in the 18th century (1765) Fr J. Miranda started to recruit young boys for priesthood. After a broken history of a hundred years it was resumed by the Jesuits on 11th January 1879, to be re-erected in the very place where the Seminary now stands. The plot had been bought by Bishop Michael in 1865. The Jesuits found three Seminarians, recalled a few others and reopened the Seminary with ten students on the rolls and two professors. They were housed in the then existing building which now forms the catechumenate.
The main building is the work of Fr Diamanti. He planned it and supervised its construction. The foundation stone was laid in 1887 and the building completed in 1889. It is quite an imposing but simple three storeyed structure with the chapel right in front. In 1915 another block of three storeys was added and in 1928 one more parallel block was constructed. A further addition was made with the library building projecting inward in line with the chapel so that the building stood in the form of an E facing inward to the chapel. With the numbers ever on the increase and other dioceses requesting to send their recruits to St Joseph's, a further need was felt for expanding, and so in 1977 another building for refectory and living rooms was erected, by extending one of the extreme cross lines of the E.
The material expansion has been but a sign of the development of the other aspects of seminary life in the formation of good priests. While the Rectors were busy building and governing the Seminary, professors and spiritual guides like Frs Lazzarini, Buzzoni, Macry, Belleri, Nana, Fermi and Jerome Lobo, with a number of others, were by word and example fashioning the hearts and minds of 'workers in the Lord's vineyard'. To these we must add the example of silent work and prayer given by Jesuit Brothers like Visuvasam, Lasrado, and for whom the smooth running of the institution would have been practically impossible.
How many priests have looked back and are looking back with grateful hearts to these Jesuit Fathers and the many others who stood by them in their formation days heaven alone can tell. Experienced hands had sown the seed in each one of them and nurtured it with balanced knowledge of natural sciences and philosophical orientation of mind, and above all, with a deep knowledge of God which now has flowered in their lives as priests. The Jesuits have every reason to be grateful for the blessings God has showered on them in the formation of an efficient clergy, the glory and strength of a diocese and of the Church.
The efficient and persevering work in the Lord's vineyard not only in the Diocese of Mangalore but all over India and even outside that has been done and is being done by the 1200 priests among whom there have been twenty bishops and one Cardinal, is witness enough to the training given at St Joseph's. (As this report was added here in 2021, we are not sure about the exact number o bishops and Cardinals - OV). Truly it holds the pride of place among the seminaries in India, with a singular reputation in the Church, The "Unitas", its Annual, started in 1923, significantly enough fosters the bonds of unity among its alumni who are scattered far and wide.
By practically founding the Seminary for the education of an efficient clergy the Jesuits set the ball rolling to start a school and college for the education of the local youth. Their efforts materialised when twelve months and twelve days after their arrival, St Aloysius College was opened in Mangalore.
ST ALOYSIUS COLLEGE (1880)
St Aloysius College, with its own High School, is the premier educational institution of the Karnataka Province. It will be recorded 141 years on 12 January, 2021. Beginning in a private house rented for the purpose, today it occupies a commanding position on the Edyah Hill in the centre of the Town. The original plot was donated by Mr. Lawrence Lobo Prabhu. With the efforts of Fr Angelo Mutti and the material help of the people of Mangalore and Italy, of the Government and the Society of Jesus, of Fr. General in particular, rose a stately building which is still the pride of Mangalore. The other adjacent plots were added as years rolled on, mostly by purchase, and other buildings were erected. Today twenty buildings accommodate more than 14,500 students and 868 faculty - Beeri campus is included (2021 data). It has had a steady growth without any major ups and downs worthy of special note. The College has grown to suit the needs of the times- thanks to the generous support of the people of Mangalore. The first foundation stone was laid on 21st June with Fr Angelo Mutti as the architect, and Fr Joseph Willy as Rector and Principal. Since then many times the ceremony has been repeated. The College was affiliated to the Madras University in 1882 and the early reports say that from the beginning its students won a very good name for conduct and study. No wonder. It was the natural talent of the youth of Mangalore blossoming under the guidance of scholars like Frs J. Willy, Angelo Maffei, Denis Fernandes, Emmanuel Coelho, Urbun Stein, Hugh Ryan and J.B. Sergeant. The Mangalore Magazine that started its publication in 1897 has recorded the work of the College and its students.
