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SEWARD, Neb. – The 23 newcomers attending St. Gregory the Great Seminary in Seward this fall are “full of questions, obviously prayerful and eager to learn,” said Father John Folda, seminary rector. “They’re going to be a great group of seminarians, I have no doubt,” he added. Among them are 19 young men who are in priestly formation for the Diocese of Lincoln. The other four new men are studying for the priesthood for either the Diocese of Rockford, Ill., or the Diocese of Madison, Wis. One student studying for Lincoln is from the Canadian province of Manitoba. Father Folda said it is the largest group to enter St. Gregory the Great all at once, but everything has gone smoothly in terms of course scheduling, housing, books and all the other particulars. The first-year class of seminarians is one of the largest in any diocese in the United States. “God smiled upon us,” he said with a laugh. “He knew he was going to give us a lot of men this year.” “We’re very blessed by God,” agreed Father Robert Matya, diocesan vocations director. The first-year seminarians moved in Aug. 24, had a weekend of orientation and started classes Aug. 27. Since then, they have been getting to know each other and the seminary faculty, studying and learning to adapt to a schedule that can be quite a bit different from what they were used to as students or workers.

STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. – Astefan Zrow Yousef was scared for his family. He was scared of the persecution they endured because of their Chaldean Catholic faith. He was scared they would be forced to abandon their faith. And he was scared they would be killed for trying to escape from their life in Iraq. For much the same reason, Issa Toma, his wife, Nano, and their families had already fled from Iraq to the safety of Turkey. Both men had a common goal – to live with their families in peace – and now they and their families have been resettled in the Detroit Archdiocese with the help of the archdiocese and other agencies.

An archdiocesan program designed to meet the educational needs of Catholic school students with documented learning disabilities has expanded to a third location. PRIDE (Pupils Receiving Inclusive Diversified Education), which has been offered at Mother Mary Lange School in Baltimore and Sacred Heart of Mary School in Graceland Park for several years, began operating at St. Jane Frances de Chantal School in Pasadena with the start of the current school year.

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI declined to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during his August vacation, but Vatican officials said it should not be interpreted as a diplomatic snub. “The only reason she wasn’t received was that she came during a period when the pope doesn’t receive anyone. It was a purely technical question of protocol,” an informed Vatican source told Catholic News Service Sept. 20. The source said it was “absolutely not” the Vatican’s intention to rebuff Ms. Rice or signal disagreement with U.S. policy on the Middle East.

CHICAGO – Violence can happen anywhere. But when Israel Morales, a neighborhood organizer and parishioner at St. Nicholas of Tolentine Parish on Chicago’s Southwest Side, was gunned down this summer near the church, community members decided they had to do something. The first thing they did was have a Mass outside, near where Morales was killed. Since then, the parish has had three more street Masses, with another set for Sept. 27, all on blocks where violence has occurred. The first Masses drew 120 to 150 people; one in late August had more than 200 in the congregation.