ARCHDIOCESE MAY CLOSE PRIEST COLLEGE.

Byline: James Nash Staff Writer

Faced with budget woes and a dwindling population of young men entering the priesthood, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles is studying plans to close a historic seminary college in Camarillo and have seminarians attend a private Catholic university instead, officials said Friday.

A task force appointed by Cardinal Roger Mahony has recommended closing St. John's Seminary College, whose 2002 graduating class consisted of just 12 men, and exploring a partnership with Loyola Marymount University to train priests.

Mahony said Friday that with more older men entering the priesthood, the traditional seminary model - in which men enter a four-year theology program right after graduating from high school - may no longer apply.

While archdiocesan officials have acknowledged financial troubles that have left jobs unfilled, Mahony said the possible closure of St. John's has more to do with the advancing age and educational level of many aspiring priests.

``A lot of priests have been recommending this for a long time,'' said Mahony, who graduated from St. John's in 1962. ``They wonder why we need a stand-alone, four-year ministry.''

Under the proposed changes, aspiring priests would study general topics in a college or university - public, private or religious - for two years before studying in a theological program for four years.

St. John's Seminary College opened in 1939 amid the citrus orchards and grassy hillsides of Camarillo. The campus counts many top leaders of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles as alumni.

St. John's has about 20 faculty members. Officials there declined to comment, referring questions to the archdiocese.

Archdiocesan spokeswoman Carolina Guevara said the student body at St. John's numbers about 90, with about 25 planning to enter the priesthood in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The college graduated 12 people in May, including five from the Los Angeles Archdiocese.

In a report released Friday, the Mahony-appointed task force recommended closing St. John's Seminary College but leaving open the adjacent St. John's Seminary as a six-year program.

After three years, the archdiocese should look at closing the seminary as well, and relocating the program to or near Loyola Marymount University, the report recommends.

Loyola Marymount, a private Catholic university in Westchester, offers a liberal arts curriculum but does not have a program for training priests.

``It's an exciting possibility and we'd welcome the opportunity to explore that,'' Loyola Marymount spokesman Ken Swisher said of a partnership with the archdiocese.

St. John's $7,600 annual tuition and $5,000 annual room and board does not fully cover the cost of operating the college, and church officials acknowledge that endowments have suffered with recent declines in the stock market.

Guevara did not release information on the archdiocese's subsidy to the college.

Thomas M. McFadden, one of the authors of the seminary report, said the task force was not told the precise amount of the subsidy, but he said it is ``certainly a fair amount of money.''

McFadden, who is president of Marymount College - which is not affiliated with Loyola Marymount University or the archdiocese - said enrollment has declined at St. John's Seminary College and many other Catholic seminaries. McFadden said he hopes the changes would lead to more men entering the priesthood by moving the sometimes-cloistered discipline of training priests closer to the mainstream of Catholic education.

``I think it would be a strong plus to raise priests among lay people,'' McFadden said. ``The church, of course, has changed a lot. The church is depending a lot more on lay leadership.''

With 5 million parishioners in Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles is the largest Catholic division in the United States and one of a dwindling number that have their own seminary colleges.

Mahony said the Archdiocese has about 1,000 active priests - the same number it had when there were only 400,000 parishioners.

Archdiocesan leaders are scheduled to vote on the task force's recommendations in January. If they decide to close St. John's, Mahony said church officials will look for other uses for the property, including using it as a location for retreats.

CAPTION(S):

photo, map

Photo:

Two students walk across the quiet St. John's campus during a break from college classes.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer

Map:

St. John's Seminary College