Seminary Dedicated at Huntington, 1930

Today in 1930 marks the dedication of the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception, Huntington, and the following is from the seminary website: Founded in 1926 by the third Bishop of Brooklyn, Thomas E. Molloy, the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception has prepared more than 1,500 priests for the Dioceses of Rockville Centre, and Brooklyn, and as well as the East Coast Province of the Congregation of the Mission (Vincentians). Additionally, it has awarded nearly 600 graduate degrees in the areas of Theology and Pastoral Ministry. While the Seminary lies at the heart of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, its history is deeply rooted in the Diocese of Brooklyn, which until 1957 was comprised of Catholics from Brooklyn, Queens, and all of Long Island. Recognizing that Catholic life and Church ministry were flourishing throughout the diocese and seeing the need to train priests for a Catholic population that exceeded one million people, the Diocese of Brooklyn in 1924 purchased the 159-acre estate of Robert R. Conklin, located on Lloyd Harbor’s West Neck Road. The estate initially served as an Institute for Philosophy, whereby men of the diocese took the necessary pre-requisites before advancing to a major seminary elsewhere in the United States or Europe. In the meantime, the current Seminary building was under construction, and on September 29, 1930, Bishop Molloy dedicated it as a major Seminary. More than 80 men were enrolled in the philosophy program and first theology. In 1957, when Long Island separated from the Diocese of Brooklyn, the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception fell under the jurisdiction of Bishop Walter Kellenberg and the Diocese of Rockville Centre, where it has remained ever since. The Seminary continued to train men from both dioceses in the traditional six-year curriculum of two years of philosophy and four years of theology, but in 1967, the philosophy program was phased out. Students needing to fulfill the philosophy pre-requisites were required to first attended Cathedral College in Douglaston, Queens, before enrolling at the Seminary. In 1990, the East Coast Province of the Congregation of the Mission began enrolling its candidates for priesthood in the Seminary’s theology program. In 1974, the Seminary opened its academic doors to the laity. Responding to the need for qualified and well-trained religious educators, the Diocese of Rockville Centre admitted qualified men and women into an academic program that led to a Master’s degree in Religious Studies. The response was extraordinary, which signified the tremendous role the laity was beginning to play in the life of the Church. More than 100 lay people were enrolled, and by the late 1980s, the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception offered post-graduate degrees in Theology and Ministry as well as a number of certificate programs in Pastoral Liturgy, Pastoral Ministry, and Catholic Spirituality.