Regional Seminary Pio XI

The Apulian Regional Seminary has been located in Molfetta since 1915. The large complex we see only a small corner of here was built in 1926. Young men study theology and are trained to become priests here. The complex also hosts a large library and a museum.

I have been less faithful than usual to this blog...I have started my full teaching schedule at the university and have a lot less free time. I am also experimenting with a new-to-me camera and not getting the results I'd like, so am a little frustrated with my photos at the moment. Anyway, I'll do my best to keep that daily photo coming!

Back to Church

Today was the first Sunday of the "catechistic year." This means the period of the year in which children attend catechism. It starts in October and ends in early June.

My family is Catholic, but not particularly devout. A great many Italians (though certainly not all) care that their children receive all the key sacraments: baptism, first communion and confirmation, even if they do not themselves attend church regularly, or, in many cases, at all. We attend for the length of the catechistic year...and then go on religious vacation.

One day while I was visiting a friend, the local priest stopped by to bless her house. He asked why he hadn't seen her at mass. She explained that she was a believer, but not an attender of mass. I chipped in that my family are believers, but only seasonal attenders...during the catechistic year.

I'm not sure if that makes us hypocrites...or just religiously lazy?