The Rector of PRS Fr. Michael O'Connor said 2013 was a year of special blessings. He said one of the principal signs was what may have been a record number of priestly ordinations.

There were 18 ordinations to the priesthood spread over dioceses and congregations.

Diocesan priests 11
Archdiocese of Suva (4); Diocese of Tarawa and Nauru (2); Diocese of Carolines (2); Diocese of Wallis and Futuna (1); Archdiocese of Samoa (1); Diocese of Tonga (1)

Religious and Institutes of Apostolic Life 7
Society of Mary (5); Vincentians (1); Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (1)

In the last seven years 82 priests have been ordained - an equal number of diocesan priests and priests for congregations.

Every one of these graduates has graduated with a Bachelor of Divinity accredited by the South Pacific Association of Theological Schools, and also a Bachelor of Sacred Theology, S.T.B. from the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome.

Fr Michael says PRS is grateful for the support of Bishops and Major Superiors who have continued to send personnel for further training, with the intention of their teaching for a time at PRS when they return after studies.

The establishment of a Regional Seminary was one of the first tasks embraced by the newly formed Pacific Conference of Bishops when it came into existence in the late 1960s. The third meeting of the Bishops in 1970 decided to ask the Archbishop of Suva to begin looking for land and in the 1971 meeting the decision was reached to start the seminary in Suva in 1972. The present site was develop during 1972 and early 1973 and in June 1973 the Pacific Regional Seminary opened on its present site at Suva Point.

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PRS :supplied
Image: PRS Supplied

A good representation from the various dioceses and congregations is expected to attend. These include diocesan priests from Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, New Caledonia and Kiribati as well religious from the same areas. There will be some coming who did not reach ordination but who still greatly value the experience of training at Pacific Regional Seminary. It is hoped that some of those present will include the Bishops and Archbishops who are former students of PRS.

Because this is the 50^th anniversary of Vatican II and also the Year of Faith, the weekend in August will be focused especially on the Vatican II documents on the ministry of Priests and on formation. These will be part of an ongoing series of lectures which have run through this year on the documents of Vatican II.

The Pacific Regional Seminary was the fruit of the Vatican II's emphasis on building up the local church and of the Vatican II structure of the Conference of Bishops. The first Plenary session of the Bishops' Conference of the Pacific (CEPAC) took place in 1968. By the time of the third meeting in Sydney in 1970, serious consideration was given to establishing a regional seminary for the Pacific and a decision was made at the same meeting.

Suva was the chosen site and Archbishop George Pearce (Archbishop of Suva) was entrusted with the task of purchasing a site and putting up the buildings. A temporary site at the Bishop Court close to the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart opened on 6^th March 1972 and was used for the first eighteen months.

Eighteen students - religious and diocesan - from Fiji, Tonga and Samoa started in 1972. But by June 1973 the new site and buildings at Suva point were opened with another seven students added to the numbers. Within 8 years, by 1980, the number of students reached beyond 100.

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• PRS
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