Immaculate Conception Seminary: Then and Now

Do you ever wonder about the workings of a Catholic seminary? Monsignor Robert Wister, author of “Stewards of the Mysteries of God: Immaculate Conception Seminary, 1860-2010” can answer some of your questions.

Wister, who is a professor of Church history at Seton Hall University’s School of Theology, published his history of Seton Hall’s Immaculate Conception Seminary in November 2010 for the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Seminary’s official formation. According to Wister, the book details several landmarks movements and developments in the Seminary’s history.

“In itself, any American seminary is an accomplishment, because many no longer exist,” Wister said. “The Immaculate Conception Seminary has been around longer than Bishop Gerety.”

Archbishop Gerety, the 98-year-old Archbishop Emeritus of Newark, was one of the figures from the Seminary’s history that was highlighted in Wister’s wistful humor when he spoke about his book to a crowd of about 30 spectators who gathered at Seton Hall’s Walsh Library for a book signing.

Wister said that the Seminary was started in 1860 (four years after the founding of Seton Hall College) and that its path has been “inextricably intertwined” with that of Seton Hall.

“I think that the fact that the Seminary is on the main campus with the rest of the students is the best thing for a seminarian’s education,” Wister said.

According to Wister’s research, the Immaculate Conception Seminary has not always been in one spot. Throughout the 1800s, several of the original buildings on the Seton Hall campus were destroyed in fires, leading the Seminary to move from building to building. In 1926, the Seminary moved to premises separate from Seton Hall, in Darlington, near Mahwah.

“The idea at the time was that priests should not go to school near secular temptations, like there would be in a city,” Wister said. “And 75 years ago, Mahwah was the furthest thing from civilization you could get!”

In 1984 The Immaculate Conception Seminary moved back to Seton Hall, and the school of Theology currently holds its offices in Lewis Hall on the main campus. The School of Theology has a total of 290 graduate and undergraduate students. Of those students, 134 are from countries other than the United States.

“In the 1800s, mostly all of the seminarians were Irish-born or of Irish heritage,” Wister said. “Now look how far we’ve come in terms of diversity.”

Wister reflected positively on the present state of the seminary while putting a humorous spin on stories from the past, such as “the Red Death” chili that used to be served at the Darlington premises; the gruff mannerisms of the Seminary’s first Director and Seton Hall’s first president, the Rev. Bernard McQuaid; the many renovations to chapels and residence halls.

“Bishop Gerety felt that the Seminary should be out of the woods, interacting with as many people as possible,” Wister said, referring again to the Archbishop Emeritus. “We like South Orange. The Seminary is one of the oldest institutions in the village of South Orange.

“Our seminarians are great patrons of the restaurants here, just like the rest of the students, I can tell you that,” Wister added with a laugh.

A complete history of the Immaculate Conception Seminary at Seton Hall can be found in Wister’s book, “Stewards of the Mysteries of God.”