Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, visited Mundelein Seminary in Chicago and celebrated Mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Name of Jesus, reported “Vatican News” in Italian, on Tuesday, June 18, 2019.
Mundelein Seminary houses some 200 seminarians, including students of the Oriental Catholic Churches, such as the Syro-Malabar Church, whose headquarters, in the United States, are in Chicago. The Syro-Malabar Church has 4,500,000 faithful, the majority in Kerala, India.
Last January, a spiritual retreat was organized in the Seminary for American Bishops. Italian Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, Papal Household Preacher, led the retreat.
On his visit to Mundelein Seminary, Cardinal Sandri went to the church, to the large library, and to the museum, before returning to the city where he presided over the Eucharistic Celebration.
From there, he went to the Little Italy neighborhood, to pray at the Shrine of the Virgin of Pompeii, where he was welcomed by the Rector and a Jesuit priest of Italian origin.
Then, in the afternoon, the Cardinal went to the Center of the Carmelite Fathers, where he dined with the priests and Religious of the Syro-Malabar Eparchy, gathered for a few days of spiritual retreat.
The Cardinal answered questions on subjects such as the spiritual, theological, human and affective formation of candidates to the priesthood, and the beauty and richness of the Oriental Liturgy, particularly the Syro-Malabar.
