Burse Club helps seminarians on path to priesthood

 

Bishop Mulvey (right) introduces seminarians, from left, Charles Silvas, Matthew Perales, Carlos De La Rosa, Raymond Pendleton, Michael Winterroth, Luis Lozano, Michael Golla, Daniel Flores, Thomas Swierc and Aaron Lugo at the Burse Mass on July 8. 

Marc Joseph Zamora for South Texas Catholic
 

---

Raymond Pendleton believed he could fulfill his Catholic obligation by only attending Sunday Mass and working at the St. Thomas Aquinas Newman Center and Chapel as a student at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. Then something unexpected happened that changed his life: He fell in love with the Church.

“I started going to Mass daily,” Pendleton said. “I started to fall in love with service to those around me. I just love that aspect of the priesthood.”

After speaking with Father Joseph Lopez of St. Gertrude Parish in Kingsville, Pendleton decided to apply to the Diocese of Corpus Christi to become a seminarian. He is currently in his fourth year of seminarian studies and receives financial support from the Burse Fund, which pays for seminarians’ livelihood and education until they become ordained priests, a path that takes up to nine years to complete.

The Diocesan Council of Catholic Women established the burse in 1949, and it will support 13 seminarians next year. The DCCW later formed the Burse Club in 1985 under the direction of Bishop Rene Gracida. The Burse Club’s mission is to raise awareness of the fund and ensure its continuance through annual membership fees and fundraisers.

Without a burse and a system to support it, the cost of training seminarians for the priesthood would have to come directly from the diocesan budget or from another source. Father Romeo Salinas, Vocation Director for the diocese, said that money should not be a roadblock for potential priests.

Vocation Director Father Romeo Salinas

“We need priests to take care of the people,” Father Salinas said. “We have to get them educated. We need help with that cost.”

The burse is set up as an endowment. Only the dividends and interest earned on the principal amount can be used. The balance of the dividends and interest pays for seminary tuition, room and board, travel, retreats, and basic needs such as clothing and toiletries. Seminarians also receive medical insurance and a monthly stipend. This past year, dividends and interest of the Burse Fund covered approximately 30% of the Vocation Office’s budget which included tuition, fees, room and board for 10 seminarians. 

According to Father Salinas, who oversees disbursements from the fund, the cost of tuition and room and board for a single seminarian can vary from $40,000 to $65,000 annually depending on the seminary attended. Some of the schools where seminarians from Corpus Christi enroll include St. Joseph Seminary in Louisiana, Holy Trinity Seminary in Dallas, Assumption Seminary in San Antonio, Theological College in Washington, D.C. and Pontifical North American College in Rome.

In addition to contributions from Burse Club members, the DCCW receives monthly collections raised from parishes and holds an annual fund drive. Martha Orem, former president of the DCCW, said that her organization would present Bishop Michael Mulvey with funds collected from 2017 and 2018 at their convention in November.

On July 8 Bishop Mulvey introduced seminarians at the Burse Mass at Corpus Christi Cathedral and recognized the Burse Club for their contributions to help educate seminarians from the Diocese of Corpus Christi.

Father Salinas said that the Burse Club and the DCCW are very important to the community because of their efforts in raising the money necessary to support the diocesan seminarians.

Pendleton expressed gratitude for that support.

“I just want to say thank you to all the Burse Club members,” Pendleton said. “There are so many people who are companions to me and my spiritual journey and my journey to the priesthood, and the Burse Club members are definitely a part of that journey.”

For more information on how to contribute to the Diocese of Corpus Christi Seminarian Burse Fund contact Edith Balderas, Administrative Assistant to the Vocations office at (361) 882-6191 or [email protected]. 

Vocations Director Father Romeo Salinas and Chief Fiscal Officer Gregor Seagrave contributed to this article.