Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio completed 100 years of service to the Church at a festive Eucharist celebrated at the school’s Immaculate Conception Memorial Chapel on December 8, 2003. Presiding at the celebration was the Oblate Superior General, Fr. Wilhelm Steckling, OMI. Among the concelebrants were the United States Provincial, Fr. David Kalert, OMI, and the entire U.S. Provincial Council, as well as priest members of the faculty and the associated formation houses, other visiting Oblates, and guests.

Although the Oblates had been about their mission in Texas since their Founder, St. Eugene de Mazenod, sent them there in 1849, the impetus and resources for a new Oblate seminary in Texas developed only after 1900. The early Oblate missionaries had been primarily from France, Canada, and Great Britain.

In 1902, the Oblates in Texas reopened missionary work in Mexico, and in 1904, the original Oblate province in the United States, begun in 1883, was divided into the First American Province and the Second American (or Southern U.S.) Province.

The desire to promote native vocations to the Oblate and diocesan priesthood for the expanding work in Texas and Mexico led the Oblates, the bishop of San Antonio, and the archbishop of Oaxaca, Mexico, to promote jointly the founding of a new Oblate seminary in Texas.

This, in 1903, on the eve of the formation of the new Southern U.S. Province, what is now Oblate School of Theology became a reality in the City of San Antonio. After 1911, the school ceased to educate diocesan seminarians who had always been very few in number. In 1927, the school was moved to its present site and given the name De Mazenod Scholasticate. Within its walls were educated and formed scores of young Oblates who would eventually find themselves in missions all over the world.

In the 1970s the school, by that time known as Oblate College of the Southwest (since 1962) expanded its curriculum and purpose under the leadership of Fr. Patrick Guidon, OMI, in order to become a place of ministry training not only for Oblates but for other seminarians and laity alike.

The school’s name was changed again in 1981 to its present Oblate School of Theology. It is the ministry training ground for Oblate seminarians, as well as diocesan seminarians who reside at Assumption Seminary in San Antonio and a number of religious communities. The school also has a large component of candidates for full- or part-time lay ecclesial ministry.

The current President of Oblate School of Theology, Fr. William Morell, OMI, wrote this in the 2003 OST catalog:

Oblate School of Theology will mark 100 years of service in 2003. Our early graduates traveled on horseback, by foot, and by stagecoach to their ministry assignments; they entered a world that was quite different from the one we know today. Their determination and energy as missionaries of the gospel remains a model for us. Pastoral ministry still "requires practical and reflective engagement with the multi-cultural, global reality of Church and society." Such an approach is still part of the Oblate School vision and is included in our Statement of Purpose.

While today's graduates travel more by car than horseback, they go out with the same zeal that drove our early graduates. We remain committed to offering a solid foundation of academic study for pastoral ministry. Students come to us from many parts of the United States and from across the world. The Hispanic heritage and culture of the Southwest offer a rich ambiente for study and supervised ministry. We serve candidates for priesthood from Assumption Seminary and numerous religious communities as well as women religious and students preparing for lay ministry. Collaboration and personal attention are hallmarks of Oblate School

In 1981, Oblate School of Theology began the Ministry-to-Ministers program. The program is a four month intensive spiritual and theological sabbatical experience for priests and religious men and women who have been in ministry for a number of years.

The Lay Ministry Institute opened its doors in 1982, and the Instituto de Formación Pastoral in 1985. These two programs prepare candidates theologically and spiritually in certificate programs for pastoral lay ministry.

In 1992, OST assumed the responsibility for the Oblate Renewal Center. Through its retreat and conference facilities, the Center offers and hosts a variety of programs to respond to the needs of the local and national Church.

In this current school year, OST has begun the International Priests’ Internship, a program to help newly-arrived foreign priests to acculturate into the U.S. Church and society.

The following religious groups currently have seminarians studying for ministry at OST:

Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate

Assumption Seminary (operated by Archdiocese of San Antonio and training seminarians from about 20 dioceses.)

Brothers of the Beloved Disciple

Conventual Franciscans

Dominicans

Franciscan Friars

Franciscans Third Order Regular

Missionhurst

Thanks to Fr. Robert Wright, OMI, for his contributions to this article.

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