Archbishop names Fr. Hying rector of Saint Francis Seminary

Brian T. Olszewski reports in our Catholic Herald that Archbishop Dolan has appointed Father Donald J. Hying to a six-year term as rector of Saint Francis Seminary. I looked for but did not see the union label. The article notes he was made pastor at Our Lady of Good Hope Parish in 1999. It's history says that among developments after he arrived,

Eucharistic adoration began on Wednesdays as did a daily 5:30PM Mass and weekly Reconciliation.

Wonder when the parish had Reconciliation before then. As for his plans now,

"Recruitment is important. I want to be pro-active in getting other dioceses to send their seminarians here," he said, noting that he will collaborate with the vocations office in that undertaking.

The article says the seminary engages in "human formation"; Fr. Hying might want to consider jettisoning jargon like that, along with "pro-active".

He said a "key issue" will be building financial security for the seminary, and that he also wanted to "make our formation better."

That's a refreshing change, that giving more money would be to get better results.

As he begins the six-year appointment as rector, Fr. Hying said he wants to let the "people in the pews" know that the seminary is open and that great things are happening.

A priest in favor of communication in practice; rarer than you might suppose.

"Working with our vocations office, I hope to go to different parishes on weekends and talk about the seminary, letting people know what we are doing," he said.