There are about 60 men currently studying for the priesthood in India.
Fr. Walter Kaelin, CP, founder of the India Mission
Cochin 1981, the original site of the Passionist Mission in India.
Two young novices profess final vows.
Ordinations are a great time for celebration.
Classroom where the Passionist students learn.
Living quarters for the seminarians can be very tight.
In 1980, the Passionists of Holy Cross Province were invited to begin a ministry in India that would reach out to communities profoundly in need of spiritual support and economic assistance, and help to support vocations both in the U.S. and India.
Fr. Walter Kaelin, founder of the India Mission, and five fellow Passionists lived in an abandoned lumberyard in Cochin in the state of Kerala and began the awesome task of building, from the ground up, a seminary at which young men could receive the education and religious training which would prepare them as a new generation of ministers to the local population.
In India today, as in the U.S., the Passionists are actively engaged in seeking and training qualified young men who are experiencing an authentic call to the religious life. So far, we have ordained over 25 priests and have two brothers serving in the India Mission.
The process of formation can span a period of nine years that includes both secular schooling and religious training. In India it costs about $800 a year to feed, house and educate a Passionist seminarian. Most families can afford to pay about $25. We have upwards of 60 men currently in formation in one of our three houses in Bangalore, Angamaly and Cochin. We are also building a new seminary house in Bhopal.
