Over 100 seminarians will be able to study in the new seminary of the archdiocese of Havana, the first one to have been built in the last 50 years of Cuban history. The facility, which will replace the historical, magnificent seminary of Saint Charles and Saint Ambrose in the centre of old Havana, is 15 km from the city centre and is being built (work began in July 2006) with high-quality materials sold by the State. The project, covering 22 hectares, will include four theology and four philosophy blocks, with classrooms and dormitories for the seminarians, the Rectorate, the administration office, the library, the great hall and the chapel. It has been jointly funded by the Italian Bishops Conference (CEI), by a group of French Catholics, by the Commission for Latin America of the Holy See and by the Knights of Colombo. Havana’s curia is happy about the quality of the architectural design, but above all "about the meaning it has for the Church and the history of the country, as it is the first seminary to have been built in Cuba for over 50 years". The seminary, explains José Ramòn Pérez, administrator of the archdiocese of Havana, "has been considered by the Cuban authorities an educational institution. This is very interesting at a time in which many schools are being refurbished in the country". (continued)
