Saint Gregory Seminary

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Prior to the establishment of St. Gregory, high-school and undergraduate-aged men discerning a vocation to the priesthood studied at the various campuses of the major seminary of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Mount Saint Mary of the West.{{Cite book |last1=Kelly |first1=Michael |url=https://archive.org/details/HistoryOfMtStMarysSeminary/page/368/mode/1up |title=History of Mt. St. Mary's Seminary of the West, Cincinnati, Ohio |last2=Kirwin |first2=James |publisher=Keating and Company, Cincinnati. |year=1894 |location=Cincinnati, Ohio |pages=369 }} Following the statements of the Third Council of Baltimore that independent, separate preparatory seminaries were preferred, as well as the reopening of Mt. St. Mary's following the diocesan financial crisis, discussion of the creation of a dedicated preparatory seminary resumed.

In 1887, William Henry Elder decided to pursue the creation of a minor seminary. Two years later, Elder gave permission to John Albrinck, Bernard Engbers, and a number of other priests of the Archdiocese who had been advocating for a minor seminary since 1873 to begin the formation of what would become St. Gregory.{{Cite book |last=Miller |first=Francis Joseph |title=A History of the Athenaeum of Ohio: A History of the Seminaries of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati |year=2006 |pages=115, 116, 118, 122, 125, 179, 181, 195, 211, 212, 214 }}{{Cite book |last=Hussey |first=M. Edward |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofseminar0000mill/page/47/mode/1up |title=A history of the seminaries of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, 1829-1979 |date=1978 |publisher=Mt. St. Mary's Seminary of the West |pages=52, 55, 56, 60 }} The institution was named for its patron, Pope Gregory the Great.{{Cite news |date=March 29, 1894 |title=St. Gregory Seminary |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/ohio/cincinnati/cincinnati-catholic-telegraph-register/1894/03-29/page-5 |work=Catholic Telegraph |pages=5 }}

In the summer of 1890, a 57-acre plot of land in Mount Washington was purchased by Albrinck under the instruction of Elder for $5,625 and construction on a building immediately begun, with hopes of classes being held in the structure in the fall. A strike action by construction tradesmen in Cincinnati caused the building to be competed nearly a year later, in 1891. In the meantime, classes were held at the parish school building of Holy Trinity Church under the leadership of the institution's first rector, John Albrinck.{{cite news |date=September 6, 1890 |title=Catholic News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/34205727/?match=1&terms=%22Gregory%20Seminary%22 |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |pages=16 |via=Newspapers.com }}

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By the fall of 1891, the brick building constructed under the supervision of Louis Picket was completed and ready for students. It was dedicated and hosted its first day of classes on September 8, 1891, with an enrollment of 28 students.{{Cite news |date=August 29, 1891 |title=Preparatory Seminary of St. Gregory |url=https://thecatholicnewsarchive.org/?a=d&d=TCT18910829-01.2.5&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------- |work=The Catholic Telegraph |pages=2 }}{{cite news |date=September 25, 1891 |title=Catholic News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/761097432/?match=1&terms=%22gregory%20seminary%22 |work=The Cincinnati Post |pages=4 |via=Newspapers.com }} Increasing enrollment required the expansion of the building, with the building of a north wing in 1892, a gymnasium in 1893, and a south wing housing dormitories, a study hall, laboratory space, and a chapel in 1895.{{cite news |date=March 15, 1894 |title=Will Enlarge Them |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/761231383/?match=1&terms=%22gregory%20seminary%22 |work=The Cincinnati Post |pages=1 |via=Newspapers.com }}{{Cite book |last= |url=https://archive.org/details/SouvenirAlbumCatholicCincinnati/page/n175/mode/1up |title=Souvenir album of American cities. Catholic churches of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio, edition |publisher=United States Church Album Publishing Co. |year=1896 |location=Cincinnati }}{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOkcR1vs3f0 |title=History of The Athenaeum of Ohio, Mount St. Mary's of the West, 1829-2016 Documentary film |date=August 21, 2016 |last=AHerbert |access-date=March 23, 2025 |via=YouTube }}

In early 1904, due to the cost of maintaining two separate seminary campuses straining already-stressed diocesan finances, the Mt. St. Mary complex in Price Hill was sold to the Sisters of the Good Shepherd for an orphanage, and plans to add on to the St. Gregory site to house the graduate-level students were made.{{Cite book |last=Lamott |first=John Henry |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofarchdio00lamo_0/page/293/mode/1up |title=History of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, 1821-1921 |date=1921 |pages=293 }} This plan was altered into the existing Mt. Washington campus housing the major seminary of Mt. St. Marys, with the St. Gregory preparatory program being made a day school at another site following a survey of the priests of the archdiocese.{{cite news |date=April 11, 1904 |title=Will Move To City |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/33295081/?match=1&terms=%22gregory%20seminary%22 |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |via=Newspapers.com }}{{cite news |date=March 25, 1904 |title=Priests of the Archdiocese Asked Their Opinion on the Seminary Situation |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/32410706/?match=1&terms=%22gregory%20seminary%22 |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |pages=12 |via=Newspapers.com }} This was despite the formal written opposition of the faculty of St. Gregory.

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In June 1904, a three-year lease was signed for St. Gregory to use the buildings of the Perin homestead in downtown Cincinnati, located at 220 West Seventh Street — within a block of the Cathedral of St. Peter in Chains.{{Cite news |date=June 23, 1904 |title=St. Gregory Seminary New Home Secured for the Preparatory College |url=https://thecatholicnewsarchive.org/?a=d&d=TCT19040623-01.2.41&srpos=89&e=-------en-20-TCT-81-byDA-txt-txIN-%22Gregory+Seminary%22------- |work=The Catholic Telegraph |pages=5 }} This transition allowed students to live with their families, or with host families in the city if students came from a significant distance to attend classes, which in turn drastically decreased tuition costs.

Due to the time limit placed by the three-year agreement for use of the property, by 1906 there was much speculation as to the fate of the preparatory program.{{Cite news |date=May 17, 1906 |title=St. Gregory Seminary |url=https://thecatholicnewsarchive.org/?a=d&d=TCT19060517-01.2.50&srpos=122&e=-------en-20-TCT-121-byDA-txt-txIN-%22Gregory+Seminary%22------- |work=The Catholic Telegraph |pages=5 }} While plans were made to construct a new college building at the recently acquired diocesan property in Norwood once sufficient money was available, the lease of the Perin property expired and the seminary was closed on June 27, 1907. Also contributing to the closure was low enrollment due parents being hesitant to entrust their boys to host families. However, this closure was not meant to be permanent.{{Cite news |date=November 8, 1906 |title=St. Gregory Seminary Goes to Norwood |url=https://thecatholicnewsarchive.org/?a=d&d=TCT19061108-01.2.40&srpos=135&e=-------en-20-TCT-121-byDA-txt-txIN-%22Gregory+Seminary%22------- |work=The Catholic Telegraph |pages=5 }}{{cite news |date=June 28, 1907 |title=Seminary Abandoned |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/33324451/?match=1&terms=%22gregory%20seminary%22 |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |via=Newspapers.com }} In the meantime, archbishop Henry Moeller instructed young men who were interested in preparing for major seminary to attend either Xavier University or the University of Dayton, being against the idea of merging the institution for preparatory seminarians with that for students of graduate-level theology.{{cite news |date=August 30, 1907 |title=Will Be Five Assessments |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/33339414/?match=1&terms=%22gregory%20seminary%22 |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |pages=5 |via=Newspapers.com }}

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Following the relocation of the major seminary program to the new Norwood campus in 1923, the preparatory program of St. Gregory was revived and took over the Mt. Washington site that had been purchased for it over four decades earlier.{{Cite news |date=September 6, 1923 |title=St. Gregory Preparatory Seminary |url=https://thecatholicnewsarchive.org/?a=d&d=TCT19230906-01.2.35&srpos=185&e=-------en-20-TCT-181-byDA-txt-txIN-%22Gregory+Seminary%22------- |work=The Catholic Telegraph |pages=4 }}{{cite news |date=September 7, 1923 |title=New Seminary to Open |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/34611569/?match=1&terms=%22gregory%20seminary%22 |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |pages=13 |via=Newspapers.com }} On September 17, 1923, the institution resumed classes with 82 students in philosophical classes and 18 in the classical course.{{Cite news |title=Mt. St. Gregory Seminary |url=https://thecatholicnewsarchive.org/?a=d&d=TCT19230920-01.2.61&srpos=186&e=-------en-20-TCT-181-byDA-txt-txIN-%22Gregory+Seminary%22------- |work=The Catholic Telegraph |pages=5 }} This was despite objections from clergy of Cincinnati, who were expecting the minor seminary to move to the more urban, less spacious Norwood campus.

In 1926, discussion began concerning a new building on the campus, due in large part to the inadequacy and unsafe condition of the existing high school facilities.{{cite news |date=August 22, 1929 |title=Archbishop Issues Statement Explaining Necessity For Erection of Building at St. Gregory |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/104697933/?match=1&terms=%22gregory%20seminary%22 |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |pages=28 |via=Newspapers.com }} 17 additional acres of land adjoining the southern portion of the property were purchased and construction began in November 1927. The new building, the oldest portion of the existing structure, contained both faculty and student housing, classrooms, an infirmary, gymnasium, as well as a convent wing for the Sisters of the Precious Blood who took care of domestic work for the seminary.{{cite news |date=August 16, 1926 |title=To Complete Plans for $1,000,000 Catholic Seminary in Mt. Washington |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/100492051/?match=1&terms=%22gregory%20seminary%22 |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |pages=12 |via=Newspapers.com }}{{cite news |date=May 20, 1927 |title=Catholic |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/761683528/?match=1&terms=%22gregory%20seminary%22 |work=The Cincinnati Post |pages=3 |via=Newspapers.com }} Construction on the Lombard-style granite high school wing was performed by Joseph Neyer, the first stage of a building that was planned to have a matching wing for the college department, joined in the middle by a chapel.{{Cite news |date=May 31, 1928 |title=Seminary High School Contracts Announced |url=https://thecatholicnewsarchive.org/?a=d&d=TCT19280531-01.2.3&srpos=329&e=-------en-20-TCT-321-byDA-txt-txIN-%22Gregory+Seminary%22------- |work=The Catholic Telegraph |pages=1 }}{{cite news |date=April 25, 1928 |title=Real Estate and Building |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/100485425/?match=1&terms=%22gregory%20seminary%22 |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |pages=27 |via=Newspapers.com }} The new wing, costing over $1,000,000 was dedicated by Archbishop John McNicholas on October 6, 1929, with a crowd of 10,000 spectators.{{cite news |date=October 6, 1929 |title=Clergy of Entire Archdiocese to Assist in Dedication Of St. Gregory Seminary |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/100526914/?match=1&terms=convent |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |pages=26 |via=Newspapers.com }}{{Cite news |date=October 10, 1929 |title=New Seminary Building Symbolic of Spiritual Structure to be Erected in Student's Minds |url=https://thecatholicnewsarchive.org/?a=d&d=TCT19291010-01.1.8&e=-------en-20-TCT-421-byDA-txt-txIN-%22Gregory+Seminary%22------- |work=The Catholic Telegraph }}

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In September 1928, St. Gregory, along with Mt. St. Mary and the newly founded Teacher's College of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, was incorporated into the Athenaeum of Ohio, an entity created to oversee the educational endeavors of the Archdiocese. This was due in part to new teacher certification requirements issued by the Ohio Department of Education that same year.{{cite news |date=July 30, 1928 |title=Athenaeum |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/103031448/?terms=%22Athenaeum%20of%20Ohio%22 |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |pages=5 |via=Newspapers.com }}

In 1931, the high school department was certified as "the equivalent of a Public High School of the First Grade and as such merits ... recognition." The high school and college programs began the 1931 school year with 260 students, educating students from the dioceses of Toledo, Fort Wayne, Nashville, Grand Rapids, Wheeling, Charleston, and Sacramento in addition to those from Cincinnati itself and the Maryknoll Society.

From 1925 to 1940, approximately 800 students entered Saint Gregory, with 150 of these going on to be ordained. During the time of the Great Depression, enrollment declined to 222, and this drop continued into the war, with the total student body numbering under 200. By the end of World War II, enrollment rose again to over 300.

From its founding in September 1935 to 1942, the Institutum Divi Thomae under the leadership of George Sperti was located at St. Gregory.{{cite news |date=June 11, 1940 |title=New Building to be Erected for the Institutum Divi Thomae |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/100334925/?match=1&terms=%22gregory%20seminary%22 |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |pages=10 |via=Newspapers.com }} During the Second World War, silkworms were raised in the facility in an attempt to challenge Japan's domination of the silk trade in a form of economic warfare.{{cite news |date=December 17, 1941 |title=Silkworms Join in Economic War on Japan |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/762317572/?match=1&terms=%22gregory%20seminary%22 |work=The Cincinnati Post |pages=27 |via=Newspapers.com }}

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In July 1952, Archbishop Karl Alter announced plans to complete the planned second wing of St, Gregory and renovate the existing 1890 building, in conjunction with major renovations at St. Peter In Chains Cathedral.{{cite news |date=July 12, 1952 |title=Will Expend $3 Million in Restoring Cathedral |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/100598812/?match=1&terms=%22gregory%20seminary%22 |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |via=Newspapers.com }} Growth in enrollmet at St. Gregory had resulted in acute overcrowding, especially in the chapel. When the original worship space had been outgrown, multiple classrooms had been merged and a sacristy made of canvas tarping. The overall arrangement was described as "unchurchly". Dining facilities as well were especially overcrowded. Ground was broken on the first building of the new construction, a boiler house, in November 1955 and completed a year later. Soon after its completion, on March 31, 1956 — Good Friday — a fire broke out in the boiler room of the old brick seminary building at 1:30am, likely due to a concentration of power lines there. Loss of life was prevented by the fact that students were at home assisting in parishes rather than living at the seminary.{{cite news |date=April 1, 1956 |title=$500,000 Seminary Fire Burns 20 Hours; Valuable Art Works Are Lost In Flames |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/101204899/?match=1&terms=%22gregory%20seminary%22 |via=Newspapers.com }} Over 10,000 volumes of the classical library of the seminary and faculty, as well as the chapel and kitchen, were destroyed by the 20-hour fire. The long duration was in part because of low water pressure in fire hydrants in the area.

Following the fire, a crucifix which had previously hung in an outdoor shrine on the property was restored by Fr. John Stenz. While the main body of the figure of Christ was intact, its arms were destroyed. It was hung above the entrance to the seminary dining hall with the words "You are my arms and my hands" as a caption beneath it.{{cite news |date=September 6, 1956 |title=Crucifix, fire damaged, restored by seminary artist |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/101231709/ |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |pages=10 |via=Newspapers.com }}

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Alter announced that the already-planned expansion project would be accelerated due to the fire, a temporary brick building serving as an interim cafeteria was built where the south wing of the old building had stood before the blaze. This building is now the Bartlett Pastoral Center at Mt. St. Mary.{{Cite web |title=History |url=https://www.athenaeum.edu/about/history/ |access-date=March 20, 2025 |website=Athenaeum of Ohio |language=en-US }} Ground was broken by Alter for a new chapel that would house a dining hall and kitchen in its basement in October 1956.{{cite news |date=August 4, 1956 |title=Church A'Building |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/103692863/?match=1&terms=%22gregory%20seminary%22 |url-status= |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |pages=14 |via=Newspapers.com }}{{cite news |date=October 18, 1956 |title=Archbishop is Set to Break Ground for Seminary Hall |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/100911248/?match=1&terms=%22gregory%20seminary%22 |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |pages=43 |via=Newspapers.com }}{{cite news |date=October 19, 1956 |title=Ground Breaking |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/762742472/?match=1&terms=%22gregory%20seminary%22 |work=The Cincinnati Post |pages=6 |via=Newspapers.com }} The cornerstone of the new chapel was set on September 8, 1961, and the building was occupied a year later. During the course of construction, a niche in the atrium of the chapel was built for the Benjamin Haydon painting, Christ's Entry Into Jerusalem. The canvas was installed in the same month after being moved from the Norwood seminary campus.{{cite news |last=Russell |first=Ann |date=September 14, 1961 |title=Costly Picture Arrives Safely |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/101276801/ |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |pages=18 |via=Newspapers.com }} Also exhibited in the atrium is the only work of Juan de las Roelas in the western hemisphere, his rendition of the Liberation of St. Peter.{{cite news |last=Russell |first=Ann |date=May 23, 1965 |title=Seminary Theory: Merge the Spiritual, Cultural |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/100326524/ |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |pages=10–B |via=Newspapers.com }} Both paintings remain there to this day. Above the main entrance and at the right-hand altar are mosaics by Vatican artisans, featuring the Pietà and the Blessed Virgin Mary.{{Cite book |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Saint_Gregory_Seminary_of_the_Athenaeum_of_Ohio,_1964.pdf |title=Saint Gregory Seminary of the Athenaeum of Ohio |date=1964 |publisher=Athenaeum of Ohio }}

The chapel itself was designed by William R. Perry in the Italo-Byzantine style, drawing inspiration from the Basilica Ursiana and San Giovanni Evangelista, both in Ravenna. The forty-foot-high, four-ton reredos of the chapel is made of african mahogany and holds nineteen polychrome statues of saints carved by German artist August Schmidt.{{Cite news |last=Bauer |first=Cheryl |date=April 11, 1980 |title=Spirit endures as seminary closes |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/ohio/cincinnati/forest-hills-journal/1980/04-11/page-2 |work=Forest Hills Journal |pages=2 }} Featured prominently are Pope Gregory I, the patron of the chapel, Francis de Sales, the primary patron of the archdiocese, and Robert Bellarmine, a secondary patron of the archdiocese. The altar candlesticks and tabernacle are bronze with champlevé enamel, and the stained glass windows were created in Munich.{{Cite news |last=Ball |first=Judy |date=April 4, 1980 |title=Treasure-filled St. Greg's plans farewell 'open house' |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/ohio/cincinnati/cincinnati-catholic-telegraph/1980/04-04/page-16 |work=The Catholic Telegraph |pages=16 }}{{Cite web |last=Telegraph |first=The Catholic |date=November 20, 2019 |title=Did you know? The Athenaeum of Ohio/Mount St. Mary's Seminary of the West |url=https://www.thecatholictelegraph.com/did-you-know-the-athenaeum-of-ohio-mount-st-marys-seminary-of-the-west/60656 |access-date=March 20, 2025 |website=Catholic Telegraph |language=en-US }}

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The new wing was blessed and the altar in the chapel of St. Gregory was consecrated on May 25, 1963, by Archbishop Alter in the presence of Egidio Vagnozzi, then-Apostolic Delegate to the United States.{{cite news |date=May 25, 1963 |title=Altar Consecration Set for Saturday |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/101676018/?match=1&terms=%22gregory%20seminary%22 |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |via=Newspapers.com }} The chapel, with a capacity for 500, was formally consecrated by Cardinal Albert Meyer on August 27, 1963.{{cite news |date=August 28, 1963 |title=Addition at St. Gregory |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1032153822/?match=1&terms=%22gregory%20seminary%22 |work=The Cincinnati Post |via=Newspapers.com }} Estimates for the cost of the expansion program of 1955-1963 exceed five million dollars. The general architrctural design for both the 1926 and 1963 phases of the building was by Maginnis & Walsh, the same firm who designed the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

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By 1962, both the freshman and sophomore classes of the high school program had been discontinued and replaced with the Gregorian Pre-Seminary Training Program, where participants would attend diocesan high schools and live at home under the guidance of priest-moderators.{{Cite news |date=January 8, 1970 |title=Speaks on Role of Priest |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.32142378 |work=NCWC News Service |pages=9 }} This was due in part to rising maintenance costs for the seminary as well as small percentages of first and second-year high school students remaining in seminary until ordination. The implementation of Optatam Totius at St. Gregory resulted in relaxed rules regarding cigarette smoking, telephone use, and visitors to the seminary. Academically, it led to a greater array of elective courses in science being added to the liberal arts program and Bachelor of Arts degrees in English and history being offered. Previously, philosophy had been the only degree program. In 1969 and 1979 the junior and senior years of the high school program were phased out, leaving only the undergraduate college program remaining. By 1979, only 55 students were enrolled at St. Gregory.

In March 1978, a committee was formed by the board of the Athenaeum to study the future of the college in light of declining enrollment.{{cite news |date=March 14, 1978 |title=Seminary faces possible closing |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/764198367/?match=1&terms=%22gregory%20seminary%22 |work=The Cincinnati Post |pages=11 |via=Newspapers.com }} In July 1979, it was announced that St. Gregory would close, with remaining students transferring to the college program of the Pontifical College Josephinum in Worthington, Ohio.{{cite news |date=July 6, 1979 |title=St. Gregory's to Close after '80 School Year |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/764172120/?match=1&terms=%22gregory%20seminary%22 |work=The Cincinnati Post |pages=39 |via=Newspapers.com }} The last class of 11 students graduated from St. Gregory on May 16, 1980.{{cite news |last=Penix |first=Len |date=May 17, 1980 |title=Graduates last of St. Gregory: Enrollment closes seminary |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/764206360/?match=1&terms=%22gregory%20seminary%22 |work=The Cincinnati Post |pages=5D |via=Newspapers.com }}{{Cite news |last=Bookser Barkley |first=Elizabeth |date=May 23, 1980 |title=St. Gregory seminary closes; 'Vision, mission' continuing |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/ohio/cincinnati/cincinnati-catholic-telegraph/1980/05-23/page-1 }}

Around the time of the closing of the seminary, officials in Anderson Township expressed interest in turning the soon-vacant building into a hospital or nursing home.{{Cite news |date=July 10, 1979 |title=St. Gregory Seminary closing in 1980 |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/ohio/cincinnati/forest-hills-journal/1979/07-10/page-1 |work=Forest Hills Journal |pages=1 }}{{Cite news |title=Seminary suggested as retirement home |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/ohio/cincinnati/forest-hills-journal/1979/08-07/page-1 |work=Forest Hills Journal |pages=1 }} However, the Norwood campus of Mt. St. Mary had also fallen into disrepair at this time, and renovations would have cost over a million dollars.{{cite news |last=Kaufman |first=Ben |date=May 27, 1980 |title='There's No Shortage of Vocations' At Monastery |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/100882624/?match=1&terms=%22gregory%20seminary%22 |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |pages=29 |via=Newspapers.com }} Additionally, a feasibility study found that the physical campus and versatility of the property were preferable to the Norwood campus.{{Cite book |last=Endres |first=David J. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/on1257446642 |title=A bicentennial history of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati: the Catholic Church in southwest Ohio, 1821-2021 |date=2021 |publisher=Little Miami Publishing Co |isbn=978-1-941083-27-7 |edition=1st |location=Milford, Ohio |pages=203 |oclc=on1257446642 }} This led to the major seminary being moved to the Mount Washington campus in September 1981 following extensive remodeling. The Lay Pastoral Ministry and permanent diaconate programs, the other institutions remaining under the control of the Athenaeum, also moved to the campus.The Athenaeum of Ohio 2010-2012 Catalog, p. 6. The original 1890 building, then called Fenwick Hall and being used for faculty housing, was demolished in June 1981 due to concerns regarding energy efficiency.{{Cite news |title=Historic rubble |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/ohio/cincinnati/cincinnati-catholic-telegraph/1981/06-12/page-6 |work=The Catholic Telegraph |pages=6 }}

File:Saint_Gregory_Students_Singing_1964.jpg

The seminary schola, or Latin choir, of St. Gregory frequently sang at special Masses and other events throughout its existence, including for the silver jubilee of Bishop Elder's ordination, school dedications in the archdiocese, and even a concert at Cincinnati Music Hall.{{cite news |date=June 4, 1896 |title=Preparations for the Great Jubilee Marking the Fiftieth Anniversary of Archbishop Elder's Ordination to the Priesthood |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/35032506/?match=1&terms=%22gregory%20seminary%22 |work=Cincinnati Enquirer |pages=8 |via=Newspapers.com }}{{Cite news |date=May 24, 1928 |title=Dedicate School at Deer Park, O. |url=https://thecatholicnewsarchive.org/?a=d&d=TCT19280524-01.2.13&srpos=110&e=-------en-20-TCT-101-byDA-txt-txIN-%22Gregory+seminary%22+%22choir%22------- |work=The Catholic Telegraph }}{{cite news |date=May 15, 1968 |title=Shaw, Ormandy In for Festival |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/104489494/?match=1&terms=%22gregory%20seminary%22 |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |pages=11 |via=Newspapers.com }} Oratorical contests and performances of Shakespeare and other dramatic works were also a common pastime, many being staged in an outdoor ampitheater behind the seminary under the instruction of Father George Berwanger, an English professor.{{cite news |date=May 13, 1930 |title=Victors are Announced Carl R. Steinbicker Wins Palm at St. Gregory Seminary |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/100479459/?match=1&terms=%22gregory%20seminary%22 |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |pages=6 |via=Newspapers.com }}{{Cite news |date=December 5, 1895 |title=Church News |url=https://thecatholicnewsarchive.org/?a=d&d=TCT18951205-01.2.20&srpos=16&e=-------en-20-TCT-1-byDA-txt-txIN-%22Gregory+seminary%22+%22choir%22------- |work=The Catholic Telegraph }}{{cite news |last=Kelley |first=Lucy |date=February 6, 1959 |title=About Shakespeare |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/763200500/?match=1&terms=%22gregory%20seminary%22 |work=The Cincinnati Post |via=Newspapers.com }}{{cite news |date=May 8, 1955 |title=Rehearsal Conference at St. Gregory Seminary |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/101056300/?match=1&terms=%22gregory%20seminary%22 |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |page=Section 3 Page 7 |via=Newspapers.com }}

Sports were also played against the teams of other Cincinnati academic institutions. Seminarians played basketball against the teams of other local Catholic schools, including St. Rita School for the Deaf, St. Francis Seminary, and the Covington Latin School.{{cite news |date=March 14, 1963 |title=Lose Final Game |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/103807146/?match=1&terms=%22gregory%20seminary%22 |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |via=Newspapers.com }}{{cite news |date=February 12, 1967 |title=St. Gregory 59, St. Francis 58 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/100656797/?match=1&terms=%22gregory%20seminary%22 |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |via=Newspapers.com }}{{cite news |date=February 5, 1967 |title=St. Gregory 63, Cov. Latin 55 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/100655089/?match=1&terms=%22gregory%20seminary%22 |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |pages=6–H |via=Newspapers.com }} The Saint Gregory baseball team played against their graduate counterparts at Mount Saint Mary, as well as Xavier University.{{Cite news |date=May 22, 1924 |title=St. Gregory Seminary |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/ohio/cincinnati/cincinnati-catholic-telegraph/1924/05-22/page-5 |work=The Catholic Telegraph |pages=5 }}{{Cite news |date=May 19, 1924 |title=Saints to play Seminary Outfit |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/ohio/cincinnati/cincinnati-commercial-tribune/1924/05-19/page-7 |work=Cincinnati Commercial Tribune |pages=7 }}{{Cite news |date=May 7, 1926 |title=Seminarians Humbled by St. Xavier Nine |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/ohio/cincinnati/cincinnati-times-star/1926/05-07/page-31 }}

Priest-professors of St. Gregory, when not teaching or engaged in other duties related to their work, had hobbies including painting, woodcarving, and furniture-making. One priest, Fr. Vincent Lewis, kept a flock of 250 pet parakeets and other birds, teaching them Latin and Greek phrases.{{cite news |last=Cochran |first=Ron |date=November 13, 1955 |title=Priests' Hobbies |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/101066540/?match=1&terms=%22gregory%20seminary%22%20AND%20%22birds%22 |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |pages=34 |via=Newspapers.com }}

File:Saint_Gregory_Garden_Courtyard_1964.jpg

The 1929 building included a courtyard modeled after a European monastic cloister, with twelve statues of saints surrounding a figure of St. Gregory the Great, the seminary patron, atop a fountain.{{cite news |last=Lawwill |first=Phillip E. |date=January 5, 1930 |title=Landscaping To Begin at St. Gregory Seminary Tomorrow |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/100536433/ |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |pages=14 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 20, 2025 |access-date=March 20, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250320192602/https://www.newspapers.com/image/100536433/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |date=October 15, 1930 |title=Seminary Recieves [sic] Gift |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/100549399/ |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |pages=13 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 20, 2025 |access-date=March 20, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250320192557/https://www.newspapers.com/image/100549399/ |url-status=live }} The garden and statues, along with the altar and furnishings of the archbishop's suite, were provided by former Ohio State Senator Robert J. O'Brien.{{cite news |date=December 9, 1930 |title=Men and Matters |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/100477399/ |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |pages=15 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 20, 2025 |access-date=March 20, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250320192557/https://www.newspapers.com/image/100477399/ |url-status=live }} The two other courtyards, formed by the 1963 wing of the building, include brass reliefs of the Stations of the Cross in one garden, along with a statue of the Virgin Mary in the other.

1. Fr. John C. Albrinck, Ph.D., 1890–1892
2. Fr. J. Henry Brinkmeyer, 1892–1907
3. Fr. Joseph S. Seiber, 1923–1926
4. Fr. Urban J. Vehr, J.C.L., 1926–1929
5. Fr. Robert J. Sherry, J.C.D., 1929–1937
6. Fr. Walter A. Roddy, S.T.D., 1937–1949
7. Fr. William J. Gauche, S.T.D, Ph.D., 1949–1954
8. Fr. Robert J. Sherry, J.C.D., 1954–1961
9. Fr. Robert J. Krumholtz, S.T.D., 1961–1968
10. Fr. Daniel E. Pilarczyk, S.T.D, Ph.D., 1968–1974
11. Fr. Francis W. Voellmecke, S.T.L., 1974{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/officialcatholic1975unse/page/199/mode/1up |title=The official Catholic directory for the year of Our Lord 1975 |date=1975 |publisher=New York : P.J. Kenedy |others=Boston Public Library |pages=199 }}-1980{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/officialcatholic1980unse/page/214/mode/1up |title=The official Catholic directory for the year of Our Lord 1980 |date=1980 |publisher=New York : P.J. Kenedy |others=Boston Public Library |pages=214 }}{{Cite web |last=Telegraph |first=The Catholic |date=May 17, 2022 |title=Obituary: Father Francis W. Voellmecke |url=https://www.thecatholictelegraph.com/obituary-father-francis-w-voellmecke/81114 |access-date=February 21, 2025 |website=Catholic Telegraph |language=en-US |archive-date=January 25, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250125090119/https://www.thecatholictelegraph.com/obituary-father-francis-w-voellmecke/81114 |url-status=live }}

• Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archdiocese of Washington{{Cite web |last1=Tarbox |first1=Patrick |date=February 12, 2025 |title=Athenaeum of Ohio Alum Appointed Bishop of Sioux City |url=https://www.athenaeum.edu/athenaeum-of-ohio-alum-appointed-bishop-of-sioux-city/ |work=Athenaeum of Ohio |access-date=March 20, 2025 |archive-date=February 20, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250220041055/https://www.athenaeum.edu/athenaeum-of-ohio-alum-appointed-bishop-of-sioux-city/ |url-status=live }}
• Cardinal Samuel Stritch, Archdiocese of Chicago{{cite news |date=June 9, 1958 |title=The Bishop of Charity |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,868506,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110131184353/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,868506,00.html |archive-date=January 31, 2011 |work=Time Magazine }}
• Archbishop Daniel Edward Pilarczyk, Archdiocese of Cincinnati, also served as rector from 1968 to 1974{{Cite news |date=November 2, 1982 |title=BISHOP PILARCZYK NAMED TO HEAD CINCINNATI SEE |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.32145661 |work=NCWC News Bulletin |pages=12 |archive-date=February 26, 2025 |access-date=March 20, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250226132608/https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.32145661 |url-status=live }}
• Archbishop Francis Beckman, Archdiocese of DubuqueCurtis, Georgina Pell (1961). The American Catholic Who's Who. Vol. XIV. Grosse Pointe, Michigan: Walter Romig.
• Archbishop Urban John Vehr, Archdiocese of Denver, also served as rector from 1926 to 1929
• Archbishop Paul Francis Leibold, Archdiocese of Cincinnati
• Bishop Paul Vincent Donovan, Diocese of Kalamazoo{{Cite web |last=MLive |first=Julie Mack {{!}} special to |date=April 29, 2011 |title=Former Roman Catholic Bishop Paul V. Donovan, who led the Diocese of Kalamazoo for 23 years, dead at 86 |url=https://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/2011/04/former_bishop_paul_donovan_who.html |access-date=March 20, 2025 |website=mlive |language=en |archive-date=December 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241227235921/https://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/2011/04/former_bishop_paul_donovan_who.html |url-status=live }}
• Bishop Robert Daniel Conlon, Diocese of Steubenville{{Cite web |title=Bishop R. Daniel Conlon |url=https://diosteub.org/bishop-r-daniel-conlon |access-date=February 20, 2025 |website=Diocese of Steubenville |language=en |archive-date=February 20, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250220041126/https://diosteub.org/bishop-r-daniel-conlon |url-status=live }}
• Bishop Michael Joseph Green, Diocese of Reno{{Cite news |date=September 2, 1982 |title=Bishop Green, former head of Reno diocese, dies at 64 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.32145619 |work=National Catholic News Service |pages=4 |archive-date=February 26, 2025 |access-date=March 20, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250226132608/https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.32145619 |url-status=live }}
• Bishop George John Rehring, Diocese of Toledo{{Cite news |date=August 10, 1937 |title=2 American bishops announced in word from Vatican City |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.32138043 |work=NCWC News Service |pages=1 }}
• Bishop Henry Joseph Grimmelsmann, Diocese of Evansville
• Bishop Michael William Warfel, Diocese of Great Falls-Billings{{Cite web |title=Biography |url=https://diocesegfb.org/home-page/bishopwarfel/biography/ |access-date=February 20, 2025 |website=The Diocese of Great Falls-Billings |language=en-US |archive-date=February 20, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250220043434/https://diocesegfb.org/home-page/bishopwarfel/biography/ |url-status=live }}
• Bishop Edward A. McCarthy, Diocese of Phoenix{{cite news |date=June 16, 1965 |title=McCarthy Elevated in Glittering Two-Hour Rites |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1032619528/?match=1&terms=%22bishop%20edward%20mccarthy%22 |work=The Cincinnati Post |pages=39 |via=Newspapers.com }}
• Bishop Alphonse John Smith, Diocese of Nashville
• Bishop Clarence George Issenmann, Diocese of Cleveland{{Cite web |date=May 11, 2018 |title=ISSENMANN, CLARENCE G. {{!}} Encyclopedia of Cleveland History {{!}} Case Western Reserve University |url=https://case.edu/ech/articles/i/issenmann-clarence-g |access-date=February 20, 2025 |website=case.edu |language=en }}
• Bishop Anthony John King Mussio, Diocese of Steubenville
• Bishop Joseph H. Albers, Diocese of Lansing{{Cite book |last=various |url=https://archive.org/details/mountsaintmaryse0000vari/page/n23/mode/1up |title=Mount saint mary seminary of the west |date=1929 |others=Internet Archive }}
• Bishop Anthony Pilla, auxiliary bishop, Diocese of Cleveland{{Cite web |title=Bishop Pilla {{!}} Catholic Diocese of Cleveland {{!}} Cleveland, OH |url=https://www.dioceseofcleveland.org/about/our-bishops/bishop-pilla |access-date=February 20, 2025 |website=www.dioceseofcleveland.org |language=en }}
• Bishop Carl K. Moeddel, auxiliary bishop, Archdiocese of Cincinnati{{Cite web |last=Telegraph |first=The Catholic |date=August 25, 2009 |title=Retired Auxiliary Bishop Carl K. Moeddel dies at 71 |url=https://www.thecatholictelegraph.com/retired-auxiliary-bishop-carl-k-moeddel-dies-at-71/169 |access-date=February 20, 2025 |website=Catholic Telegraph |language=en-US }}

== References ==

{{reflist}}{{Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1890 establishments in Ohio

Category:1980 disestablishments in Ohio

Category:Catholic high schools in the United States

Category:Catholic minor seminaries in the United States

Category:Christian organizations disestablished in 1980

Category:Christian organizations established in 1890

Category:Defunct Catholic seminaries in the United States

Category:Educational institutions disestablished in 1980

Category:Educational institutions established in 1890

Category:Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati

Category:Seminaries and theological colleges in Ohio

Category:Defunct high schools in Ohio