On Sept. 6, 1894, Catholics both wealthy and working class gathered to celebrate the opening of the Archdiocese of St. Paul’s new major seminary on the bluffs above the Mississippi River. Although it was not quite finished, The St. Paul Seminary represented the culmination of a vision of two men: Archbishop John Ireland and James J. Hill. Their financial contributions also combined to make it a reality.
With the work of Father Mike Tix and five other pastors in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the archdiocese now has a web survey for pastors to get a snapshot of their parish. After a conversation between Father Tix and Deacon Rip Riordan about the idea, Father Tix gathered a pilot and development group of pastors to form the survey in 2016.
Currying favor with the people of Minneapolis — Catholics and non-Catholics alike — was behind the name change, according to documents in the archdiocesan archives, and civic influence and Church finances had as much to do with the modification as did the sense that people in both cities and the suburbs saw the Twin Cities as a metropolitan area.
