Emmanuelle Ann C. Ramos

UST Central Seminary

The history of the Central Seminary can rightly be traced back to the establishment of the University in 1611. The Colegio of Santo Tomas originally offered those courses which were required as preparation for the priesthood. Consequently, many of its students applied for Holy Orders. In the 18th and 19th centuries, however, additional faculties were opened (Canon Law and Civil Law in 1734, and Medicine and Pharmacy in 1871) which caused an increase in the enrollment of lay students. At the same time, the number of candidates for the priesthood decreased significantly. This compelled the Archbishop of Manila to request in 1894 that special privileges be given to clerics, and in particular that they be provided with separate living quarters. Since the other four dioceses of the Philippines were at the time suffragan dioceses of Manila, the archbishop was in fact asking the University to open a national or central seminary.The termination of the Spanish Royal Patronage in 1896, and the slow and painful reorganization of the Philippine Church in the first three decades of the present century, delayed the plans of establishing a national seminary at UST. It was only on November 27, 1928 when the Central Seminary was formally erected as an integral part of the University of Santo Tomas. By the end of 1933, the Seminary was transferred from Intramuros to the new campus of the University at Sampaloc. In the same year, the seminary was withdrawn from the immediate jurisdiction of the Rector Magnificus and placed under the direction of its own Rector.The new Seminary Building soon proved to be too small to accommodate the increasing number of seminarians. A spacious annex was built in 1956 which raised the capacity of the Seminary to 145 places. The new building has its own chapel and gymnasium, bowling alleys and swimming pool. Two basketball courts and two tennis courts in the grounds complement the sports facilities.