A banner year for seminarians for the Diocese of Dallas will be celebrated Saturday, October 1, at the 2011 Seminarian Welcome Dinner at the Farimont Hotel in downtown Dallas. The Most Rev. Daniel Flores, Bishop of Brownsville, will be the featured speaker.

The event is especially significant because our diocese has 70 seminarians, a record number and an increase of 14 over 2010. In addition to our Dallas seminarians, seminarians from eleven other dioceses who are in formation at Holy Trinity Seminary will be welcomed.

Bishop Flores is among seven bishop alumni of Holy Trinity Seminary. He was ordained in 1988 for the Diocese of Corpus Christi and was named Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit in November of 2006. In December 2009 he was named Bishop of Brownsville.

An indication of the dramatic increase in priestly vocations is the fact that Holy Trinity will have 67 seminarians as compared to 21 in 2007. The Lord has truly blessed us with this very fine group of young men.

Please continue to pray for vocations and remember to encourage young people to consider a vocation to the priesthood and religious life.