Ahead of Hurricane Milton, Miami seminarians, clergy pray

By Tom Tracy - Florida Catholic

MIAMI | Seminarians and priests around the Archdiocese of Miami said on Wednesday Oct. 9, 2024, they were praying for Florida, as one of the strongest hurricanes ever to form in the Gulf of Mexico was set to strike Florida’s west coast that same night.

“I presided at Mass this morning for an end to storms,” said Father Matthew Gomez, past vocations director for the Archdiocese of Miami.

Now a dean of Propaedeutic Program at St. John Vianney College Seminary in Miami, Father Gomez said while classes at the seminaries have been postponed, it goes without saying that the clergy and seminarians are united in prayer as Category 4 Hurricane Milton advanced toward a landfall.

Newly ordained Father Milton Martinez, director of vocations for the Archdiocese of Miami, said seminarians will remain in their residences during the storm.

All three seminary communities—St. John Vianney in Miami, St. Vincent de Paul in Boynton Beach, and Redemptoris Mater in Miami—"are praying for all those in the direct path of Hurricane Milton,” Father Martinez said.

In addition, some local clergy living in evacuation zones in the Diocese of St. Petersburg had already left the area and were staying at other rectories outside the evacuation zone. One of the state’s Catholic seminaries on the east coast of Florida had also offered emergency lodging to its seminarians and their families this week, according to Father Chuck Dornquast.

Father Dornquast is president of the National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors and serves as vocations director for the Diocese of St. Petersburg.

News media reported throughout the week of heavy outbound traffic as Tampa-area residents fled to other parts of the state, causing congestion on I-4 going toward Orlando and on I-75 going towards Broward and Miami-Dade Counties.

Hurricane Milton has already been described as historically one of the most powerful storms in the Gulf of Mexico and has twice garnered Category 5 strength as of Tuesday Oct. 8, 2024.

Milton made landfall near Siesta Key, in the Sarasota area, as a Category 3 major hurricane around 8 p.m. Wednesday Oct. 9, causing considerable storm surge and wind damage throughout the region and across Central Florida before moving inland, remaining a Category 2 hurricane as it impacted Central Florida cities such as Orlando and Daytona Beach before moving out of the state into the Atlantic.

The dioceses of Venice and St. Petersburg are likely to be impacted, along with Orlando and other Florida regions.

The storm comes on the heels of another major hurricane: Helene, which garnered Category 4 major hurricane status just before landfall along the Florida Panhandle Sept. 26. The 500-mile-wide storm then brought catastrophic flooding and destruction through Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

Even before Milton made landfall in Florida, Peter Routsis-Arroyo, the CEO of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami, said emergency response resources will already be stretched thin in the wake of this storm and that parts of the nation will be recovering from Helene for years to come.

The Archdiocese of Miami and Archbishop Thomas Wenski have launched an online relief fund appeal to support Catholic Charities’ efforts following the hurricane. One hundred percent of all funds received will be directed to provide humanitarian relief and assistance to those affected by the hurricane.

Gabe Tischler, emergency management specialist for Catholic Charities of Florida Inc., is working with government emergency resources to provide temporary housing for the workers in the town of Mayo.

For more information about the Catholic Charities of Miami Relief Fund for those affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton click here or visit Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami website.