The first section of the following comes from a June 12 story in the Moorpark Acorn.
The archdiocese of Los Angeles has appointed Monsignor Marc Trudeau to lead St. John’s Seminary as it continues its 75- year mission to educate and train Catholic priests from around the world for a vocation of serving the church.
Trudeau, who was ordained in 1991 and graduated from St. John’s Seminary, said it’s exciting to serve as the campus’ new rector and president.
Born and raised in Southern California, Trudeau was previously a pastor at St. Margaret Mary Alacoque Catholic Church, a large parish with 4,000 families in Lomita, Calif. He returned to the Camarillo seminary last year to serve as vice rector and director of internship programs.
Trudeau said he looks forward to teaching priests about the practical and spiritual aspects of their vocation….
“As priests, we propose the truth that we know comes to us, or is revealed to us, through the Holy Spirit, but that’s hard to understand in a world where truth is so subjective in our society,” Trudeau said.
Still, he said it is a privilege to work at the seminary and continue Monsignor Craig Cox’s vision for the campus. Cox served as rector of the seminary since 2007.
The school renovated three of its dormitories, stabilized its finances and revamped its program to put a stronger emphasis on multimedia in the classroom….
To read the entire story, click here.
From the website of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque parish:
Msgr. Marc Trudeau was born on May 20, 1957, the third (he has a twin brother who is 4 minutes older) of what would be 5 children. His family moved to Burbank where he grew up and attended St. Finbar Catholic Grade School and John Burroughs High School. He enrolled at CSUN, majoring in Biology but later transferred to USC and graduated with a BS in Biological Sciences in 1979. He entered USC Dental School in 1981. It was in his last year of Dental School that he began to think seriously about the priesthood.
Msgr. Marc entered St. John’s Seminary in 1986 and was ordained on June 8, 1991 for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. He was assigned as an associate pastor St. James the Less in La Crescenta and later St. Philip the Apostle in Pasadena. In 2001 he was named pastor to St. Pius X in Santa Fe Springs. In 2004 he was named priest secretary for Cardinal Roger Mahony.
After six years working for the Cardinal, he was named St. Margaret Mary Parish’s eighth Pastor on July 1, 2010. Msgr. Marc quickly started to organize the parish 75 Anniversary Celebration and install improvements, like the Sacred Heart Courtyard, to the whole parish facility.
Msgr. Marc pastorate was cut short as he was appointed by Archbishop Jose Gomez as Vice-Rector of St. John’s Seminary on July 1, 2013.
Well, Rector, please read St. John XXIII’s Veterum Sapientia. Will you conform the seminary to the Saint’s demands? After all, Latin is still the language of the Church. Will you mandate that all learn the TLM, as is anticipated under Summorum Pontificum and later issuances? You should do both, of course. Remember that you are not running a graduate program in sociology or political science or popular economics or home economics; you are training priests, aoo of whom should thoroughly understand the Church, its divine history and Tradition, as well as how to deal with modernity. Getting people to Heaven is what your charges should be all about, Rector, not how popular they might become, or how many Spanish or Tuareg or Portugese orTibetan Masses they can master. Teach the sacraments as they were learned and practiced by the Saints, not the slap-dash “Bugnini” version of the “change-everything church.” Too bad your Archbishop does so little to distinguish himself from his deeply flawed Cardinal predecessor.
Thanks for reminding me where I’ve seen this bad movie before.
Perhaps Kenneth M. Fisher can offer insight into this appointment?
I’ll offer insight. I have inside knowledge of the seminary. Msgr. Trudeau is a good man who is not an ideologue with an agenda. He and Bishop Gomez are on the same page (this is a good thing). He’ll follow Gomez’s direction. St. John’s is making a lot of positive changes since Gomez. New instructors are coming in while old ones are leaving. More emphasis will be placed on Eucharistic adoration, Marian devotion and popular piety in priestly training. Liturgical training will be more by the book. The men coming into the seminary the past few years are solid. The four men for L.A. ordained just last May are very faithful to Church teaching (they are definitely not 60’s libs). Gomez is working slow but his seminary will begin to produce orthodox fruit.
Del, I hope you’re right about a new attitude towards Eucharistic devotion. When Fr. Trudeau was a student at St. John’s, and then Msgr. George Niederauer was In charge at the Theologate – one could be negatively evaluated for being too public in such devotions. Many orthodox priests survived those years without taint, I hope Msgr. Trudeau is one of them.
Believe me, Bishop Gomez wants daily Eucharistic Adoration, Trudeau won’t block it. It will happen.
“The men coming in the past few years are solid.” = Not all of them Del. Something is still very wrong. A private sub culture supporting the homosexual agenda still exists. The proof is in the appalling statements made in the confessionals and when these recently ordained individuals are given important positions of authority in so called influential social justice roles then what just happened in Tijuana will always follow suit. There IS still a protective homosexual network which IS undermining Church teaching from within and a major housecleaning IS still in order.
“It is better that the truth be known than that scandal be covered up.” St. Augustine “Not to oppose error is to approve it; and not to defend truth is to suppress it; …
.
” It is better that scandals arise than the truth be suppressed.” — St. Gregory the Great
Matthew 7:14-16 “How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way that leadeth to life: and few there are that find it! Beware of false prophets, who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. By their fruits you shall know them….Douay-Rheims
https://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/jun/18/tijuana-priests-suspended-abuse-minors/
The subculture is slowly changing Catherine. The four recent ordinands are not homosexuals, far from it. Yes there are some homosexuals still at St. John’s but they are slowly being weeded out. Remember the Arch. Dio. also has 2 new (and solid) vocation directors. These men are the one’s responsible on who gets in. They are both good, masculine and orthodox priests.
Thank you Del for the encouraging news and I do mean that sincerely. I realize that you cannot turn the Titanic on a dime yet It is still very difficult to hear the words “being slowly weeded out ” especially when reflecting on the many years of enormous damage that has been done and which is still being done from within. And yes, even by some newly ordained priests from St. John’s who will now take a great toll out in parishes by clearly undermining and harming the faith of trusting Catholics. We are talking about forming men who will one day be at the helm and men of great faith. Hasn’t there been enough mamby pamby fearful hand holding and stalling of the removal of the moneychangers and charlatans with agendas? Jesus was SWIFT and EXACTING when he threw out the moneychangers. Isn’t Jesus our best example? Jesus did not say…. “Moneychangers. let me slowly weed you out.” Jesus THREW them out! These seminarians do need the Christlike example of wise, holy and swift leadership by a strong masculine man who is not afraid to have his no mean no and his yes mean yes. Daily Eucharistic Adoration and solid instructors could yield a new generation of holy men.
I agree with you that Msgr. Trudeau is not an ideologue. But there is also little doubt that there were better men that could have been appointed to this sensitive post.
Hope he makes required reading of the “Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition”.
Priests can’t teach or preach what they do not know.
Cardinal Muller, Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, told seminarians: to study the CCC, use it in the future, and that no Catholic home should be without one.
https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=10577
But since Abp Gomez does not listen to our Popes regarding telling everyone to read the CCC, I doubt he will listen to the Prefect of the CDF.
“What Catholics REALLY Believe SOURCE”
https://whatcatholicsreallybelieve.com/
The fact that Msgr. Trudeau was Cardinal Mahony’s secretary for five years gives me little confidence this is the good appointment that we need to turn around this long-suffering Archdiocese of 4,000,000 Catholics. To be convinced otherwise all I would need to know is that Fr Trudeau will teach Latin to his seminarians and that he us no longer associated with the nepharious Cardinal Mahony and accomplice Auxilliary Bishop Thomas Curry (Google him up, he is the guy that sent pederast priests to lawyers for treatment so they would have attorney-client privilege). Hope this is a good appointment.
Since Abp Gomez still gives Cardinal Mahony a place of honor – by keeping Mahony on the LA Diocese web site, even though Mahony cost the people of the Diocese over $700 million in payments to the abused due to his aiding and abetting ob abusers – – – –
And since Abp Gomez does NOT encourage the literate Laity to study at home the “Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition” (-which is available in many languages),
and study the Bible at home – on his Diocese web site –
It makes one wonder what is important to him – – – – ?
“….the CATECHISM has raised throughout the world, even among non-Christians,
and confirms its purpose of being presented as a full, complete exposition of Catholic doctrine,
enabling everyone to know what the Church professes, celebrates, lives, and prays in her daily life.” – Saint Pope John Paul II (CCC pg xiv)
Since teaching is his first priority/responsibility of the Abp, what does the Abp do with his time?
Can’t he take 5 minutes to direct his web master regarding a link to the Vatican for the CCC ?
Pretty soon the Protestants will know more than some Catholics regarding the Doctrine of the Faith.
https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/ccc_toc.htm
Tony…..I agree with you 100% about Mahoney’s cronies. Thought Archbishop Gomez had been enlightened! Guess not.
“6 years working as secretary to Cardinal Mahony…” The long shadow of Mahony continues to overshadow the LA Archdiocese. Even in retirement, he pulls the strings.
I agree. But what is Abp Gomez doing with his time?
He is not teaching about the CCC.
He is still honoring Mahony on his web site, and allowing Mahony to speak at events within the LA Diocese.
We don’t even need a Diocese Bishop who does very little or nothing.
Whoops. I want to give credit where credit is due. Abp Gomez collects money.
Don’t be surprise that father Trudeau in the future will be a bishop.
Tony de New York predicted it
“Del” and others, there is danger here. The spirit of Cardinal Mahony apparently still runs the place, with Abp. Gomez doing little to change things. What, exactly, is to wrong with returning to Tradition, or at least to attain a working knowledge of it? The Vatican is chiefly to blame for the two generations of lost Catholics, people who simply do not understand, or believe when they hear it, that a host/wine represents the actual (not symbolic) body and blood of Jesus Christ under the appearances of bread and wine. Also, most do not believe, and will not believe it, that Latin is mandated by the Church (Veterum Sapiential) and that the TLM is a “treasure” in the Church (Benedict XVI) that should be encouraged and generously made available. Abp. Gomez is nothing more than a Hispanic bishop version of Cardinal Mahony, when it comes to recognizing Catholic Tradition. This makes him more of a political, rather than religious, person. How many so-called “conservative” bishops come into a diocese on the heels of a departing ordinary, and then do very little differently. By the way, the Ordinariate Mass is also a reverent, and beautiful, alternative to the N.O. We miss you Benedict XVI, and your intellectual and spiritual power.