Funds from the sale of the property housing St. John's Seminary College in Camarillo will be used for the Endowment of the Seminary Theologate, in accordance with the vision and mandate of pioneer landowner Juan E. Camarillo.

It is anticipated that the sale of the 60-acre site to Shea Homes could result in a contribution of $12 million to $40 million to the Seminary Endowment, said Cardinal Roger Mahony in announcing the plan May 4. The plan was unanimously approved by the St. John's Seminary Board of Trustees and Archdiocesan Finance Council, and was expected to be approved by the Archdiocesan College of Consultors and Council of Priests.

"I feel very positive about this plan," said the cardinal. "This truly guarantees the future of St. John's Seminary in Camarillo, and I couldn't be more enthusiastic."

Shea Homes was selected because its founders, John and Dorothy Shea, have long been involved in assisting and endowing educational projects for the archdiocese at Catholic high schools and elementary schools. "The Sheas have given millions in support of Catholic education and they want the Theologate to prosper," the cardinal said.

The Shea development would likely include a mix of affordable housing and larger-size lots, company officials said, in line with increased housing demand in a growing area of Ventura County.

Prior to the actual sale, a masterplan first must be filed with and approved by the city of Camarillo. Subsequent land development procedures concurrent with the commencement of the entitlement process --- including the preparation and approval of an environmental impact report --- mean that no actual development work will begin for several years, Shea officials said.

"We need to make sure that what we do is in accordance with and sensitive to what the city wants and needs," said Steven Seeman, Shea vice president and regional manager. "We want this to be win-win for everyone, including the archdiocese."

That means that open space buffers currently in place (including trees surrounding the Theologate property) will be kept. Adequate "green belts should be provided for St. John's and its next-door neighbor, Blessed Junipero Serra Church. The seminary property --- roughly a 100-acre site near Upland and Lewis Roads --- is adjacent to several newer housing developments, plus a variety of orchards.

The effort to find other uses for the property, supervised by a Seminary Re-Use Committee, was begun shortly after the announcement of the college's closure in 2003. St. John's Seminary College, opened in 1961, had seen steadily declining enrollment over the past 30 years.

And in recent years, Cardinal Mahony noted, most theology students at the senior seminary are older men who have earned college degrees elsewhere, and perhaps been in other professions before considering the priesthood. "The seminary college served its purpose very well," he said, "and now it is time to look forward."

Several proposals for the use of the site were presented to and reviewed "in detail" by the committee, but Cardinal Mahony said all would have produced "zero revenue" for the theologate, plus an operating deficit.

That, he pointed out, is contrary to the vision of Juan Camarillo, who on March 4, 1927 donated the property of the former Rancho Calleguas to the then-Diocese of Los Angeles-San Diego: "The Grantee will use the said property for all time exclusively for the purposes of erecting and conducting thereon a Senior Roman Catholic Seminary for the education of Young Men for the Priesthood."

Section 5 of the agreement further stipulated: "…the Grantee may sell, lease or otherwise dispose of such portion or portions of the premises herein described as are not then in actual use for the immediate purposes of the said Seminary. The proceeds, however, from such sale, lease or other disposition shall be applied for the purposes of the Seminary in erecting other Seminary buildings on some portion of the remaining premises; in enlarging or repairing the Seminary buildings then in existence thereon; or in endowing the Seminary, or partly for each of the said purposes."

In other words, Cardinal Mahony explained, funds realized from the sale can only be used to finance buildings or programs at the Theologate, or "senior seminary," which opened in 1940. "The funds can be used for no other purpose," he stressed, "including the payment of clergy sex abuse case settlements."

The entire focus of seminary formation and education is now at the Theologate, he said. But a $3 million annual operating deficit, caused in large part by the need to maintain and operate college facilities, "imperils the very survival of the Theologate," and with it the supply of future priests for the archdiocese, he said.

Without an increase of $40 million in the Theologate Endowment, the cardinal noted, there is a danger of having to close the Theologate and sell the entire site, the proceeds of which would have to be used in creating a new seminary in another location. That would be illogical, given that the archdiocese already has a seminary in place.

In light of the recent archdiocesan Synod and its mandate to involve more people in church leadership, the Theologate has been directed to expand its outreach to lay students, and in fact is participating with Loyola Marymount University and Mount St. Mary's College in developing the archdiocesan Pastoral Associate program.