The Episcopal Trustees of Corpus Christi College are pleased to announce that Maria O’Donnell has been appointed to the Staff of Corpus Christi College, the Provincial Seminary for Victoria and Tasmania. She will take up a position as a Formator at the beginning of the 2021 academic year. This appointment has been discerned and welcomed by the Rector and Staff of the seminary.
Maria’s position as Formator at the seminary will be one of personal accompaniment of seminarians on a one-to-one basis to assist them to integrate the four aspects of their formation: human, academic, spiritual and pastoral. The Formator needs to listen, encourage, and evaluate. Maria will bring to this role her wide experience of parish life, the dynamics of teaching and learning and her concern for the growth of students.
Maria has recently concluded an appointment as Dean and Deputy Principal of St Mary’s College, University of Melbourne, in which she shared the responsibility for the administration of the College and the pastoral care of the students.
Originally from Adelaide, Maria has qualifications and extensive experience and formation in teaching at primary and secondary schools both in Australia and overseas. She has worked as a Parish Pastoral Associate being part of a team with priests and parishioners demonstrating a strong love and knowledge of the church and a passion for sharing her faith. She has undertaken theological studies and a unit in Spiritual Direction.
The 2016 international Ratio or directions for seminary formation, “The Gift of the Priestly Vocation”, says that the presence of the laity in the seminary is an important point of reference in the formative journey of the seminarians. That presence is already experienced by seminarians at Catholic Theological College and in their pastoral appointments in parishes, prisons, schools, nursing homes and hospitals. This new appointment will add to that lay contribution by including a lay person on the formation staff of Corpus Christi College.