In the early 1960s, the Claretian Eastern Province began to investigate the possibility of beginning their own college program. Despite the United States Province having been split into the U.S. Eastern Province and U.S. Western Province nearly ten years previously, the General Government had decreed that all Claretian seminarians in the country would continue to attend the established college program in California.
Many factors led to the desire for the Eastern Province to create a separate college program. The most significant of which was an aspiration to follow the spirit of renewal called for by the Second Vatican Council. Part of this renewal included updating the seminary system and no longer having seminarians isolated on campuses (often in rural locales), but instead immersed in modern society. The Eastern Province was dissatisfied with the limited opportunities afforded to students living at the secluded Claretville property in Calabasas as they had to be bussed out to attend classes at Loyola University in Los Angeles. The Eastern Province also believed they had sufficient vocations to support their own program in the Midwest rather than sending students across the country.
Another turning point was the generational clash between the older Claretians and college students. Some of the Claretian students were spotted by a Diocesan priest observing a protest at the Chancery office against Archbishop McIntyre of Los Angeles for his stance on the celebration of Masses facing the congregation. After the Diocesan priest informed the older Claretians, the students were reprimanded for, ostensibly, sullying the Claretian name by being seen at the protest. Naturally, this caused some tension between the traditionally-minded priests and the idealistic students.
The Eastern and Western Province jointly petitioned the General Government in Rome, which ultimately granted this new program ad experimentum (“as an experiment,” in English) in 1965. Once the logistics were sorted out, the college program was moved to its home for the next twelve years: St. Louis University.
The location had been specifically chosen for its strong clerical and lay Catholic community, as well as for the variety of programs the university offered. The urban campus was the perfect fit to immerse seminarians in modern society.
The Claretian staff were also particularly selected by the Provincial. Father Martin “Marty” Kirk was chosen to serve as the students’ prefect to act as a bridge between the upcoming generation of Claretians and the older generation. Father Ted Cirone was assigned to serve as the community’s superior due to his experience in Claretian formation. Father Edmund Andrés was brought on as the House Treasurer and to serve as the link from the established college program in the Western Province and the fledging program in the Eastern Province.
The first Claretian students at SLU lived in the Coronado Hotel, which had recently been acquired by the university and converted into dormitories. Adapting to a Vatican II mindset allowed for a less structured student life. Students no longer wore the traditional cassock to classes, as was previously required. However, this was a request from the university rather than the Claretians, as SLU had recently welcomed multiple congregations to campus and the administration did not want an increased number of men wearing cassocks across campus to give the impression that the school was solely a seminary. While other congregations opted for an identifying garment to distinguish themselves (such as a blazer), the Claretian students were allowed to wear street clothes. Students were also allowed to fraternize more with lay students and could have male and female visitors in the Claretian common room. Eventually, the Claretians outgrew the space in the Coronado and purchased two houses adjacent to campus.
While the college program was still enjoyed by its students throughout its existence, the program suffered from a dip in enrollment in the early 1970s. St. Jude Seminary had been the funnel for many Claretian vocations to come to St. Louis, but it had to close its doors in 1970. Soon, more vocations were coming to the congregation after already having completed their undergraduate studies.
There was also a lack of success with maintaining personnel, who often had to be transferred from serving as superiors to the Claretian students to more pressing assignments. Father Ted Cirone, the community’s first superior, was summoned to Rome to serve as Consultor to the General Government. Father Marty Kirk was elected to serve on the Provincial Council of the Eastern Province and his frequent travels to Chicago to attend meetings necessitated his transfer from St. Louis. Father Edmund Andrés was re-assigned to campus ministry at other universities. With all these factors in mind, it was decided to separate from St. Louis University and have any remaining students move to Chicago, where the Province had established its Theologate in the Hyde Park neighborhood.