Metr. Saba Calls for Support of Youth and Seminaries

ENGELWOOD, NJ — Metr. Saba of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America has called on clergy and faithful to support young people and Orthodox seminaries in his October 2026 letter marking “Youth Month and Seminary Month.”

Metr. Saba emphasizes that the two observances belong together because today’s young people will become the faithful, parents, parish leaders, and clergy of the future. At the same time, seminarians are preparing to become the priests who will serve those communities through the sacraments, preaching, pastoral care, and ministry.

Quoting St. John Chrysostom, Metr. Saba writes, “The care of children is the greatest of all arts.” He says that priests must be educated in Scripture, theology, Church history, and pastoral ministry, while also being formed in “prayer, humility, repentance, compassion, and love” for the people they will serve.

The Metropolitan notes that seminarians depend on the generosity of the faithful and identifies St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, and the Antiochian House of Studies as institutions that help prepare future clergy.

Metr. Saba therefore encourages the faithful to make generous contributions through their parishes, describing support for seminaries as an investment in the spiritual life of the Church. “Education and spirituality must work together,” he writes, so that future priests are prepared not only to speak about Christ but to “live and proclaim life in Christ.”

Previously, the UOJ reported that Metr. Saba reflected on the cross of spiritual struggle.