The seven structures that compose what used to be St. Anthony’s Seminary were declared a historic landmark by the City Council this Tuesday, but not before the father of a man sodomized in his youth by Franciscan monks could refresh the council’s collective memory of some of the pain endured there. Ray Higgins testified in favor of giving the former seminary landmark status, arguing the “grounds should be preserved to the numerous children who were so cruelly molested there.” The seminary was built in 1901, with many substantial structures built after the earthquake of 1925. Located behind the Mission, the 12-acre site served for decades as a hub of Franciscan scholarship and education.
