Here’s a fitting touchstone — or cornerstone? — for the Year for Priests:

The Archdiocese of Havana announced this week that it will open a new seminary in 2010, the first such building project the Church has undertaken in Cuba in the last 50 years.

John Paul II blessed the cornerstone of the seminary during his visit to Cuba in 1998. The construction has been financed by numerous international institutions, including the Knights of Columbus.

The seminary will be able to house 100 candidates for the priesthood and will be inaugurated in 2010 as part of the closing of the Year for Priests.

The new formation center will be named after St. Charles Borromeo and St. Ambrose and will be located in historic downtown Havana. The former seminary will be converted into a cultural center named after Fr. Felix Varela.