Please Pray for our Seminarians!

Please Pray For Our Seminarians!

There are now 16 men in various stages of formation for the priesthood in our Diocese.

Seminary studies typically take eight years. Seminarians earn a Bachelor’s degree in their first four years, which is the College part of the program, and then go on for four more years of graduate studies in Theology. If a seminarian has completed a college degree before entering, he may require up to two years of Pre-Theology before entering the four-year Theology program.

Seminary candidates face a rigorous application and screening process that can take up to a year before being accepted into the seminary. It starts with a telephone interview, followed by a detailed personal interview, with Father Christopher Butera, Director of the Office of Seminarian Formation.

Candidates also undergo a multi-day psychological evaluation that helps determine if they are suitable to enter formation. (There is a second battery of psychological tests later in their seminary studies.)