Seminary enrollment remains strong even as Church and higher education continue to face cultural and economic headwinds.
Briefly
- The Saint Paul Seminary begins the 2024-25 academic year with an enrollment of 91 seminarians from 19 different dioceses and religious orders.
- Twenty-one permanent deacon candidates are currently in formation at The Saint Paul Seminary, with dozens more local Catholic men expected to attend Deacon Discernment Days in the next calendar year.
- The Saint Paul Seminary Catechetical Institute begins the year with more than 400 Catholics enrolled in its “Pillars” program.
On Monday, 17 Saint Paul Seminary seminarians joined Rector Fr. Joseph Taphorn and a handful of other priest faculty and staff for a 6-mile canoe trip down the St. Croix River. The annual unofficial end of summer break outing has become an annual tradition.
The following day was spent in silence, the first of a handful of Days of Recollection interspersed throughout the seminary calendar. They’re days to refocus and spend intimate time with Christ amid the joys and strains of a packed academic schedule.
That officially begins Thursday, the first day of classes.
The seminary’s 91 potential future priests are part of a quadruple-digit contingent of aspiring Catholic leaders expected in formation at the seminary this year. For at least the past half-decade, The Saint Paul Seminary has had over 1,000 seminarians, priests, deacon candidates and laymen and women enrolled each year.
Forming future — and current — shepherds
After celebrating the priestly ordinations of 17 seminarians this past spring — including 11 for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, part of the Twin Cities’ largest crop of new presbyters since 2005 — The Saint Paul Seminary begins the 2024-25 academic year with 91 seminarians from 19 different dioceses and religious orders. While the seminary continues to focus on serving primarily the Upper Midwest, this year’s group of seminarians is nearly of the coast-to-coast variety; the Diocese of Orange, California and Archdiocese of Hartford bookend a contingent that features every diocese from Minnesota as well as several from the Dakotas, Iowa, Nebraska and beyond.
Thirteen transitional deacons from six dioceses are scheduled for priestly ordination in May 2025. Eleven more are expected to become transitional deacons two weeks earlier.
But the seminary’s priestly formation work doesn’t stop once a man receives the Sacrament of Holy Orders. The Saint Paul Seminary Institute for Ongoing Clergy Formation again expects more than 800 registrants at its more than 25 events for priests and deacons in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and beyond.
The institute also continues to offer one-on-one support for pastors, mental and physical health services and a variety of other avenues for priests to become and remain holy, happy and healthy in their ministry.
Serving those who will represent Christ the servant
The previous academic year was an unprecedented one for The Saint Paul Seminary Institute for Diaconate Formation. A record 18 men were ordained permanent deacons for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
Twenty-one more are currently in formation, with dozens more expressing interest. A pair of Deacon Discernment Days Oct. 5, 2024 and April 26, 2025 at the seminary are expected to see even more vocations to the permanent diaconate begin to blossom.
No Church without the laity
The Catholic hierarchy continues to express the critical role of the laity in Church leadership — whether that’s in formal ministerial roles or simply leading one’s family, friends and coworkers closer to Christ.
Currently, 113 Master of Arts in Pastoral Leadership, Master of Arts in Theology and Certificate in Catholic School Leadership students are preparing to do just that.
And the seminary’s Catechetical Institute has already kicked off what might be the most jam-packed slate of its 16-year existence.
[More than half of The Saint Paul Seminary’s operating expenses are covered by its generous benefactors. If you’d like to support the next generation of priests, deacons and lay leaders, consider making a gift today.]
In addition to the beginning of the usual two-year Pillars Program cohort — this one’s patron will be St. Maximilian Kolbe — the institute is currently accepting registrations for a study of the Book of Revelation, two courses on learning how to pray the Liturgy of the Hours, an “interior life” program for Pillars graduates, the School of Prayer and the School of Discipleship.
The institute begins the year with 435 students in its Pillars program. Early projections indicate the institute could serve more than 900 registrants between now and next summer.
A bright future
While there are more and more headlines about the collegiate economic bubble getting closer to bursting and contemporary culture moving farther and farther away from Christendom, The Saint Paul Seminary and the dioceses it serves are bucking trends and focused heavily on allowing the Holy Spirit to call leaders to evangelization in this New Apostolic Age.
Of course, growth in enrollment means growth in needs; more than half of the seminary’s operating expenses are covered by its benefactors. Catholics in the Twin Cities and surrounding area who are interested in ensuring a thriving local and regional Church can give online right now or learn about additional support options.