About St. Mary's Seminary

St. Mary’s Seminary is a theologate which exists for the personal, spiritual, academic and pastoral preparation of men for the Roman Catholic priesthood. St. Mary’s is committed to enabling men to grow in holiness and develop into pastoral leaders who desire to serve the Church as priests and who satisfactorily demonstrate their competence and willingness for effective ministry.

The seminary promotes the full, integral, and personal growth of each student and emphasizes the development of skills in collaborative ministry.

St. Mary’s strives to lead seminarians to an appreciation of the global mission of the Church, so that they are ready to “meet the needs of the whole Church, being prepared in spirit to preach the Gospel everywhere” (Decree on the Training of Priests, n. 20). Hence, St. Mary’s Seminary is committed to preparing priests who will be pastorally effective serving with and among all of God’s people.

The primary focus is the preparation of candidates for the diocesan priesthood who intend to serve in the south and southwestern part of the United States which is multi-ethnic and multi-cultural.

Recognizing the pervasive influence of the Hispanic reality in the Southwest, St. Mary’s Seminary provides the seminarians an environment which fosters and cultivates language and pastoral skills particularly useful for service among Hispanics from a variety of nations and cultures. It also prepares men to serve the large Black communities of the South and the growing Southeast Asian Community.