What are the orthodox Catholic Seminaries in the USA?

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sean1982

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Hello,

I have a friend in Ireland who was kicked out of Maynooth seminary for being to “Eucharistic centered”. He still wishes to become a priest and he asked me for a list of orthodox Catholic seminaries in the USA or seminaries in a Diocese which have a “good” Bishop faithful to Magisterial teaching. I will be pleased if anyone has an answer to this question. We need more good priests!

God bless,
Sean
 
I know that the Salesian order has their own seminary in New Jersey if he is interested in becoming a Salesian priest. He might want to look into this order. The founder of the Salesians had three devotions: the Eucharist, the Pope, and the Blessed Mother. So this sounds like a good choice. The Salesian priests I have met are good men with strong devotions to all three!

Good luck to your friend. We need more god priests.
 
St. Charles Borromeo seminary in Pennsylvania (I believe it’s there) is pretty good, as is Holy Trinity Seminary in Dallas. Holy Trinity has produced some excellent, orthodox priests.
 
benedictgal said:
St. Charles Borromeo seminary in Pennsylvania (I believe it’s there) is pretty good, as is Holy Trinity Seminary in Dallas. Holy Trinity has produced some excellent, orthodox priests.
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I am a few hours from St. Charles and I have heard nothing but good things about the quality of its seminarians.
 
Well, I would recommend he stay away from any seminary in Louisiana, unless they’ve done a 180 in the last few years. I doubt it, though.

I heard Mount St. Mary in Baltimore, MD was good. I think that’s where the young monks from EWTN go.
 
benedictgal said:
St. Charles Borromeo seminary in Pennsylvania (I believe it’s there) is pretty good, …
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SCS is just outside the city limits of Philadelphia (took classes there for the year), while in the monastery, and is fairly solid (most Eastern PA dioceses send men there, along with Raleigh NC; a handful from Camden and Trenton, NJ; a few from Lincoln, NE; and a half-dozen religious from ~ four orders. Philly has regularly received very solid archbishops, and has taken to exporting them (the suffragan dioceses and Raleigh at least).

Lincoln, NE has a very good bishop and, IIRC, a new seminary.

St Louis (Kenrick-Glennon) seems pretty solid as well.

I hear good things about Mundelein (at least liturgically) North of Chicago, but don’t know who sends there other than Grand Rapids.
 
sean1982 said:
I have a friend in Ireland who was kicked out of Maynooth seminary for being to “Eucharistic centered”. He still wishes to become a priest and he asked me for a list of orthodox Catholic seminaries in the USA or seminaries in a Diocese which have a “good” Bishop faithful to Magisterial teaching.
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He’s most likely going to need to pick a diocese where he already has some kind of connection. Its going to seem strange that someone would go halfway around the world to be a diocesan priest. Is there a reason he’s not considering Great Birtain? Why come to the US to be a diocesan priest when he could join a religious order in Ireland or Great Britain? If he has family or friends in a particular diocese it’d put some of their concerns at ease.
 
sean1982 said:
Hello,

I have a friend in Ireland who was kicked out of Maynooth seminary for being to “Eucharistic centered”
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I have heard St. Gregory the Great seminary, in Nebraska, is excellent. I think Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis is pretty good too (at least as far as I know- my bishop is very orthodox and sends our diocesan seminarians there). I am not sure what was meant by “too Eucharistic centered” though- it is possible for a person to get so carried away with their devotional life that they spend so much time saying their own prayers that they do not consider that God may be calling them to be the answer to someone else’s from time to time. Balance is very important. Without it, you risk burning yourself out and abandoning your vocation (another thing I’ve seen happen too many times).
 
NewEnglandPries said:
He’s most likely going to need to pick a diocese where he already has some kind of connection. Its going to seem strange that someone would go halfway around the world to be a diocesan priest. Is there a reason he’s not considering Great Birtain? Why come to the US to be a diocesan priest when he could join a religious order in Ireland or Great Britain? If he has family or friends in a particular diocese it’d put some of their concerns at ease.
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Joining a religious order is a vocation in itself that is different from the vocation of a diocesen priesthood and are not interchangeable.
 
ByzCath said:
Joining a religious order is a vocation in itself that is different from the vocation of a diocesen priesthood and are not interchangeable.
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True enough but here’s the problem. Traveling half way around the world to work in another country and culture is what many religious orders do.

Diocesan priests tend to be rooted in the communities they’re ordained in. Its highly unusual for a person to seek to be a diocesan priest outside of an area they live in or have some kind of connection to.

When this young man calls or writes to a diocese in the USA, they will ask why he’s applying to them and why not to something closer to his family and friends and culture he knows. Then they will want his files from his former seminary. And then they will think about it. I’m not saying its impossible or never happens, but its not nearly as easy as picking up the phone.

At best there’s a bit of a disconnect seen in traveling half way around the world out of the blue solely to become a diocesan priest. At worst, the diocese will see it as suspicious.

And if he is indeed too contemplative for diocesan priesthood, as his former seminary in my opinion was trying to say, then perhaps he should explore a religious order vocation.
 
Scoobyshme said:
I heard Mount St. Mary in Baltimore, MD was good. I think that’s where the young monks from EWTN go.
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St. Mary’s Seminary is in Baltimore.

Mt. St. Mary’s Seminary is in Emmitsburg, MD.

These are 2 different seminaries.
 
KCT said:
St. Mary’s Seminary is in Baltimore.

Mt. St. Mary’s Seminary is in Emmitsburg, MD.

These are 2 different seminaries.
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Very different. If I had a son, I’d hope he would go to Emmitsburg.

Betsy
 
sean1982 said:
Hello,

I have a friend in Ireland who was kicked out of Maynooth seminary for being to “Eucharistic centered”. He still wishes to become a priest and he asked me for a list of orthodox Catholic seminaries in the USA or seminaries in a Diocese which have a “good” Bishop faithful to Magisterial teaching. I will be pleased if anyone has an answer to this question. We need more good priests!

God bless,
Sean
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Dare I ask for a wee bit more information on what happened to your friend at Maynooth? I know of quite a few Scottish seminarians who were transferred over to Ireland after Scotus College in Bearsden closed, and who didn’t have any complaints about the standard of teaching there.

I’m not doubting him or anything, I’m just mildly curious. Like one of the earlier posters, I would agree that if re-admission to an Irish seminary is not possible (and I think he should definitely persue this avenue first), he should seek something in Scotland or England rather than on the other side of the Atlantic - it may even be possible for him to seek a transfer to an Irish diocese after ordination.
 
Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, MD is an excellent seminary, as is St. Charles Borromeo. However, St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore, MD used to be known as “The Pink Palace” because of their high incidence of ‘gay’ policies and homosexual population there.

Holy Apostles Seminary in Cromwell, Connecticut is very good.
 
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