Minor seminary

A minor seminary or high school seminary is a secondary day or boarding school created for the specific purpose of enrolling teenage boys who have expressed interest in becoming Catholic priests. They are generally Catholic institutions, and designed to prepare boys both academically and spiritually for vocations to the priesthood and religious life. They emerged in cultures and societies where literacy was not universal, and the minor seminary was seen as a means to prepare younger boys in literacy for later entry into the major seminary.

Maria Assumpta Seminary [1] – high school (minor) and college seminary of the Diocese of Cabanatuan, Philippines.

The minor seminary is no longer very familiar in the developed world. The 1917 Code of Canon Law described the purpose of minor seminaries as: "to take care especially to protect from the contagion of the world, to train in piety, to imbue with the rudiments of literary studies, and to foster in them the seed of a divine vocation". Suitable boys were encouraged to graduate to a major seminary, where they would continue their tertiary studies for the priesthood.

The program of priestly formation of the USCCB refers to them as "high school seminaries" rather than minor seminaries.^[1]

Today, college seminaries, where philosophy is studied, are often called minor seminaries even though they are for those who have completed high school.^[2]

Extant minor seminaries

Countries with Minor Seminaries (blue) and have existed in the past (red)

Canada

Seminary of Christ the King, (Mission, British Columbia)

East Timor

Ghana

St Teresa's Minor Seminary^[3]

Philippines

St. Augustine Minor Seminary – minor seminary of Iba, Zambales, Luzon covering Olongapo City and Zambales Province
San Jacinto Seminary (Penablanca, Cagayan) – Archdiocese of Tuguegarao
Diocesan Seminary of the Heart of Jesus (San Fernando La Union)
Immaculate Conception Minor Seminary (Vigan, Ilocos Sur)
St. Mary's Seminary (Laoag, Ilocos Norte)
Immaculate Conception Minor Seminary (Guiguinto, Bulacan) – Diocese of Malolos
John Paul II Minor Seminary (Antipolo, Rizal) – high school seminary of the Diocese of Antipolo
Oblates of St. Joseph Minor Seminary (San Jose, Batangas) – high school seminary
Our Lady of Guadalupe Minor Seminary (Makati) – high school seminary of the Archdiocese of Manila
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Seminary (Sariaya, Quezon) – Diocese of Lucena
Pope John XXIII Seminary (Cebu City) – Archdiocese of Cebu
Pope Paul VI Minor Seminary (Maasin City, Southern Leyte)
Saint Francis de Sales Minor Seminary (Lipa City, Batangas) – minor (high school) seminary of the Archdiocese of Lipa
Holy Rosary Minor Seminary (Naga City, Camarines Sur) Archdiocese of Caceres
St. Gregory the Great Seminary (Panal, Tabaco City) – Diocese of Legazpi
Our Lady of Peñafrancia Seminary Sorsogon City) - Diocese of Sorsogon
St. Anthony High School Seminary (Kinamaligan, Masbate City) Under the supervision of the Diocese of Masbate
Sto. Nino Seminary (Numancia, Aklan) – minor and college
St. Pius X Seminary (Lawaan, Roxas City, Capiz) – Archdiocese of Capiz
Saint Vincent Ferrer Seminary – (Jaro, Iloilo City) – Archdiocese of Jaro
Seminario de San Jose (Puerto Princesa City, Palawan) – minor and major seminary
Seminario de Jesús Nazareno (Borongan City, Eastern Samar) – Diocese of Borongan

Poland

Minor Seminary in Częstochowa – high school seminary of the Archdiocese of Częstochowa
Minor Seminary of the Diocese of Płock – Diocese of Płock

United States

Blessed Jose Sanchez del Rio Minor Seminary (Mankato, Minnesota), high school seminary run by the Institute of the Incarnate Word; opened in 2008.
Sacred Heart Apostolic School (Rolling Prairie, Indiana) run by the Legionaries of Christ, opened in 2005
St. Lawrence High School Seminary (Mount Calvary, Wisconsin) run by the Capuchin Friars, opened in 1860
St. Joseph Seminary (Rathdrum, Idaho) - Sedevacantist^[4]
Servants of the Holy Family (Colorado Springs, Colorado)

Uganda

Bukalasa Minor Seminary
Christ the King Seminary, Kisubi,
St. Joseph's Seminary, Nyenga
Mubende Seminary – in Nandele and Nyenga
Nadiket seminary – for the dioceses of Kotido and Moroto
Saint Charles seminary
Saints Joseph's and Gabriel's Junior Seminary Nswanjere – located in Nswanjere, Mpigi District.
St. Pius X Seminary – Nagongera – Located in Tororo district; West Budama County; Junior and Minor Seminary
St. Paul's Seminary – Rushoroza – in Kabale for Kabale Diocese
Kitabi Seminary in Bushenyi for Mbarara Arch diocese
Sacred Heart Mission for the Brothers of Divine Mercy; Missionary preparation
Sacred Heart Seminary Lacor – Gulu archdiocese
St Peter's Seminary-Madera) – in Soroti for Soroti Diocese

Vietnam

Sacred Heart Seminary of Thai Binh – Minor Seminary of the Diocese of Thái Bình
Saint Nicolas Seminary of Phan Thiet – Minor Seminary of the Diocese of Phan Thiết

External links

References

^ Program of Priestly Formation - 5th Edition
^ "St. Joseph House of Formation residences undergoing renovations". Catholic Diocese of Wichita. 2019-05-31. Retrieved 2019-08-04.
^ "St. Teresa's Minor Seminary".
^ "St. Joseph Minor Seminary". www.minorseminary.org. Retrieved 2024-06-19.

[1] Program of Priestly Formation - 5th Edition

[2] "St. Joseph House of Formation residences undergoing renovations". Catholic Diocese of Wichita. 2019-05-31. Retrieved 2019-08-04.

[3] "St. Teresa's Minor Seminary".

[4] "St. Joseph Minor Seminary". www.minorseminary.org. Retrieved 2024-06-19.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]