Saint Joseph's Seminary & College

St. Joseph’s Seminary and College, founded in 1896, is the major seminary of the Archdiocese of New York. Its primary mission is to serve the Church by forming men for the Catholic priesthood. St. Joseph’s functions as the principal institution of priestly formation for the Archdiocese of New York, the Diocese of Brooklyn, and the Diocese of Rockville Centre. St. Joseph’s also welcomes seminarians from other archdioceses, dioceses, eparchies, and other religious congregations.Rooted in the apostolic community gathered around Jesus Christ, St. Joseph’s Seminary seeks to form future priests who will hand on the life and tradition of the Church’s faith in the context of the new evangelization of the twenty-first century. To accomplish this, St. Joseph’s Seminary offers a program of human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral formation that is faithful to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. In fostering the integration of these "pillars of formation", St. Joseph's aims to form men according to the Heart of Jesus the Good Shepherd (see Saint John Paul II, Pastores dabo vobis, 1992; USCCB, Program of Priestly Formation).As a complement to its primary mission, St. Joseph’s Seminary also serves the Church by offering graduate theological and philosophical degree programs to qualified students at multiple locations. Graduate degree programs in the theological disciplines are offered to candidates for the Permanent Diaconate, lay men and women, men and women in consecrated life, and clergy who wish to deepen their understanding of the Catholic faith through systematic study, or who are called to serve the Church in roles of leadership. A graduate degree program in Catholic Philosophical Studies is offered to qualified students who seek an advanced understanding of philosophy in the Catholic tradition and its special relationship with the study of Catholic theology.A spirit of service to the Church guides all of the programs which St. Joseph’s Seminary and College provides to seminarians, Permanent Diaconate candidates, lay, religious, and clergy. This spirit is strengthened by a profound sense of ecclesial communion that is fostered and expressed through fidelity to Church teaching, a daily life of prayer, the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the ceaseless invocation of the Holy Spirit, and the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, and all the saints.