Q. How long does it take to become a priest?
A. Each seminarian is unique, with his particular strengths, gifts, weaknesses, and areas to grow. And so, every seminarian’s journey to the priesthood looks slightly different. Yet, the Church does lay out a rather clear map of the path to becoming a priest.
There are four distinct “stages” of the formation for a man to undergo to become a priest.
The first is the propaedeutic stage, required for every man beginning his seminary journey. It is a type of “detox” from the world and an immersion into prayer, community, healing, and discernment. This stage typically lasts one year.
The second, the discipleship stage, focuses on developing an intimate relationship with the Lord, growing in virtue, and studying philosophy. The length of this stage is primarily determined by the man’s previous schooling and if he has a college degree or college credits. For a man entering seminary directly after high school, the discipleship stage will take four years. For a man with a college degree, it will take two years. For someone in the middle, it will take three years. In the Catholic Diocese of Lincoln, the propaedeutic and discipleship stages occur at St. Gregory the Great Seminary in Seward, culminating with the seminarian earning a bachelor’s degree in philosophy.
The configuration stage focuses on the seminarian growing in priestly identity, pastoral skills, and studying theology. In Lincoln, our seminarians in this stage live and study at our partner seminaries on the East Coast: St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia, and Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg. This stage usually lasts three and a half to four years.
Finally, the vocational synthesis, beginning when a man is ordained a transitional deacon, is a time specifically for the deacon to integrate all that he’s learned in the seminary and begin to put it into practice in a parish setting within the diocese. This lasts six months.
At the end of it all, the typical amount of time it takes to go through seminary formation and be ordained a priest is seven to nine years. That may seem like a long time, and it is. But great is the responsibility, authority, and gift given to the man who becomes a priest! Nine years may seem like an eternity for a young man, but we remember that the priest is a priest forever.
This question was answered by Father Alec Sasse, director of vocations, dean of men and teacher at St. Gregory the Great Seminary in Seward.
Write to Ask the Register using our online form, or write to 3700 Sheridan Blvd., Suite 10, Lincoln NE 68506-6100. All questions are subject to editing. Editors decide which questions to publish. Personal questions cannot be answered. People with such questions are urged to take them to their nearest Catholic priest.
