St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary

St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary is a Roman Catholic seminary located in Boynton Beach, Florida for the education and formation of seminarians to the Roman Catholic priesthood.

The chapel of St. Vincent de Paul located in the center of the seminary grounds.
St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary
Established1963
Location
Boynton Beach

St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary was established to form men for the diocesan and religious priesthood for the Catholic Church in North America, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. Laity are accepted into the program as well.[1] It serves as the only Roman Catholic theologate in the Southeastern United States (located 1000 miles from the nearest seminary to the north, and 800 miles from the nearest seminary to the west), and serves as only one of two bilingual seminaries in the United States.[2]

History

At the invitation of Bishop Coleman F. Carroll, the first bishop of Miami, the Vincentian Fathers founded the seminary in 1963. The Vincentian Fathers withdrew on July 1, 1971, and the Archdiocese of Miami took over the operation of the seminary; gradually, each of the seven dioceses of Florida would come to join the corporation which owns the seminary, uniting the dioceses of the province of Florida in the formation of their priests.[3]

In the 2018-2019 academic year the seminary has 110 seminarians enrolled for the fall semester; this is a record number in the history of St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary.[4] Currently, there are over 460 alumni from St. Vincent de Paul, many of whom serve in various positions and locations in the Catholic Church in Florida.[5]

Program

In accordance with the Program of Priestly Formation,[6] St. Vincent de Paul seeks to cultivate and form men according to the four pillars of formation: human, spiritual, academic, and pastoral. The integration of each of these pillars is of principal importance to the seminary; successful accomplishment of requirements and approval from the formation team will earn a Master of Divinity. The time table for matriculation is usually five years, though there are exceptions.[7] The seminary has as a prime goal for well-formed men to become leaders of the community, and to be ready to live as a public person. The process of approval by different members of the Formation Team and of each seminarians’ respective bishop are to ensure that these men are worthy to candidacy as priests in the Roman Catholic Church.[8]

The seminary stresses its multicultural approach to ministry to the point that students are expected to be able to preach competently in their pastoral language before graduation, as well as celebrate the Eucharist and two other sacraments in their pastoral language (in addition to participation in bilingual liturgies and events, stressing Spanish and English).

Notable alumni

References
  1. http://svdpseminaryacademicoffice.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/45877177/Seminarian%20Hndbk%2011-12.pdf
  2. http://spvocation.org/site/index.php?section=17
  3. http://svdpseminaryacademicoffice.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/45877177/Seminarian%20Hndbk%2011-12.pdf
  4. http://www.miamiarch.org/ip.asp?op=Article_10913223216879
  5. http://www.svdp.edu/aboutus/about.asp
  6. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-04-17. Retrieved 2012-02-15.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. http://www.svdp.edu/_files/pdf/St_Vincent_Catalog-2011_web.pdf
  8. http://www.svdp.edu/_files/pdf/St_Vincent_Catalog-2011_web.pdf

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