St. Mary's Seminary is the first Roman Catholic seminary in the nation: rich in tradition while focused on priestly preparation for the 21st-century.
These pages provide information on the history, personnel, environment, and formation (in the Sulpician tradition) at St. Mary's.
The three pages in this section of our site touch on the very basics of the formation process.
A major part of priestly formation is intellectual formation, accomplished through the pursuit of academic degrees.
Desiring to assist in the strengthening of Hispanic ministry and recognizing the need for well-prepared priests dedicated in-part or in-full to this ministry, St. Mary’s Seminary and University has established a specialized track in Hispanic ministry.
St. Mary’s Propaedeutic Stage implements the vision of the Program for Priestly Formation (6th edition). It takes place in a revitalized and expanded structure on the historic grounds of the original St. Mary’s Seminary in downtown Baltimore. The McGivney House welcomes candidates from all dioceses and is not limited to candidates destined to enter St. Mary’s Seminary & University, but is the recommended program for those who will come to St. Mary’s.
St. Mary’s Ecumenical Institute (EI) was founded in 1968 by St. Mary’s Seminary & University, America’s oldest Roman Catholic seminary, in cooperation with ecumenical leaders. St. Mary’s is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools and by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. The Ecumenical Institute encourages people of all denominations to explore theological studies in a serious, open-minded, and supportive environment. All EI programs are available wherever you are - on campus in Baltimore, and on-line.
The Ecumenical Institute invites people of all denominations into theological study that pursues excellence and promotes ecumenical understanding and respect. All EI programs are available wherever you are - on campus in Baltimore, and on-line.
St. Mary's Ecumenical Institute has a rolling admissions policy. Students may apply at any time for admission by submitting the appropriate materials.
The Ecumenical Institute offers accredited graduate theological programs for two master’s degrees, several graduate certificates, and introductory explorations.
The post-master’s Certificate of Advanced Studies in Theology (CAS) is designed for individuals who possess a master’s degree in theology (e.g., MAT.), ministry (e.g., MACM), divinity (e.g., MDiv), or a related field and who desire to continue their theological education with a general or focused program of study.
The Doctor of Ministry program roots ministry in the mission of God, the ways God is working in your context, in your ministry, and in you.
Students have a host of resources available to support their theological education, from free parking and a great library to writing assistance and advising.
St. Mary's Ecumenical Institute offers accredited graduate theological education that is intellectually rigorous, personally enriching, and professionally empowering.
More than 750 alums of St. Mary's Ecumenical Institute are making a difference in Baltimore, in Maryland and D.C., West Virginia and Pennsylvania, and around the world.
General communication and individual contacts
It is the mission of the Center for Continuing Formation to encourage bishops, priests, deacons, and lay ecclesial ministers to engage in human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral growth and to enable processes of growth that are ongoing, complete, systemic, and personalized.
Forming Supervisors for Vocational Synthesis implements the vision of the Program for Priestly Formation (6th edition) for the final stage of preparation for the priesthood.
Conference space rentals include a large room that will seat as many as 58 and smaller rooms that will seat from 4 to 30.
St. Mary's Center for Continuing Formation offers and hosts a variety of continuing formation programs for priests in the spirit of the Bishops' new Basic Plan for the Ongoing Formation of Priests.
St. Mary’s Seminary & University’s Pinkard Scholars is the cornerstone of Youth Theological Studies at SMSU.
For more information about any of our conference facilities or space rentals, please contact our offices directly.
The Marion Burk Knott Library of St. Mary’s Seminary and University is the largest specialized theological library in the Baltimore area, with additional materials in the areas of philosophy, psychology, pastoral counseling and church history, among others. The library receives over 390 periodicals and maintains a collection of 20,000 volumes of bound periodicals. Other holdings include newspapers, microfilm, and audio-visual materials.
The Associated Archives at St. Mary’s Seminary & University opened in the spring of 2002. Located on the campus of the nation’s first Roman Catholic seminary, this program brings together the archives of the Archdiocese of Baltimore (est. 1789), St. Mary’s Seminary & University (est. 1791), and the Associated Sulpicians of the United States (U.S. Province est. 1903), making it one of the most significant repositories for records relating to the early history of the Catholic Church in the United States.
Click here for more information about hours and visitor policies.
This section was created to provide researchers with a brief description of the open collections in the archives of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, St. Mary's Seminary & University, and the Associated Sulpicians of the United States.
The Associated Archives at St. Mary’s Seminary & University has developed a genealogical policy responsive to individuals researching their Catholic roots.
We facilitate personal integration of the human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral dimensions necessary for authentic priestly witness and service in the image of Jesus Christ.
Catholic Review published an article on incoming St. Mary’s Seminary President-Rector, Father Gould, in their June 2026 issue. To read, “Father Gould committed to mission as new leader of St. Mary’s Seminary,” click here (page 34).
We at St. Mary’s Seminary & University join with Pope Leo XIV and Archbishop William Lori’s invitation to reflect more deeply on the issues the development of so-called “artificial intelligence” is bringing to the fore.
We invite all to keep in mind that nothing can replace the need for human beings to engage in moral reflection and make judgments, something no machine and no technology, no matter how swiftly it is able to calculate or otherwise function, can do.
Technology is a reflection of the qualities that make human beings unique and will never be capable of possessing those qualities or exercise them independently of human agency.
The uniqueness and moral responsibility of human beings is only lost when voluntarily disregarded or relinquished, and in that AI presents no unique challenge to our humanness or our humanity.
The challenges lie in the human heart, and our willingness to retain our humanity, whatever the challenges to doing so.
We encourage everyone to read Magnifica Humanitas and the Maryland bishops’ pastoral letter, “The Face of Christ in a Digital Age,” to reflect on them, and in doing so to be reminded of the unsurpassable dignity and beauty implanted in each one of us by God, which is the surest evidence of God’s existence and love for us.
Rev. Phillip J. Brown, pss President-Rector St. Mary’s Seminary & University
By Archbishop William Lori
Artificial intelligence promises astonishing possibilities. It can diagnose diseases, accelerate scientific discovery, translate languages instantly and assist students and workers in ways unimaginable only a decade ago. Yet beneath the excitement lies a deeper question: What kind of human beings are we becoming in an age increasingly shaped by machines?
That question sits at the heart of Catholic social thought – and it echoes powerfully in both Pope Leo XIV’s new encyclical “Magnifica Humanitas” and the Maryland bishops’ pastoral letter, “The Face of Christ in a Digital Age.” We asked a striking question: “Will we allow technology to form us in its image – or will we shape it according to the Gospel?”
To grapple with that challenge, it is worth turning to the great Catholic philosopher and theologian Bernard Lonergan. Long before the rise of artificial intelligence Lonergan recognized that every age faces crises not merely of technology, but of consciousness. Human flourishing, he argued, depends upon our willingness to be attentive, intelligent, reasonable and responsible.
Artificial intelligence can process information at extraordinary speed. But Lonergan reminds us that intelligence alone is not wisdom.
A machine may summarize data, imitate conversation or identify patterns hidden within vast oceans of information. But it cannot engage in moral self-transcendence. It cannot love. It cannot sacrifice. It cannot discern truth in the deepest human sense. In Lonergan’s thought, authentic knowing requires more than calculation; it requires conversion — intellectual, moral and spiritual conversion.
That distinction matters enormously today.
We are entering a world in which algorithms increasingly shape politics, education, labor, relationships and even our understanding of reality itself. AI systems can generate convincing misinformation, manipulate emotions and deepen ideological silos. Entire sectors of the workforce fear displacement. Meanwhile, enormous technological power is concentrated in the hands of a small number of corporations and governments.
Magnifica Humanitas warns that technological progress detached from moral responsibility risks deepening exclusion and injustice rather than advancing authentic human development. Yet the Church does not approach AI from a position of fear.
In our own pastoral letter on AI, we rightly note that technology itself is not opposed to the work of the Holy Spirit. Like the printing press, radio or the internet before it, AI can become a tool for evangelization, education, healthcare and service to the vulnerable when directed toward the common good.
Still, we insist upon a central truth: “AI must always serve the person, never diminish or replace human dignity.”
Here again, Lonergan proves remarkably prophetic.
He believed social decline begins when people stop asking honest questions – when convenience replaces truth and when critical reflection yields to ideology or passivity. One of AI’s greatest dangers may be the temptation toward intellectual and moral laziness: allowing machines not merely to assist our thinking, but to replace it.
Catholicism offers a crucial corrective to this temptation. The human person is not reducible to data, productivity or efficiency. Each individual possesses irreducible dignity because each is created in the image of God. No algorithm can measure that dignity. No machine can replicate conscience, grace or the human soul.
The deeper challenge before us, then, is not technological but spiritual.
Will AI deepen solidarity or isolation? Will it widen inequality or promote the common good? Will it cultivate wisdom or merely accelerate discretion? The answers depend less upon machines than upon the moral character of the societies creating them.
Both Pope Leo and the Maryland bishops call for the formation of leaders capable of engaging AI with both technical competence and what the Maryland bishops term a “deep moral imagination.” Lonergan would surely agree. The future will belong not simply to those who innovate most quickly, but to those courageous enough to think critically, act responsibly and remain open to truth.
Machines may help humanity solve problems. But only human beings – guided by conscience, community and grace – can ensure that technological progress remains truly human.”
I invite you to read the above commentary as a springboard for further discussion on the encyclical’s implications in your community and elsewhere. The link to the full encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, can be found on the Vatican website.
Archbishop William E. Lori is chairman of the Board of Trustees and Chancellor of St. Mary’s Seminary & University. This article first appeared in The Baltimore Sun on May 26.
St. Mary’s conferred the degree of Doctor of Divinity, honoris causa on Bishop Erik Varden of Trondheim, Norway at its graduation ceremony in May. Bishop Varden delivered the commencement address.
Read the entire Press Release below; or view/download the document.
ST. MARY’S SEMINARY & UNIVERSITY CONFERS HONORARY DEGREE ON NORWEGIAN BISHOP ERIK VARDEN
For immediate release: January 29, 2026
Media Contact: Sean Caine | 443-857-4372
Father Phillip Brown, PSS, President-Rector of St. Mary’s Seminary & University in Baltimore, Maryland, announces that St. Mary’s will confer the degree of Doctor of Divinity, honoris causa on Bishop Erik Varden of Trondheim, Norway at its graduation ceremony in May. The honorary degree was proposed by St. Mary’s faculty and unanimously approved by its Board of Trustees, chaired by Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore. Bishop Varden will also deliver the commencement address.
Bishop Varden is one of the foremost writers and speakers on spirituality today, having a broad international impact. “It is a privilege to confer this degree on Bishop Varden, with whom St. Mary’s is developing a special friendship,” said Father Brown. “St. Mary’s has been working in a concentrated way for several years towards the renewal of the spiritual life of priests, consistent with the longstanding mission of the Society of St. Sulpice, beginning with the spiritual life of its seminarians. It is the conviction of St. Mary’s, following that of Fr. Jean-Jacques Olier, Founder of the Society, that renewal of the Church will result from renewal of the priesthood, which will result from a renewal and deepening of the spiritual life of priests beginning in the seminary.” St. Mary’s is starting where it really counts: in the interior spiritual life of our seminarians, along with dedica building a strong program of human formation in support of the spiritual life and sound, sensitive pastoral sensibilities.”
Bishop Varden was ordained in 2011. He holds a doctorate in theology from Cambridge University and STL from the Pontifical Oriental Institute. He taught at the Pontifical Athenaeum in Rome and entered Mount St. Bernard Abbey, a Trappist monastery, in 2002 where he was elected Abbot in 2015, later being appointed bishop of the Territorial Prelature of Trondheim.
Bishop Varden is a prolific author, with works appearing in Communio, Cistercian Studies Quarterly, Nouvelle Revue Théologique, The Tablet, Church Life Journal, and First Things. He has published five books on spiritual theology and is considered an authority on the subject. His 2023 book, Chastity: Reconciliation of the Senses, was positively reviewed in Cistercian Studies Quarterly, Pastoral Review, First Things, American Benedictine Review, and Teología y Vida. A reviewer in Cistercian Studies Quarterly observed that his book would “benefit every Christian and perhaps every person, Christian or not.”
A Mass of Thanksgiving was held in honor of Father Phillip Brown, PSS, President-Rector in the St. Mary’s Seminary chapel April 30.
Father Brown will be retiring at the end of June after a decade of service to the seminary, the first Catholic seminary in the United States.
Father Brown was the main celebrant for the Mass, which included concelebrants Father Daniel Moore, PSS, provincial superior of the U.S. Society of St. Sulpice, Father Larry Terrien, PSS, former superior general, Father Hy Nguyen, PSS, vice rector of St. Mary’s Seminary and Father Paul Maillet, PSS, coordinator of Formation at St. Mary’s Seminary.
There were seven bishops and more than 40 priests in attendance as well as seminarians, faculty and administration members, donors, family and friends.
The music for the Mass was largely from Father Brown’s “Mass of Hope” that he composed during the covid-19 pandemic for Easter 2021.
In his homily, Father Moore noted the challenges of being a leader in the church today but said that Father Brown had earned the trust of bishops and seminarians worldwide.
Father Moore added, “You are a priest with a father’s heart. I express a profound gratitude on behalf of the province.”
In his remarks, Baltimore Archbishop William Lori, chairman of the board of trustees and chancellor of St. Mary’s Seminary & University, spoke to Father Brown directly, “What a gift you are to us” listing his wide-ranging experiences in administration, law, teaching, music. “As we celebrate your priesthood, we are all deeply indebted to you for your work of priestly formation.”
The celebration continued with a festive reception and presentation of gifts in Laubacher Hall.
By Joseph O’Brien
The Center for Continuing Formation is collaborating with Adoremus to offer a series of courses to be held at the venerable St. Mary’s Seminary campus in Baltimore.
Adoremus is a Wisconsin-based consortium whose goal is to honor and to foster a greater understanding of the rich liturgical traditions of the Catholic Church.
Three courses, dedicated to the newest translations of the church’s liturgical texts, will be offered between August 2026 and February 2027 in this new partnership, each focusing on a newly translated liturgical book.
The revised OCIA became the mandatory text in March 2025 while the OAS became mandatory at Easter of 2026. It is anticipated that the Second Edition of the LOTH will be available for purchase beginning in January 2027.
The series of courses are non-degree, non-credit courses for the ongoing liturgical formation of priests, religious, and laity at the seminary’s Center for Continuing Formation.
Liturgical Partners
According to Msgr. Marc Caron, he was hired in July 2025 to help resurrect the Center after the covid pandemic.
He said, “I was hired to reboot the programs at the Center. My strategy has been to try to engage existing groups who offer ongoing formation for priests and others in the church as partners with us, rather than try to reinvent everything ourselves.”
As the director of the Center, Msgr. Caron brings his own experiences as a priest of the Diocese of Portland, ME.
“I was interested in serving as director of the Center because I believe in ongoing formation for priests,” he said, noting that prior to his current position he served 11 years as chancellor and five years as vicar general and moderator of the curia in the Diocese of Portland, ME. “In those roles over those 16 years, directly or indirectly, I was involved with ongoing priestly formation in what we call the four pillars of formation: spiritual, intellectual, pastoral, and human formation.”
Msgr. Caron said that St. Mary’s and Adoremus shared mission goals and it was only a matter of bringing the two together for this new venture.
“From its beginning in 1995, Adoremus has focused on promoting the liturgical life of priests and the use of liturgical books in parishes,” Msgr. Caron said. “In a similar way, St. Mary’s mission is to prepare seminarians to be priests working in parishes and at the Center for Continuing Formation we feel we have a commitment to support the ongoing formation of priests who are working in parishes. Adoremus addresses that approach.”
According to Christopher Carstens, the partnership between St. Mary’s and Adoremus fell into place easily, especially since Msgr. Marc Caron has been an Adoremus contributor.
“One of Adoremus’s principal tasks is to provide ongoing liturgical formation for priests,” Carstens explained. “In fact, Msgr. Caron has been a significant part of our work for years. When he became director of the Center for Continuing Formation, it seemed natural to continue our collaboration.”
The Center for Continuing Formation was built by St. Mary’s in 1996 “in response to the teaching on the priesthood and priestly formation of St. John Paul II. The pastoral emphasis and spirit of St. Mary’s Seminary today is perfectly expressed in The Center for Continuing Formation.”
Great Liturgical Books
The common theme among the three courses – a focus on new translations of liturgical texts – was intentional, Msgr. Caron said.
“In some cases, a new translation is not necessarily a major change,” he said. “However, it’s an opportunity to look at each of those rites again and to help people think about best practices, how to make full use of the various choices, options, and adaptations found in those books, and to think about how their communities could pray better with those books, to think how they can better implement the goals for the worshiping community in each of those books. That’s our hope, that it’s an opportunity for those who enroll in these courses.”
The courses being offered in this new venture, Carstens said, “offer a kind of ‘Great Books program,’ where the liturgical texts are the books under study. These ritual books embody the doctrine and determine the practice of sacraments, sacramentals, and liturgical prayer of the Church.”
According to Carstens, the courses will provide spiritual, theoretical, and practical value for priests and others who enroll.
“Each course will include some historical treatment, canonical and rubrical review, and spiritual reflection,” he said. “Ultimately, though, we want to equip priests to administer and celebrate the rites intelligently, practically, and completely so that God’s people can receive the most benefit from them.”
The purpose of the sessions at the Center for Continuing Formation will be to provide a comprehensive and in-depth presentation of the ritual’s prayers and rubrics to enrich a priest’s ministry.
The course on the new OAS translation, according to Vyner, “has been structured specifically for priestly ministry. The purpose of these sessions will be to provide a comprehensive and in-depth presentation of the ritual’s prayers and rubrics to enrich a priest’s ministry to the sick and dying. We will explore what is new – both significant and minor differences – and what has remained unchanged.”
Vyner said that he will draw on the scriptures, church teachings, development of doctrine, and the post-conciliar reform of the sacrament.
“The fundamental focus will be on deepening a priest’s engagement in continuing Christ’s healing ministry,” he said. “These sessions, while incorporating lectures, will also provide opportunities for discussion and pastoral applications in the care of the sick and the dying.”
According to Father Gill, the revised English translation of the OCIA presents an opportunity for priests in the U.S. “to receive the Order more fully.”
“By this, I mean with a greater awareness of the role of the priest throughout the rites,” he said, and “that the Order is principally liturgical and as such the work of the local parish community (priest and people), and reestablishing the distinction between accompanying the unbaptized (catechumens) and the baptized (candidates).”
Through discussion, lectures, and practicums offered during the course, Father Gill said he intends to examine the “history of the rites of Christian Initiation, the proposed reforms by the Second Vatican Council, the development of the contemporary OCIA, and its expected use in parishes in the United States, especially with regard to the revised National Statutes.”
Carstens hopes his course on the new LOTH translation will provide a meaningful encounter with this ever-ancient yet ever-new prayer of the whole church.
Open Enrollment
While all the courses are designed primarily for priests, Msgr. Caron noted that the program also welcomes others involved in liturgical ministry, especially at the parish level.
He said, the courses are open to “priests, religious, deacons, or lay people who are full-time, part-time employees, or volunteers in the various areas.”
These areas include those addressed by the program’s texts, such as “pastoral care of the sick, Catholic formation and catechesis of catechumens and candidates, and Catholics who participate in or lead parish celebrations or other celebrations of the Liturgy of the Hours.”
Carstens hopes to see a positive response among Catholics around the country to this range of courses offered at the Center for Continuing Formation.
“The response of priest participants will be the most obvious gauge of success,” he said. “But a longer-range marker of success and one less measurable by standard means, will be a fuller, more authentic reception and celebration of the church’s revised rites.”
He added, “The Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, directed that pastors themselves must ‘become thoroughly imbued with the spirit and power of the liturgy’ before they can teach it to others and celebrate it as the church intends. The Center for Continuing Formation at St. Mary’s Seminary and Adoremus are working toward this goal.”
Additional information and enrollment details regarding the courses offered are available at St. Mary’s Center for Continuing Formation’s website.
Joseph O’Brien is Managing Editor of Adoremus Bulletin and holds degrees from the University of Dallas, Irving, TX.
Knights of Columbus honored St. Mary’s Seminary & University as an outstanding College Council for helping mothers in need and for their significant devotion to Father McGivney.
A Retreat for Priests with Msgr. William Fay
How Intentional Is My Configuration to Christ? A time for reflection, prayer, community, and solidarity.
Monday-Friday June 1-5, 2026 Monday, 4 p.m. – Friday, 11 a.m. edt
Register today.
St. Mary’s Ecumenical Institute has announced that their 2024 Annual Dunning Lecture will feature Peter Casarella, Ph.D., Professor of Theology at Duke Divinity School. The lecture will be entitled “MARY & THE HOLY SPIRIT: PASTORAL PARADIGMS & ECUMENICAL PROSPECTS” and will be held on Tuesday, October 15th, 7:30 p.m. in Laubacher Hall and broadcast via Zoom. The event is free to attend on campus or by Zoom, but registration is requested at https://2024dunning.eventbrite.com/
St. Mary’s Center for Continuing Formation is currently accepting registrations for the annual New Pastors’ Program to be held November 6-11, 2022 at the Center on the St. Mary’s campus in Baltimore, MD.
See the detailed schedule and download the registration form on the New Pastors’ Program page.