It takes a real man to be a priest. Discerning whether God is calling you to this challenging vocation will require of you prayer, courage, effort, careful reflection and humility. As a man inquiring about the diocesan priesthood in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, you are obviously involving yourself in an important decision-making process. As the Vocation Director, I am here to help you in any way that I can, by providing information, counseling, discernment guidance, retreat opportunities, etc. Through the Vocation Director, the Archbishop must get to know you well enough to confirm any decision made to enter the seminary. In other words, a decision is made by the Vocation Office and the seminary as to whether entering the seminary is indeed the best thing for you at this time in your life. The process involves meetings with the Vocation Director, visiting the seminary, meeting seminarians and seminary faculty. These steps, as well as those detailed below, are performed to help assess your suitability and maturity for this sacred and challenging vocation. All of this must be done in the context of prayer, as all of us involved in this decision must attend to the Lord’s unique call to you. The following details the process:

IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS:

In addition to preliminary conversations, there will be several in-depth interviews. A pre-interview form should be completed before the in-depth interviews. The pre-interview form will ask for factual data about you and will help you to put into words some of the influences which have brought you to consider priesthood. Some of this will be done in the form of a life history.

APPLICATION AND ASSESSMENT PROCEDURES:

When you are ready to apply for a seminary program, the procedure has several steps.

a) Recommendations: This list should include people with whom you have worked, friends, priests, pastor and other acquaintances. Also included should be professors or teachers (especially the guidance counselor) if you have been in school or college recently.

 b) Psychological Testing: This testing is intended to confirm what I already know about you and to give you additional insights into yourself. The tests are administered by the psychologists who are familiar with working with applicants for dioceses and religious communities across the country.

c) Seminary Forms: Along with the application forms themselves, you will need a high school and/or college transcript, college board scores, (if a recent high school graduate), medical/physical form, and sacramental certificates (Baptism and Confirmation). The sacramental certificates should be dated within the last six months and carry the name and seal of the parish. All these materials are to be returned to the Vocation Office. (Those applying for entrance into college seminary at the Pontifical College Josephinum, please enclose a check in the amount of $25.00 payable to the Pontifical College Josephinum.)

d) Background Check: Handled by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.

e) Review by Seminary Admissions Committee

At the conclusion of the formal application procedure, a decision will be made regarding your acceptance into the seminary.

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