Common Questions
Click any question below:
- How do I know if I have a vocation as a priest or brother?
- What can I do to test my vocation if I’m not sure?
- How long is the vocation program leading to ordination or consecration?
- What is seminary life like?
- Will I have any choice in assignments once I take final vows?
- What is the application procedure?
- What are the criteria for admission?
- What are the deadlines for applying?
- I feel that I’m not worthy. How can I be sure?
- Why should I be a priest given recent clergy scandals? Is celibacy a healthy way to live?
1. How do I know if I have a vocation as a priest or brother?
No one knows for certain without a lot of prayer, reflection, and good discernment, which includes talking with others you know and trust. There are some signs that are good benchmarks. If you agree with most of the statements below, you should talk with a vocation director or otherwise pursue spiritual guidance.
Other people tell you you would make a good priest or brother.
- Your prayer life is getting better.
- You are attending Mass and the sacraments more frequently.
- You are spending more time in church and/or service-related activities.
- You are progressing beyond the generic idea of being a priest and imagining yourself as active in specific ways—preaching, teaching, celebrating the sacraments.
- You find yourself fighting the idea of a vocation but can’t get it out of your head.
- You have other good options, but wonder if you will regret it some day if you don’t give the seminary a try.
2. What can I do to test my vocation if I’m not sure?
- Pray, especially in front of the Blessed Sacrament.
- Go to daily Mass wherever possible.
- Volunteer to get more involved in parish or campus ministry activities. Do you enjoy it? Is the thought of doing ministry for a lifetime increasingly appealing?
- Seek guidance from a spiritual director, a priest, brother, or sister with whom you can discuss your spiritual journey. Discuss it with your family and friends who know you best.
- Try other things. Pursue jobs or internships in careers that appeal to you. If you’re thinking about applying for a job or for graduate school, can you write a resumé or essay about why you want to do those things that sounds convincing to you? Is your heart pulled more toward these things or toward serving God as a brother or priest?
3. How long is the vocation program?
Typically, it takes six years for a person entering the Candidate Program with a bachelor’s degree to receive his master of divinity degree and take final vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. A full-year novitiate follows the candidate year. At the conclusion of the novitiate, a person makes his first profession and returns to Notre Dame for several years of course work in theology. At some point between first and final vows, all professed seminarians also have a “pastoral year,” an opportunity for a full-time ministry experience before making a final commitment.
A person entering Old College as a freshman would typically take nine years to reach final vows. At that time, a candidate for priesthood is usually also ordained a deacon. Priesthood ordination typically follows approximately seven months later, during Easter Week.
4. What is the seminary like?
Seminaries are different depending upon whether you are entering a monastery, a diocesan seminary, or a religious order, and every community has its own distinctive charism. Still, in all programs, including Moreau Seminary and Old College, the daily schedule is structured around the celebration of the Eucharist, communal prayer, and personal prayer. Daily prayer is the foundation of a priest or brother’s life.
Those in preparation normally take about 12 academic credit hours while at Moreau Seminary (15 for undergraduates in Old College), so a lot of the focus is on academics. Also, there are weekly team meetings, monthly one-on-one meetings with formation staff, spiritual direction, community obligations such as hosting guests, and occasional workshops. A seminary is essentially a house of prayer, study, and formation.
Moreau Seminary has about 60 full-time residents. It is not unusual to have a number of priests and brothers from other countries living there for extended periods. The seminary community hosts several thousand guests each year, as well: family, friends, priests, religious, retreatents, student groups, and pilgrims. It is an active house and an integral part of the University of Notre Dame offering many advantages because of its proximity to campus.
5. Will I have any choice in assignments once I take final vows?
We strive to help a person put his gifts to their best use for the good of the Church. A person who has the capability for advanced studies will be encouraged to pursue those interests, and his preferences are given serious consideration by superiors.
Neither do we “order” religious to work in foreign missions, but a Holy Cross religious should always be open to go where he is called and do what he is asked by his superiors. The vow of obedience is meant to free a person to give of himself happily where he is most needed.
Living the vow is, even more fundamentally, a matter of striving to be faithful each day to living the life we have professed and being attentive to one’s daily prayer life and personal well-being in order to be a sign of holiness and fidelity to others.
6. What is the application procedure?
Anyone interested in applying should contact the Office of Vocations. We will discuss the feasibility of having you come for an informal visit or formal interviews. We schedule a number of visits throughout the year, ranging from a couple of hours to several days.
The formal interview process requires submitting an application with letters of recommendation and transcripts in advance of a three-day weekend stay at Moreau Seminary or Old College. That typically includes four tor five interviews, plus a psychological evaluation. This time provides the applicant a good opportunity to experience the life of the community and get a better sense of whether he feels that this is where he is being called by joining in our prayer and daily life. Parents of applicants are also welcome to stay at Moreau Seminary during this time.
7. What are the criteria for admission?
The following is a brief, if not exhaustive list:
- Baptized, confirmed, a practicing Roman Catholic with a sustained prayer life and regular participant in the sacraments.
- A minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA for college graduates and 3.5 for high school graduates with a demonstrated ability to fulfill all degree requirements.
- Free of psychological or medical conditions that would inhibit one from exercising a full life of ministry and emotionally mature for one’s age.
- A record of service and/or liturgical ministry that indicates a serious interest in a life dedicated to these purposes.
- Solid leadership qualities for exercising public ministry proven through school and/or work experience.
- At least 17 years old if applying to Old College, and no older than 35 if applying to the Candidate Program.
- Free of all other canonical impediments and other potential grounds for disqualification on legal or moral grounds; e.g., prior criminal record; personal or legal obligations; sexually inappropriate conduct.
- Demonstrated ability to live religious vows faithfully.
8. What are the deadlines for application?
We can interview candidates for admission up to April 30 of the preceding academic year; however, we strongly recommend that high school seniors applying for Old College contact us as early in the fall semester as possible since Notre Dame’s application deadline is in late December.
9. I feel that I’m not worthy. How can I be sure?
No one is ever worthy, but a person who feels called to enter a seminary should take that very seriously, discuss it with those close to him, seek expert spiritual advice, and pray over the matter with earnestness. A vocation director can also help. Rather than just thinking about it, contact us. We are intent upon helping a person make the right decision. It should be the right time and the right place for you to give it a try. We do not try to “railroad” people who are hesitant or divided and cannot give 100 percent of themselves to the program.
10. Why should I be a priest given recent clergy scandals? Is celibacy a healthy way to live?
No one ever got into trouble by being celibate. Celibacy has allowed many people like Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa to be more loving and more human. Where the Church was negligent, it rightly deserves criticism, but most dioceses and religious communities screen applicants carefully and have had strong sexual abuse policies in place for many years.
Despite the vocation shortage, the best way to increase vocations over the long haul is to be rigorous and selective in admissions so that we have more good priests to inspire young people to consider this way of life. Only a small percentage of Catholic priests have been accused of sexual misconduct. The great majority of priests live their vows with fidelity. We have learned a lot and can do better, but there is no evidence that Catholic priests commit more sexual abuse than clergy of other faiths.
As several bishops have noted recently, there is no easy time to be a priest, but any age is a great time to be a priest for those truly called to this life. The failings of some simply demonstrate the need for more faithful men who will rise to the occasion and be true witnesses of the Gospel.
The Church has been challenged by scandals in other eras as well as by persecutions throughout its history. Every profession or way of life has its difficulties. Don’t let other people or circumstances dictate your vocation. Find a seminary or community that seems healthy to you and pursue your call there. The most important question you can ask yourself is: How is God calling me?