For the first time in Arizona and in the 53-year history of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix, a full seminary will open to form future priests for the 1.7 million Catholics who live in the diocese.  Bishop John P. Dolan announced on October 3, 2023,  that the Nazareth Seminary has been created, allowing young men to study and discern to become priests in Arizona, a first for one of the fastest growing dioceses in the United States.

The Nazareth Seminary will house and educate all its seminarians in the Diocese of Phoenix as they complete their higher education, and their philosophy and theological studies, in preparation for priestly ordination.  Historically, Arizonans who wanted to become priests had to travel out of state, with most recent seminarians from the Diocese of Phoenix attending St. John Vianney Seminary in Denver, where seminarians from the diocese have been studying for more than a decade.

“Priests are formed in homes not institutions,” said Bishop Dolan, who was named the fifth bishop in the history of the diocese in August of 2022. “So rather than sending our guys away, we find that we can respect their love for family by keeping them in the community, our own portion of the Lord’s vineyard.”

Bishop Dolan is carrying on the commitment of his predecessor, Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted – who in 2019 established the Nazareth House near St. Gregory Parish in Phoenix, a two-year, college-level house of formation for men entering seminary.  From there, the seminarians would head to Denver.

The household model of formation takes into consideration the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ “Program for Priestly Formation, Sixth Edition,” which supports a household model where men live in community as in a family.

The newest house of studies, Our Lady of Perpetual Help House, created for men in their third year or Spirituality Year, opened in August 2023 on the campus of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Scottsdale.

The diocese plans to open the third house, St. Mary’s House, in the fall 2024 at the former friary at St. Mary’s Basilica in downtown Phoenix. It will be retrofitted to house 20 men in their Philosophy Year, while St. Joseph’s House is expected to open in fall 2026 for men in their Theology Year in preparation for ordination.

“What we’ve found is that as men are closer in a community setting, they experience more personal growth,” said Fr. Paul Sullivan, rector of Nazareth House, now in its fifth year. Men in formation at Nazareth House are in the entry phase and new to the seminary and embarking on college courses.

Once all four formation houses are open by 2026, Nazareth Seminary will fully meet the specifications from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ “Program For Priestly Formation.”

The diocese hopes to celebrate the Ordination to the Holy Priesthood Mass for the first class of men to graduate from all four houses of formation of Nazareth Seminary in June of 2030.

“One small step for [the Church], one giant leap for [Phoenix].” Phoenician Catholics have an extra reason, besides all the feast days in October, to celebrate this month. Bishop Dolan has just announced the unveiling of the new Nazareth Seminary. This expansion of the Nazareth House means that by the year 2026, no Diocese of Phoenix seminarian will have to leave Arizona. Instead, seminarians will study their years of philosophy at St. Mary’s Basilica and be intellectually formed in Mary College at ASU. For Phoenician Catholics, this means that seminarians from the Diocese of Phoenix will study in Arizona, be formed in Arizona, and finally serve as priests in Arizona. Watch the video for more.