Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity

The Saint Paul Seminary
School of Divinity

St. Mary's Chapel
Type	Major Seminary
Established	1894 (1894)
Affiliation	Roman Catholic
Endowment	$25,106,689
Budget	$6,389,498
President	Archbishop Bernard Hebda
Rector	Msgr. Aloysius R. Callaghan, JCD
Dean	Dr. Kenneth Snyder
Academic staff	22
Administrative staff	27
Students	84 seminarians, 70 lay, 400 catechetical institute
Location	St. Paul, Minnesota, United States of America
Colors	Gold and Black
Athletics	Sons of Thunder
Nickname	SPS
Affiliations	ATS
Website	http://www.stthomas.edu/spssod/

The Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity, located in Saint Paul, in the U.S. state of Minnesota, was founded by Archbishop John Ireland in 1894, to provide ordained priests for the ever-increasing Catholic population of the Upper Midwest. The seminary now sits on the south campus of the University of St. Thomas, allowing the seminarians and lay students to be part of the St. Thomas community. Since its creation, over 3,000 priests have been ordained from The Saint Paul Seminary, with thirty-three of them being consecrated bishops — including three archbishops, one of whom, Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, is a candidate for canonization.

There are currently more than 80 seminarians from 17 dioceses, one institute of religious life, and one religious order in formation at The Saint Paul Seminary; 23 men are in formation for the permanent diaconate; and 74 lay students are progressing toward graduate degrees in the School of Divinity. In addition, more than 400 students are enrolled in the Archbishop Harry J. Flynn Catechetical Institute, a two-year, non-degree faith formation program.

The affiliated college seminary, St. John Vianney Seminary, is on the other side of the University of St. Thomas campus.

The primary financier to bring about Ireland's vision was James J. Hill, a Methodist and the president of the Great Northern Railway. Despite being Protestant, Hill's wife, Mary, was a devout Roman Catholic and the half-million-dollar gift and endowment to start the seminary were in honor of her. Being overly dedicated to even the smallest aspects of the new seminary project, Hill's influence over the completed project could be seen on a larger scale in that the six initial buildings were made to look like a train depot (the seminary administration building), a steam engine (gymnasium and physical plant), box cars (Cretin, Grace (though constructed in 1913), and Loras halls), a refectory, and a roundhouse (school building). The seminary complex was designed by architect Cass Gilbert, who also designed the Minnesota State Capitol. When the seminary was finally completed, Archbishop John Ireland shared his inspiration and desires for the new seminary in his address at the seminary's dedication on September 4, 1895 saying,