| St. Charles Borromeo Seminary | |
| Motto: | "Exiit qui seminat" The sower went forth to sow |
| Established: | June 1832 |
| Country: | United States |
| Head Label: | Rector |
Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary is a Roman Catholic seminary in Ambler, Pennsylvania, that is under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. The oldest Catholic institution of higher learning in the Philadelphia region, the school is named after Charles Borromeo, an Italian saint from the Counter-Reformation.[1]
The campus is in the municipality of Lower Gwynedd Township.
St. Charles was founded in June 1832 by Bishop Francis Kenrick in his home on Fifth Street in Philadelphia. On April 13, 1838, it was chartered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to grant academic degrees.[2] Saint Charles later moved to a building on the corner of Fifth and Prune Streets, then to the rectory of Saint Mary's Parish on Fourth Street. It then moved to a facility on the corner of Eighteenth and Race Streets in Philadelphia.[3]
In 1863, then Bishop James F. Wood made the first of three property purchases to create a new Saint Charles campus in the Overbrook section of Philadelphia. In September, 1871, the preparatory college and theology divisions were reunited in Overbrook. In December, 1875, Archbishop Wood dedicated the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception on the campus. Later archbishops of Philadelphia have initiated improvements on the Saint Charles campus.
In 2005, the Anthony Cardinal Bevilacqua Research Center was established at the Ryan Memorial Library. The building was completely renovated in the process. The buildings that make up the current Theology Division. along with the Ryan Memorial Library. stand at the western end of campus. The College Seminary is located at the eastern end.
For an eleven-year period, the preparatory division of the seminary was located at Glen Riddle, Pennsylvania. The preparatory program was equivalent to the junior and senior years of and four years of college. The high school program was discontinued in 1968. In 1999, an alumnus praised Saint Charles for its liturgical reverence compared to some other US seminaries.[4] Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, a former archbishop of Philadelphia, lived at Saint Charles in his retirement. Both Pope John Paul II and Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger visited Saint Charles, and Pope Francis stayed there during his 2015 visit to Philadelphia.[5] [6]
In 2019, Saint Charles sold its Wynnewood property to Main Line Health. On May 23, 2024, workers moved the historic white cross overlooking the Ben Franklin Parkway at Logan Square, initially erected in honor of Pope John Paul II's 1979 visit to Philadelphia, to the Malvern Retreat House.[7] Saint Charles moved in August 2024 to its new campus adjacent to Gwynedd Mercy University in Lower Gwynedd, Pennsylvania.[8] [9] [10]
St. Charles is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada. It consists of four divisions:
In accordance with the Program for Priestly Formation (PPF)https://usccb.cld.bz/Program-of-Priestly-Formation-6th-edition/2/, the formation program for candidates for the Catholic priesthood complete four stages throughout their time in seminary:
Following the propaedeutic stage, a four-year liberal arts curriculum is offered in the college seminary, or a two-year program for those seminarians who have previously earned a bachelor's degree. Both programs are focused in philosophy. This is followed by a four-year curriculum within the Theological Seminary. St. Charles offers the following degrees:
At the start of the 2023-2024 academic year, Saint Charles added 36 new seminarians. The total enrollment of 147 seminarians was studying for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, 12 partner dioceses, and three religious orders. Saint Charles's partner dioceses include:[11]
The partner religious congregations and orders include:
| Name | Dates served |
|---|---|
| Francis Patrick Kenrick | 1832–1835 |
| 1835–1837 | |
| Edward Barron | 1837–1839 |
| 1839–1841 | |
| Mariano Maller | 1841–1847 |
| John B. Tornatore | 1847–1848 |
| Thaddeus Amat y Brusi | 1848–1852 |
| John B. Tornatore | 1852–1853 |
| William O'Hara | 1853–1861 |
| Maurice A. Walsh | 1861–1864 |
| James O’Connor | 1864–1872 |
| James Andrew Corcoran | 1872–1873 |
| Charles P. O’Connor | 1873–1879 |
| William Kieran | 1879-1886 |
| John Edmund Fitzmaurice | 1886–1898 |
| Patrick J. Garvey | 1898–1908 |
| Henry T. Drumgoole | 1908–1920 |
| Edmond John Fitzmaurice | 1920–1925 |
| Joseph M. Corrigan | 1925–1936 |
| Vincent L. Burns (1891-1960) | 1936–1946 |
| Francis James Furey | 1946–1958 |
| John P. Connery | 1958–1966 |
| Thomas Welsh | 1966–1974 |
| Vincent L. Burns (1926-1997) | 1974–1985 |
| Francis X. DiLorenzo | 1985–1988 |
| Daniel A. Murray | 1988–1994 |
| James Molloy | 1994–1999 |
| Michael Francis Burbidge | 1999–2004 |
| Joseph G. Prior | 2004–2010 |
| Shaun Mahoney | 2010–2012 |
| Timothy C. Senior | 2012–2022 |
| Keith J. Chylinski | 2022–present |