This is the spring 2026 version of our update for you, our readers, about our seminarians and their seminaries. We rely on the help of the staff of our three seminaries in the archdiocese: Pope St. John XXIII, Weston; Redemptoris Mater Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary, Brookline; and St. John Seminary, in Boston's Brighton neighborhood; and of the Office for Vocations -- Father Eric F. Cadin, the director; and Father Michael L. Zimmerman, associate director.

This year, there are also seminarians at seminaries outside the archdiocese, which provide formation for Bostonians and other dioceses and religious orders. Those seminaries are Our Lady of Providence, Providence, R.I.; Holy Trinity, Dallas, Texas; St. Augustine, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and Sacred Heart, Brusque, Santa Catarina, Brazil.

Seminaries not only have students but also administration, faculty, both full- and part-time, and these may also be laity or religious, both women and men; and clergy who might be diocesan or religious. Additional professional support staff might include advancement directors; they also have other support staff, such as maintenance personnel, food services, and groundskeepers.

Some numbers regarding faculty of three of the seminaries within the archdiocese. Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary in Weston, with capacity for 80, has a total enrollment of 34 men in four years of priestly formation for multiple dioceses of the United States and two religious orders. And it has a rector and a vice rector, and eight full-time and 14 part-time or adjunct faculty members. Redemptoris Mater Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary, Brookline, has a rector and vice rector and a spiritual director for the 18 seminarians, all candidates for the archdiocese; its capacity is 26. Brighton's St. John Seminary, which could accommodate as many as 85 residents, has an enrollment of 42 resident seminarians. There are also other men from various religious orders who are full-time students but usually they live with their respective religious orders. The candidates represent several other dioceses and different religious orders. The seminary has a rector, an acting vice-rector, and 13 full-time faculty and 18 part-time or adjunct faculty.

While we are reporting numbers here, it's important to keep in mind that the seminarians are individuals who rely very much on our prayers, as do the faculty members of the several seminaries. There are presently 43 Boston candidates in seven seminaries; during nine years of formation, they come from two countries outside of the USA, from the District of Columbia; 10 different states outside the Commonwealth, and from 22 municipalities in Massachusetts, all of those within the borders of the Boston Archdiocese.



Boston seminarians by seminary

Holy Trinity, Dallas, Texas -- 1

Our Lady of Providence, Providence, R.I. -- 3

Pope St. John XXIII, Weston -- 2

Redemptoris Mater, Brookline -- 18

Sacred Heart, Brusque, Santa Catarina, Brazil -- 1

St. Augustine, Toronto, Ontario, Canada -- 1

St. John, Boston -- 17



Boston seminarians by nation or state of origin

Massachusetts (within archdiocese) -- 22

Washington, D.C. -- 1

California -- 1

Colorado -- 3

Florida -- 2

Illinois -- 2

Maryland -- 1

New Jersey -- 3

New Mexico -- 1

Rhode Island -- 1

Texas -- 1

Utah -- 1

West Virginia -- 1

Brazil -- 2

Nicaragua -- 1