The Diocese of Austin, along with our Vocations Director Father Greg Gerhart, works tirelessly to ensure that we have sufficient priests to celebrate the sacraments, preach homilies that move hearts and guide our faithful on their journey to Christ. To ensure our priests are well-prepared, seminarians study philosophy, theology, scripture, and pastoral care, seminarian education and formation in the Diocese of Austin takes anywhere from seven to nine years, depending on the academic background of each man in formation. In addition to the academic formation, the Diocese cares for the whole seminarian with health insurance, ongoing formation in prayer and spirituality, and summer programs for the study of Spanish. The total cost of forming a seminarian is about $55,000 per year. As financial reasons should never prevent men from responding to God’s call to the priesthood, your contribution to this special collection, as well as the Catholic Services Appeal and our Seminarian Endowment in the Catholic Foundation, ensures that your future priests will have excellent formation in preparation to serve you.
Please make your donation to this special second collection by