Entering higher education at any age — be it straight out of high school or following a late-in-life career change — can come with sticker shock. Seminary is no different.
The cost of educating a seminarian today is about $60,000 annually.
Father Michael Martin said he didn’t have to worry about finances when he entered seminary in 2010. That’s because the Archdiocese of Louisville covers the cost — with the help of the Catholic Services Appeal’s seminarian education fund.
The Office of Vocations “told me right off the bat, they didn’t tell me how, but they said, ‘You’re going to study at Sacred Heart (Seminary) but we’re going to cover it,’ ” he explained in a recent interview.
Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology in Hales Corners, Wisc., lists tuition for the 2023-2024 school year at nearly $11,000 per semester, and that’s not including room and board or various fees. Room and board cost full-time resident seminarians nearly $7,500 per semester.
“The CSA and the seminarian fund are really building the future of the church because without those funds, we do not have the priests,” he said. “It’s the way we continue to bear fruit in the church and the church can continue to bring holy men to the priesthood.”
Father Martin, a native of Indianapolis, said his desire to join the priesthood began at just 8 years old. It would be more than four decades before that call was officially answered when he was ordained at age 52. Before joining the priesthood, he worked in healthcare and dabbled in music. But God’s call never left him.
He completed his master’s in divinity at Sacred Heart Seminary and was ordained in 2017.
“I studied for seven years — it was a long time,” he said.
Now he’s the pastor of two parishes — Holy Trinity Church in Fredericktown, Ky., and Holy Rosary Church in Manton, Ky. And he encourages his parishioners to support the CSA and the seminarian fund.
“It’s so vital for people to understand that their dollars are truly, truly making a difference,” he said. “The support from the archdiocese the whole time I was in seminary and the Serra Club (which promotes vocations) so impacted my journey. Just everything together as well as the people … was so special.”
“The CSA and the seminarian fund are really building the future of the church because without those funds, we do not have the priests. It’s the way we continue to bear fruit in the church and the church can continue to bring holy men to the priesthood.”
Father Michael Martin, pastor of Holy Trinity Church in Fredericktown, Ky., and Holy Rosary Church in Manton, Ky.
This year, the archdiocese has 16 seminarians in formation for the priesthood, up from 11 the year before. That’s good news, but it’s also expensive, said Molly Keene Smith in an October 2023 Record interview.
“With the large amount of seminarians, we’re excited, but the budget this year for seminarians is a million dollars,” said Smith, who serves as director of the Archdiocese of Louisville’s Mission Advancement Office which operates the CSA. “It’s a good problem to have, but without CSA, that won’t happen.”
Father Martin said that when he was a layperson, he didn’t recall being concerned about priesthood formation.
“I don’t think people understand it too much,” he said. But “without that (fund), probably we wouldn’t have the priests we have.”To help meet the need this year, an anonymous donor created a matching grant up to $75,000 for seminary education. To donate to the Catholic Services Appeal, visit https://www.archlou.org/csa.
