Catholics in the Twin Cities and beyond are invited to join The Saint Paul Seminary, the National Eucharistic Revival and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis for the “Source and Summit” Eucharistic procession down Summit Avenue the afternoon of Monday, May 27. [RSVP for the procession] The Memorial Day event begins with Midday Prayer at 12:45 p.m. in front of The Saint Paul Seminary and concludes at the Cathedral of St. Paul. The procession is Minneapolis-St. Paul’s flagship portion of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage’s Marian Route, which concludes — along with three other Euchari ..read more

During one of his countless visits to agrarian Catholic communities around the United States, Jim Ennis met a priest in the backwoods of Louisiana who had turned a supersized out building into an after-school gathering spot for local youngsters. High school students from the parish would mentor those in junior high and elementary school, and pretty soon an entire generation of the city’s youth – not just Catholics – were learning how to lead, do better in school and stay out of the vices so easily accessible to modern rural children such as premarital sex, drugs and alcohol. “That pastor,” sa ..read more

Left to right: Deacon Brian Klein, Deacon Daniel Ruprecht, Deacon Frankie Floeder, Deacon Nick Vance, Deacon Brent Bowman, Deacon Sean Mulcare, Deacon Josh Miller, Deacon Ryan Sustacek, Rector Fr. Joseph Taphorn, Deacon Luisito Cabrera, Deacon Kevin Soenneker, Deacon Michael Panka, Deacon Nicholas Gawarecki, Deacon Chris Yanta, Deacon Philip Conklin, Deacon Alex Rasset and Deacon Derek Gilde. Not pictured: Deacon Hjalmar Gudjonsson. Seventeen seminarians or former seminarians from The Saint Paul Seminary will be ordained priests this spring and summer. Some of them have been in formation since ..read more

St. Paul the Apostle is known as possibly the most prolific author in the Bible. At Mass inside St. Mary’s Chapel at The Saint Paul Seminary, Bishop Robert Barron explains how Saul’s conversion on the road to Damascus set in motion the evangelical task of every Christian today. The post Watch: Bishop Robert Barron on the conversion of St. Paul appeared first on Saint Paul Seminary ..read more

The 2024 Saint Paul Seminary transitional diaconate ordination class includes (from L to R) seminarians J.P. Thornton (Diocese of Sioux Falls), Mitchell Kendrioski (Archdiocese of Hartford), Zachary Ochsenbauer (Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis), Alexander Marquette (Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis) and Benjamin Peters (Diocese of Winona-Rochester). Five Catholic bishops will ordain 13 Saint Paul Seminary seminarians as transitional deacons this spring and summer. The transitional diaconate normally marks the final year of a man’s formation before he becomes a Catholic priest. T ..read more

Bishop Robert Barron recently visited The Saint Paul Seminary to share biblical perspectives on the Catholic priesthood. “The central theme of Scripture is right praise,” he told the seminary community, and priests “knit together the universe” by leading this right praise. The post Watch: Bishop Robert Barron on what the Bible has to say about the priesthood appeared first on Saint Paul Seminary ..read more

Jesus is quoted in the Gospel of Matthew as saying “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me (chapter 25, verse 35).” Collin Prom could feel the Rocky Mountain winter cold seeping into his bones. One of 16 men in The Saint Paul Seminary’s “propaedeutic” stage who spent most of January ministering to the homeless in different cities throughout the United States, Prom and fellow seminarian Sean Daly stepped out of the subzero Denver temperatures and into a local restaurant. Via their work with Christ in the City, Prom and Daly were th ..read more

Matt Birk grew up just over a mile down Cretin Avenue from The Saint Paul Seminary. Yet the former NFL center turned Minnesota renaissance man never thought he’d be spending much time inside the seminary’s walls. “Oh of course,” Birk said during a recent interview, seated with a coffee at JJ’s Junction — a modest coffee and beverage bar in the seminary’s basement. “I was like ‘the seminary’s going to want me to come teach, for sure.’ “No. Never in a million years.” But Birk has spent the 2023-24 academic year doing just that, imparting wisdom from a lifetime of public leadership roles in a pr ..read more

Fr. Joseph Taphorn, rector of The Saint Paul Seminary, has run four marathons and five half marathons. Arguably the two nicest parks in Omaha are across the street from each other. Memorial Park sits north of Dodge Street, with Elmwood Park on the opposite side. Within walking distance of both is St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church, where Fr. Joseph Taphorn lived and served served while working in various leadership roles for the adjacent Archdiocese of Omaha chancery. Any honest leader will admit it’s a gig that comes with stress. Taphorn found one way to manage it: running the various paths an ..read more

  By FR. JOSEPH TAPHORN Rector, The Saint Paul Seminary Dear Friends, The Church recognizes the value sports can play for each of us, with Pope Francis stating that “the Ecclesial Community sees in sports a powerful instrument for the integral growth of the human person.” In a similar vein, St. John Paul II recognizes that we must “promote sports which can create the condition of a life rich in hope.” Even centuries ago, St. Thomas Aquinas wrote that there is a “virtue in games” and that a virtuous person should not be working all the time, but also must make time for play and recreation ..read more