📍100 E. Wynnewood Road, 

Wynnewood, PA 19096

📞(610) 667-3394

🌐  St. Charles Borromeo Seminary Website

No. of Seminarians: 147

Total No. of Dioceses and Religious Orders Served: 14

Propaedeutic Stage: Yes; college year and pre-theology year

Daily or Weekly Eucharistic Adoration: Yes

Seminarian-to-Faculty Ratio: 7:1

Why St. Charles Borromeo

Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary is now in its 192nd year of formation and is one of the largest Catholic seminaries in the U.S. We are soon to enter into an exciting new period in our history as we relocate to a new campus in 2024-2025. Our program encompasses every stage of formation, including a free-standing, fully accredited College Seminary, a two-year Pre-Theology Program, and a Theological Seminary. We are also known for our pastoral formation; our apostolate program has our men spending one full day a week where they are in direct service for those in need with the goal of developing in the men a heart of service. Collegians serve in prisons, senior centers, working in special needs education, food pantries and homeless shelters, largely working with the poor and marginalized. Pre-Theology and Theology seminarians are given pastoral assignments to guide their development in how to be a shepherd of souls. They are assigned parishes where they learn firsthand the work of a pastor.

The Institution:

• President's Oath
• Catholic Board
• Catholic Faculty
• Mandatum Required
• Theologians' Oath

Campus Culture:

• Mass and Confession
• Speakers Vetted
• Unobjectionable Clubs
•  No Coed Dorms (N/A)
• Health Services Okay (N/A)

School’s Comments:

Institution: St. Charles Borromeo Seminary is the oldest Catholic institution of higher learning in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. The seminary was founded in 1832 by Rev.Francis Patrick Kenrick, third bishop of Philadelphia, at his home on Fifth Street in Center City. There were only five students. After four subsequent moves, St. Charles settled at its present location in Overbrook in 1871. The purchase of the Overbrook property by Archbishop James Wood for $62,000 was criticized in the local newspaper as “Wood’s Folly” because the ground was considered to be located too far into the country to be a practical setting. St. Charles occupies 75 acres of ground and is comprised of 19 buildings measuring 630,000 square feet. The buildings are affectionately referred to as being located on the “upper side” or “lower side” of campus. The original upper side building, sitting on the highest point of the property, was completed in September 1869 with adjacent buildings added later; lower side buildings were completed in 1928. The renovated Ryan Memorial Library opened in 2005. The fine arts collection of more than 400 pieces is distributed throughout the seminary and includes European paintings, original prints and portraits. St. Charles Borromeo Seminary features a college seminary, a theology seminary, a School of Theological Studies and a School of Diaconal Formation. Over the past 150 years, we have been blessed to have hosted many notable figures in our hallowed halls, including: Pope Francis, Pope St. John Paul II, St. Teresa of Calcutta and Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. Now in our third century of continuous formation, we humbly and gratefully affirm our motto of our seminary: Exiit Qui Seminat, “The Sower Went to out to Sow.” Today, we are proud to be educating and forming future priests for 15 dioceses and religious orders from across the United States and around the world, including the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.