It was welcome news when Pope Francis declared 2025 a Jubilee Year.
In his Bull of Indiction, “Spes non confundit: Hope does not disappoint,” which announced the Jubilee Year and its themes, the pope wrote, “every effort should be made to enable the People of God to participate fully in its proclamation of hope in God’s grace and in the signs that attest to their efficacy.”
That grace and proclamation of hope can be experienced through the many programs and individuals the Charity and Development Appeal (CDA) supports, including the 50 young men who are part of the groundbreaking new and fully local Nazareth Seminary in the Diocese of Phoenix.
This is the single largest group of seminarians in diocesan history, and the formation of these potential future priests is made possible through CDA support.
“Most people don’t realize, but it’s quite pricey to send a guy for a full year of seminary formation,” said Fr. Kurt Perera, the diocese’s director of vocations. “It’s not just academic studies, but also their room, board and [meals]. The formators and the counseling, and all these different services that help form a man take a lot of money.
“CDA very much helps offset some of those, and we’re very grateful,” he said.
Record numbers of seminarians now, and perhaps larger numbers ahead, too. With a formation model Fr. Perera describes as “revolutionary,” the diocese is emphasizing building a home-centered community for its future priests in formation while they study and discern in the diocese they may one day serve.
Bishop John Dolan’s October 2023 creation of Nazareth Seminary will bring an end to the need for seminarians to travel to places such as Denver and San Antonio, Tex., to receive formation.
“It’s taking the context of a family and realizing that men are not formed in institutions but in households — as Bishop Dolan has often said,” explained Fr. Perera. “[The] seminarians are learning how to love and care for each other so they can better love and care for the people they will eventually serve.”
Fourth-year seminarian Ben Sanford, who has lived almost his entire life in Phoenix, attending St. Francis Parish and graduating from St. Mary’s High School, said he “can’t wait” to see the growth of the new local seminary and God-willing be part of the fraternity of current priests.
“It’s going to be just a blast,” he said. By bonding now with their possible future brother clergy, Sanford said the seminarians will find sources of strength amid the pressures and challenges of the world, rather than just spend a few months in other parts of the country for formation with priests who they’ll rarely see again. “[That] is extremely important,” he said.
Sanford and his fellow seminarians now commute locally to Arizona State University in Tempe, Ariz., for Catholic studies taught by faculty of Mary College, an extension of Bismark, N.D.-based University of Mary, which is sponsored by the Benedictine Sisters.
To learn more about the CDA impact, visit https://dphx.org/cda/
