Kansas diocese to establish formal seminary amid growth in priestly formation

The Diocese of Wichita, Kansas, will open St. Philip Neri Seminary Aug. 26, replacing its existing house of formation with a formally recognized college seminary for men preparing for the priesthood.

In an Aug. 6 announcement, the diocese said Wichita Bishop Carl Kemme will establish the seminary, marking what it described as a step toward stronger governance and clearer recognition of its priestly formation.

The change follows the growth of the St. Joseph House of Formation, which opened in 2017 as a two-year program for seminarians completing undergraduate coursework at Newman University in Wichita. After its first year, the diocese expanded the program to four years as leaders began to see what its current director, Father Chad Arnold, described as “the Holy Spirit working.”

Enrollment at the St. Joseph House of Formation quadrupled from seven seminarians in 2017 to a record 28 in 2023, according to a 2023 article published by the diocese.

Father Arnold, who also oversees the diocese’s seminarians and will serve as the new seminary’s rector, said seminary status will clarify the program’s purpose and help it connect with other seminaries.

“Many outside our diocese don’t even know what a house of formation is,” he said in the announcement. “People recognize the purpose of a seminary, which allows us to communicate with our seminary-level peers and to be notified when things we might otherwise miss are happening in that world.”

He noted the transition will not involve significant changes to the work that the diocese has already been undertaking.

“It’s very exciting to take this step, because it formally recognizes our diocese’s hard work,” he said. “It doesn’t change much about that work, though, and is a testament that the Lord has been working in this and has shown us many good fruits.”

The academic partnership with Newman University will continue under the new seminary, a relationship Father Arnold said has strengthened the seminarians’ education.

“The theology, philosophy, and language departments have done great work for us,” Father Arnold said, “so it has been a blessed, mutually beneficial relationship that has continued to grow.”

He added that the partnership benefits not only the seminarians, but Newman University itself.

“Newman enriches our men’s education,” he said, “and I think our men enrich Newman’s community and Catholic identity.”

Father Arnold also said the seminary’s patron saint, St. Philip Neri, was a choice both he and Bishop Kemme had each considered independently before seeking recommendations from other priests and seminarians.

“We didn’t tell anyone we were thinking of St. Philip Neri, but his name was recommended far more than any other,” he said. “We felt that was a confirmation.”

The seminary will adopt as its motto St. Philip’s Italian saying “Siate umili, state bassi,” meaning “Be humble, be lowly.”

Father Arnold said the seminary also hopes to foster the wisdom expressed in a saying attributed to St. Philip: “The world is your parish, but my parish is my world.”

“That’s really how we want our diocesan priests to be,” he said. “The parish is the world where we live and love and serve and sacrifice ourselves.”