When a man feels that the Lord is calling him to the priesthood, he enters into a more formal discernment process where he receives additional information, which may affirm that calling or reveal to him that the priesthood is not God’s vocation for him.
The more formal process begins with a series of meetings with the Director of Vocation Awareness to bring clarity to God’s call and to make an initial assessment of the individual’s situation in life and his abilities. If the threshold requirements established by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (link to Program of Priestly Formation, 5th Ed.) are met by the candidate and the director has confidence in the nature of the candidate’s calling to the priesthood, he presents him to the Director of Seminarians for the process of application and affiliation to the Archdiocese. Within the initial assessment, the candidate’s proper level of entry into the seminary program is determined. The seminary responds to multiple levels of human, academic, spiritual, and pastoral preparation and a program is designed to meet the needs of the candidate. The typical entry points are three-fold.
Prior to a candidate entering seminary, the Vocation Director does a final full assessment of the candidate. Part of this assessment is a review of all of his material by the Seminary Advisory Board and a recommendation to Archbishop Jackels. Archbishop Jackels makes the final decision. A seminarian at this point can be called to candidacy or any time during seminary prior to his diaconate ordination. Once a seminarian is officially accepted by the Archdiocese of Dubuque and enters seminary, the seminarian celebrates liturgical milestones along the way. A seminarian is officially installed as an acolyte and lector. At the end of his third year of major seminary, the seminarian is ordained to the transitional diaconate. Finally, celebrating God’s call and the culmination of his formation, a seminarian is called to be ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Dubuque by Archbishop Jackels. The entire formation for the priesthood can take from 4 years to 8 years, depending upon the state in life of the candidate when he begins. For more information on any of the following, click on the following links: