College seminarians are involved in a growth process which involves their personal commitment to God and their final choice of a vocation of service. Growth in self-awareness and sound personal identity are the hallmarks of a healthy personality that establishes a secure basis for the spiritual life. Such growth may be demonstrated by: sound prudential judgment; sense of responsibility and personal initiative; a capacity for courageous and decisive leadership; an ability to establish and maintain wholesome friendships; and an ability to work in a collaborative, professional manner with women and men, foregoing self-interests in favor of cooperative effort for the common good.

At Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary, the seminarians live, pray, recreate, study, and work together to form and test themselves for the priesthood. During their seminary years, seminarians prepare themselves to be qualified and ordained heralds of the Good News of salvation and ministers of the Christian mysteries. This high purpose separates Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary from other educational institutions and makes unique demands of self-education on the seminarians themselves.

The rules and directives of the College Seminary are related to the goals of that division: the development of seminarians into educated, mature persons and the building of a community of genuine relationships. Within the Seminary community, the Administration and Faculty are committed to the sensitive work of priestly formation. The College Division has clear structures of discipline that must be squarely faced by potential candidates for the Roman Catholic priesthood. A mature response to the structures entails authentic free choice, personally motivated and prompted from within. While recognizing that freedom is crucial in the personal development of the individual seminarian, the College Seminary is cognizant of the fact that community accountability is also a component in each seminarian’s vocational maturity. Considerations for accountability are heightened when the ultimate goal of Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary is understood: the preparation of men as priests dedicated to the service of humanity and committed to the saving mysteries of God.