The Application

After reaching out to the vocation director, you and he would meet several times. Perhaps a meeting will be at his parish office while another may be over a cup of coffee. The goal of this initial stage is to get to know one another, to begin guiding and answer any questions you may have. Meeting with the vocation director never means you are going to or must apply, but is rather a way of taking a that "next step."

After the initial meetings, together the discerner and vocation director will get a sense if he is ready to receive the application. The application has several parts: From general information, questions like “why do you want to be a priest?,” to familial and education history.

An integral part of the application are the Medical and Psychological Evaluations. These exams will help the man and vocation director see if he is healthy enough to enter seminary, gauging if he has the freedom and capacity.

After completing the application and evaluations, the vocation director will review it, ultimately giving his recommendation to Bishop Malloy. Taking the application himself, Bishop will then read through everything carefully, taking it all to prayer, before giving his final decision.

All together, depending on a candidate’s particular needs, the application process, from start to finish, takes an average of two months.