Seminarian Education Fund

The Seminarian Education Endowment Fund was created to ensure continual resources for the recruitment and training of seminarians to serve as the future leadership of the Diocese of El Paso. Pray for priests! Reaching our goal will provide a yearly allocation of $200,000 to the Seminarian Education Program

924 Donors

$4,057,226 Current Value

$5,000,000 Goal

The Seminarian Education Endowment Fund is a permanent fund made up of designated gifts. Distributions are made on an annual basis to support tuition, room, and board, and other expenses related to training seminarians.

Angel Tarango, Angel Aguilar, and Loyd Diviniagracia were ordained to the priesthood in 2023.

One of our greatest areas of focus is the Seminarian Education Endowment Fund, created to ensure continual resources for the recruitment and training of seminarians to serve as the future leadership of our Diocese. Recruiting and educating seminarians is a significant and critical investment, and the responsibility of providing priests for the Diocese of El Paso, both spiritually and financially, belongs to all of us.

St. Charles Seminary was founded in 1961 by Bishop Sidney M. Metzger to provide spiritual, human, intellectual and pastoral formation for young men called to become priests. For a young man seeking to be a priest, our intensive formation program requires four years of undergraduate education towards a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy and four to five years of theological studies in Major Seminary for a Master of Divinity degree, which includes a ten-week spirituality program at Creighton University in Omaha, a three-month supervised hospital ministry training program, and one full year of pastoral internship at a parish within our diocese.

Because the number of seminarians is increasing, so is our need to raise money for their education and living costs. The average cost to train one seminarian is $45,000 annually. The cost includes room and board, education, health insurance and travel expenses. Men are not allowed to work in the seminary, they must devote themselves to prayer and study. The annual budget to run the seminary is now $1 million. Your gifts will help offset these costs.

Funding for seminarian education comes from a variety of sources including the Seminarian Education Endowment Fund, Progress: Catholic Ministry Appeal, Serra Club, the Filipino-American community, Knights of Columbus, second collections, and generous individuals and organizations.

Join us for a night at the movies to support our Seminarians! Register here!

In addition to online donations, there are a variety of ways you can donate to support this fund.

Phone or Mail:

Call (915) 872-8412 Monday – Friday from 9 AM to 4 PM MT to donate the phone. Or you can download this form and mail it to the PO Box listed at the bottom.

Monthly Giving:

As little as $20 (66 cents a day) can make a difference for the people helped by the parishes, schools, ministries, and charities in the Diocese of El Paso. Set up a monthly donation.

Planning Giving:

Creating a bequest in your will for the Catholic Foundation for the Diocese of El Paso is a powerful statement in your legacy and costs you nothing today. Learn about planned giving.

Establish a Named Fund:

Donors may create a Named Fund benefiting the endowed fund of their choice with a gift or pledge of $10,000 or more over five years. If you’re interested in creating a legacy in honor or memory of a loved one, find out more or call (915) 872-8412.