St. Patrick’s Seminary, Menlo Park, CA

	Engaged in the work of forming tomorrow’s priests St. Patrick’s Seminary Menlo Park, CA For more than 100 years, St. Patrick’s Seminary has been preparing men for the priesthood. During that time, over 2,000 priests have been formed at the Seminary to serve the Church and its people in the Western United States and the Pacific Rim. about St. Patrick’s, click here to visit their Web site.

Developing priests prepared to take on the challenges of real life
As a seminary student the idea of joining the Sulpicians drifted in and out of Fr. Jerry Coleman’s mind. "I was very impressed with the Sulpician priests I encountered during my studies," he says. "I intuited that the role they played in the formation of priests was quite significant."

Fr. Coleman, former Rector of St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park, California, made his application to the Sulpicians while he was a deacon in the late 1960s. "I had an instinct that I would be better teaching than focusing solely on parochial work. But I have always remained grounded in parish life. In the mind of Fr. Jean-Jacques Olier, the founder of the Sulpicians, we are always first and foremost diocesan priests.

Walking with his students is essential, energizing work
Fr. Coleman speaks of his prior experiences with students as a spiritual director with tremendous enthusiasm. "You are walking with the seminarians and playing a critical, guiding role in their development as a priest. You are a mentor, a person the seminarians can learn from by observing how you make your decisions and live your life."

An element of life at St. Patrick’s that is uniquely Sulpician is the fact that the Sulpicians live among the seminarians rather than in a separate house. "The point is to model by your actions what you’re saying theoretically in classes," Fr. Coleman explains. "We are companions to the students."

A true spirit of collegiality
According to Fr. Coleman, the centerpiece of Sulpician ministry is collegiality. It informs the way decisions are made by the faculty. "The Rector is one among equals. He uses moral persuasion to work toward consensus and respects the differing opinions others express. Our students see this in action and, we hope, put it to work in their lives as students and later as parish priests."

A great richness of culture
That inclusiveness is mirrored in the cultural make up of the student population at St. Patrick’s. Of the 92 seminarians currently at the Seminary, 51% are from a Philipino, Hispanic, Vietnamese, or Pacific Islander background. Three seminarians are deaf.

"There is a great richness of culture here," adds Fr. Coleman. "That is important because the parishes for which we are training these men are overwhelmingly multicultural."

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