St. Mark Seminary is a diocesan

minor seminary A minor seminary or high school seminary is a secondary day or boarding school created for the specific purpose of enrolling teenage boys who have expressed interest in becoming Catholic priests. They are generally Catholic institutions, and ...

operated by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie and located on a campus in the southeast corner of the city of

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 ...

. Seminarians in residence at the seminary pursue philosophy and

liberal arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term '' art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically th ...

studies at Gannon University. The seminary houses seminarians from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie and other dioceses in the region.

History

Bishop

John Mark Gannon John Mark Gannon (June 12, 1877 – September 5, 1968) was an American clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Erie from 1920 to 1966, and was given the personal title of Archbishop in 1953. He previously served as an ...

founded St. Mark Seminary as a diocesan seminary for the Diocese of Erie in 1945. Originally housed in a building on East Third Street in the city of Erie, with an enrollment of 93 seminarians by 1957 it soon outgrew its original facility. were purchased for a new campus and buildings outside the southeast corner of the city. This new seminary was dedicated by Bishop Gannon on June 2, 1960, and remains the home of St. Mark Seminary today. In 1972, Erie opened the seminary program at St. Mark's to seminarians from other dioceses, and accepted men studying for the priesthood in the dioceses of Greensburg,

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, Altoona-Johnstown, Richmond, and Arlington. The high school seminary program was discontinued in 1983, and the program shifted its focus to providing seminary formation exclusively for men in college-level studies. The Very Rev. Michael T. Kesicki has served as Rector since 2000, and the current vice rector is Fr. Nicholas J. Rouch. Seminarians currently in formation at St. Mark's are studying for the dioceses of Erie, Altoona-Johnstown, Buffalo, Greensburg, and Rochester.

References

External links

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St. Mark Seminary program at Gannon University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mark Seminary Catholic seminaries in the United States Seminaries and theological colleges in Pennsylvania Educational institutions established in 1945 1945 establishments in Pennsylvania Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie