Initial considerations. . . We accept candidates beginning in college and at various stages of study thereafter. You should normally have completed a college education if coming from outside the diocese.
Catholics make up less than seven percent of the population in the diocese.
In our diocese we have been blessed in the number of people coming into the Catholic faith. The parishes south of Springfield are growing quickly through tourism and retirement in scenic settings. A comfortableness with solitude combined with an outgoing personality are particularly important in the central part of the diocese where parishes are usually separated by 20 to 30 miles of woodlands and hills. The eastern side of the diocese is the more culturally Catholic area, composed of farmlands, businesses, and small factories. Priests like to get together throughout the diocese for days of reflection, social activities, dinner, etc.