Formation of priests

Learn about the challenge of training diocesan and religious priests around the world.

Why do we promote training?

Without priests there are no sacraments, no Eucharist. As Christians we have the duty to support the formation of priests. In a special way, preventing them from being lost due to lack of financial means.

We all know how important it is to take care of this stage of formation so that, later on, it will benefit hundreds of thousands of faithful throughout the world.

The challenge of priest formation

The CARF Foundation was founded on February 14, 1989, and since then has acted as a link between thousands of generous souls who contribute financially to the financing of study and maintenance grants so that priests and seminarians from all over the world can receive a solid theological, human and spiritual preparation.

More than 1,500 bishops and generals of religious orders from the five continents apply each year for places and assistance for their candidates in the various faculties of Pamplona y Rome.

Each academic year we help finance direct and indirect support for approximately 400 seminarians, 1,500 diocesan priests and 100 members of religious institutions.

Where are the candidates sent by their bishops trained?

International seminars

Collegio Ecclesiastico Internazionale Sedes Sapientiae

Sedes Sapientiae International Seminar

Established in Rome by the Holy See in 1991. It has capacity for 100 resident seminarians and their formators. It occupies the former Conservatory of St. Paschal Baylon, in Trastevere, very close to St. Peter's and the Pontifical University.

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Seminario Internacional Bidasoa, seminario para la formación de sacerdotes

Bidasoa International Seminar

Founded in Pamplona by the Holy See in 1988. It has a capacity for 100 residents and 10 formators. It currently occupies a modern building in Cizur Menor, near the campus of the University of Navarra.

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Pontifical Universities

Pontifical University of the Holy Cross

St. Josemaría Escrivá always had the desire to create in Rome a center for higher education in the ecclesiastical sciences. Blessed Alvaro del Portillo started it in 1984 as an Academic Center. It has four ecclesiastical faculties: Theology, Philosophy, Canon Law and Institutional Social Communication, and a Higher Institute of Religious Sciences.

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Facultades Eclesiasticas de la Universidad de Navarra

Ecclesiastical Faculties of the University of Navarre

They were erected by the Holy See in 1988 and their academic degrees have full canonical validity. Today it has faculties of Theology, Philosophy, Canon Law, and the Higher Institute of Religious Sciences.

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Schools and residences

Schools in Rome

Altomonte and Tiberino are two priests' colleges with modern facilities and more than 100 places for priests studying at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross.

Senior schools and residences in Pamplona

Echalar, Aralar and Albáizar, together with the Los Tilos residence, have places for more than 130 students who come from all over the world to study in the Ecclesiastical Faculties of the University of Navarra.

What studies can be pursued for the formation of priests?

Main areas of the ecclesiastical universities:

Theology

Encompassing a diversity of cultural contexts included in today's society. It offers a formative project based on the conviction that the Mystery of Christ is fundamental.

Philosophy

It fosters the reconciliation between the knowledge of different cultures, and between reason and faith. It studies the understanding of truth in its anthropological and historical-cultural context.

Canonic Law

A study of science that delves into the theoretical and practical juridical system of the Catholic Church in the world, combining juridical formation with pastoral sensitivity.

Institutional Communication

Its objective is to train professionals in the field of communication to serve ecclesiastical institutions.

Degrees of training within the studies:

All ecclesiastical studies completed in Pontifical Institutions qualify for priestly ministry in any part of the world if one has the proper license.

First cycle

Bachelor's Degrees

God calls everyone and some with a specific mission, designed personally for them: "Each one on his own way," says the Council. Each believer must discern his own path and bring out the best in himself, that which is so personal that God has placed in him, and not wear himself out trying to imitate something that has not been designed for him.

The tool we Christians have to discover our vocation and whether it is a vocation to the priesthood or not, is prayer. Prayer is absolutely necessary for the spiritual life. This dialogue with God allows the spirit to develop.

Second cycle

Specialization

Third cycle

PhD (Doctorate)

The duration is at least two years and includes the completion of a research thesis.

Doctorate in Theology (Dogmatic)
Doctorate in Theology (Moral)
Doctorate in Theology (Spiritual)
Doctorate in Theology (Liturgy)
Doctorate in Theology (Biblical)
Doctorate in Theology (Church History)
Doctorate in Canon Law
D. in Philosophy (Ethics and Anthropology)
Doctorate in Philosophy (Metaphysics and Science)

Other programs

Diplomas

Opportunity to deepen training in different specializations. May be annual or biennial. They are not canonical degrees.

Diploma in Higher Theological Education
Diploma in History of Christianity
Diploma in Matrimonial and Procedural Law
Diploma in Marriage and Family Counseling
Diploma in Christian Family Culture and Education

How to opt for the formation of priests?

Each diocese requests the positions it needs for its candidates directly from the corresponding institution.

At the end of the admission period, the institutions make their requests for funds to the CARF Foundation to cover the scholarships.

See annual report

Funds contributed to grants in 2024: 3,524 MM € 3,524 MM

Other 2024 funds and grants: 124.120 €

"For me the most exciting thing about teaching at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross is to see, in the faces and behind the faces of my students, the souls whose lives they will touch. The souls I will never meet from India, Africa, Latin America, Europe and North America; that is the future of the Church that I see in my students.

I am keenly aware, when I am teaching in my class, that I am talking to people who will be teachers, perhaps even bishops, martyrs and saints of the 21st century."

Father John Wauck - Professor of Liturgy

Serving the church on five continents

Learn about the fruits of this work thanks to the interactive map and discover the foundation's unceasing work to serve the Church in 130 countries.

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Make a donation

Every year more than 1,500 bishops and generals of religious orders around the world request study grants for their candidates who need to complete their formation. From the CARF Foundation we want to be able to respond to all requests.

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