ARCHDIOCESE — The seminary for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati is one of the most prestigious institutions in the nation.

Founded in the early 1800s, the seminary of the Athenaeum of Ohio-Mount St. Mary’s of the West ranks as the third oldest Catholic seminary in the United States and the oldest Catholic seminary west of the Appalachian Mountains.

The school was created by Bishop Edward D. Fenwick, the first bishop of Cincinnati, when he established St. Francis Xavier Seminary and the Athenaeum College on May 18, 1829. In 1851, the seminary was renamed Mount St. Mary’s of the West to avoid confusion with the original school name of St. Francis Xavier Seminary which grew also to encompass a growing Cincinnati-based Jesuit college. The college was destined to become Xavier University.

CT FILE PHOTOS/E.L. HUBBARD

A view from the back of the Chapel of St. Gregory the Great, inside the Athenaeum of Ohio.

The present-day campus of the Athenaeum of Ohio-Mount St. Mary Seminary includes 76 acres of manicured grounds surrounding an impressive granite stone building constructed in 1929 in the Mount Washington area east of Cincinnati.

Today the Athenaeum of Ohio-Mount St. Mary’s Seminary of the West continues its mission to prepare men for the Catholic priesthood and diaconate as well as to educate more than 200 additional lay graduate students in two other divisions of the institution — the Lay Pastoral Ministry Program (LPMP) and Special Studies.

The Athenaeum of Ohio is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada. It is authorized by the State of Ohio to grant the following degrees: Master of Divinity, Master of Arts in Theology, Master of Arts in Biblical Studies, Master of Arts in Religion and Master of Arts in Pastoral Counseling.

An external photograph shows the beauty and majesty of the Athenaeum of Ohio, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati’s major seminary.

There are clear indications the seminary’s enrollment is rebounding. There were 41 seminarians studying for the priesthood in 2002-2003. Students from other dioceses without seminaries have found an outstanding priest formation program at Mount St. Mary’s of the West

The decline in seminary enrollment, however, pushed the seminary to broaden its scope. Today it is the theological center of the archdiocese. There are more than 150 men and women enrolled in the institution’s Lay Pastoral Ministry Program, created in 1975 as one of the country’s first lay ministry programs. It is designed to train lay Catholics in the various ministries of the present-day Catholic Church.

Additionally, the Athenaeum of Ohio-Mount St. Mary’s Seminary includes the Catholic deacon formation program and a pastoral counseling program. Total enrollment exceeds 250, most in graduate degree programs.

Ohio’s oldest Catholic seminary stands on the threshold of a new and exciting era. In 2004, the Athenaeum of Ohio-Mount St. Mary’s Seminary celebrated its 175th anniversary, just one year after the State of Ohio celebrated its bicentennial year.