Tucked away behind the commotion of Middlefield Road, St. Patrick’s Seminary has served as a quiet academic sanctuary in the heart of Menlo Park for nearly 125 years.
Less than a mile away from M-A, St. Patrick’s mostly operates like a standard university—with classes, finals, and traditional degrees. However, it also falls into a unique group: it is one of only three Catholic theologates on the West Coast, meaning that it offers intensive, graduate-level study in Catholic theology required to become a priest.
The seminary was founded in 1898 by Patrick William Riordan, who was the Archbishop of San Francisco at the time. St. Patrick’s is now run by President-Rector, Very Rev. Mark Doherty.
However, just eight years after its founding, the seminary’s history was nearly cut short by the 1906 Great San Francisco earthquake, which leveled much of the original structure and forced the permanent removal of the building’s fourth floor.
The seminary has become the primary supplier of priests for the San Francisco diocese, which runs all the way from San Mateo to Marin, but also serves bishops all over the world.
This year, the seminary has 73 students: one undergraduate, and 72 graduates. Most of St. Patrick’s students come from near the Seminary, but some come from further away. “The youngest [student] we have is from Tanzania,” Father Anthony Giampietro—one of the Seminary’s professors and a Catholic priest—said. “They had never been outside of Tanzania [before coming], they had never been on a plane, and never used a computer. They’re actually adjusting very well.”
The diversity of students goes deeper than just nationality. “We’ve had a seminarian who was a [colonel] in the Army [… and] Scott Borg, who used to be CEO of Elf Cosmetics,” Zoe Scarpa, an advancement associate at the church, explained.
The seminarians are very devoted to their craft. “It’s a lifelong commitment to become a priest,” Scarpa said.
The process begins with a recommendation from a student’s bishop. For instance, if an aspiring priest were to be living in Menlo Park, they would contact San Francisco’s bishop, and then receive a recommendation to study at St. Patrick’s.
St. Patrick’s is a boarding school, meaning that recommended students spend the vast majority of their time there, studying, talking to others, or praying in the Seminary’s chapel. The chapel is adorned with 12 large stained glass windows that were imported when the chapel was rebuilt, as well as a marble tabernacle.
Many of the classes are rigorous too. “I’m teaching metaphysics now, and I’m grading the final exam,” Giampietro said. “Our students have to be able to speak intelligently with authority about a number of things, including scripture, ethics, or forgiveness.”
Before becoming a priest, all students need to earn a Masters of Divinity. However, the Seminary also offers a Masters of the Arts in Theology, Bachelor degrees, and is currently working on starting a doctorate program.
The final stage in the journey comes after the student gets his degree. “We make a recommendation to the bishop,” Giampietro said. “Our job is to either pass them or not academically, and then give an opinion on whether they have the other qualities that should be part of a priestly life.”
According to Giampietro, the Seminary recommends around 95% of their seminarians to become priests. From there, if their bishop heeds the recommendation, the seminarians become priests, and tend to move on to become pastors at local parishes, church administrators, or professors.
Seminary life is also more than just studies. “We’ve got a group now that’s trying to start a basketball team,” Giampietro said, gesturing at the basketball courts on the Seminary’s grounds. “We’re going to have a tournament—we hope—with the two seminaries on the West Coast.”
Giampietro also notes that many of the seminarians are fairly social, given their secluded lifestyles. “Once, about eight of the seminarians […] had a little gathering with cheese, crackers, olives, wine, beer, and music.
Possibly the most notable visitor to the Seminary was Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli, who was later elected Pope Pius XII. At the time of his visit, Pacelli was the Secretary of State for the Vatican, and was visiting the Bay Area in order to bless the newly completed Bay Bridge. His itinerary included a stop at St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park.
This past year, St. Patrick’s made history again when it became the first seminary ever to open a so-called “Center for Sainthood Studies.” The center aims to serve as a research institute, advising people on the process for attaining Sainthood for past figures, also known as Canonization. “We have a priest here who knows a lot about it,” Giampietro said.
Come Christmastime, many seminarians will spend their time at nearby parishes, practicing their preaching during Christmas Day Mass. Around five months from then, St. Patrick’s Seminary’s class of 2026 will graduate, many of whom will move on to become the next generation’s priests.
Man these are some cool photos