Catholic Ministry Formation Directory

The 2025 Catholic Ministry Formation Directory is NOW AVAILABLE.

What is the Ministry Formation Directory?

The Ministry Formation Directory is a revised and expanded bound and searchable electronic Adobe pdf of the indispensable reference for seminary, diaconate, and lay ministry formation programs, vocation offices, career counselors, parishes, and many others. The 2025 Directory contains a detailed analysis of participants in Catholic ministry formation programs – seminarians, deacon candidates, and men and women preparing for lay ecclesial ministry positions. It also contains a complete listing of the more than 500 Catholic ministry formation programs sponsored by the Catholic Church in the United States, organized by type, by state, and by diocese. Each entry includes a listing of current leadership for each program, enrollment data, contact information, and a detailed program description. The Directory also contains a statistical overview of ministry formation enrollments. The most recent reports for the formation of priests, deacons and lay ecclesial ministers are also available.

Directory Organization

There are three sections to the print and electronic Adobe pdf Directory:

• Priesthood Formation: Includes information on high school, college, pre-theology, and theology level programs.

• Diaconate Formation: Includes information on diocesan programs for the formation of permanent deacons.

• Lay Ministry Formation: Includes diocesan-sponsored programs as well as programs affiliated with universities, seminaries, and schools of theology.

The Catholic Ministry Formation Directory 2025 offers these features:

• Up-to-Date Listings. CARA verifies the addresses, officers, degrees, certificates, tuition, and enrollments for formation programs.

• Expanded Statistical Analysis. CARA publishes Summary of program participants and enrollment trends complete with graphs and tables.

• Reports on seminaries, diaconate and lay ministry formation programs give all available information in a friendly, easy-to-read style with plenty of graphs and tables.

Ministry Formation Directory Format Options

The Catholic Ministry Formation Directory is available in two formats: book and a searchable electronic Adobe pdf. The reference book is approximately 400 pages. It includes the statistical overview, entries for each formation program including contact information and overview data on the program, and more. The book is published every other year.