New Notre Dame report lists 12 key proposals to improve seminary formation

First-year seminarians pray in the chapel at Nazareth Seminary in Phoenix April 11, 2025. A new report released July 17, 2026, highlights the growing mental health challenges that seminarians face and the need for better psychological care in seminaries; it also calls for bishops to focus on quality of seminarians, rather than number of men in formation for their dioceses. (OSV News photo/Bob Roller) (OSV News) — A new report by the University of Notre Dame offers 12 key recommendations to improve seminarian formation, focusing on the more effective use of psychological services, while better addressing “special needs” and supporting chastity and celibacy. The university’s McGrath Institute for Church Life announced the July 17 release of “Do You Know Them to be Worthy? Twelve Proposals for Bishops, Rectors, Seminary Formation Teams, and Mental Health Professionals in Assessing the Suitability of Men for Holy Orders.” The report was written by Father Thomas Berg, visiting professor …