What qualifications do you have to have to be a priest?

Answer 1

Catholic AnswerThere is only one real qualification for becoming a priest, and that is a vocation from God. You will never know, for sure, if you have a vocation, until the Bishop stands up in the front of the Cathedral, and calls your name to come be ordained. That is what the word "vocation" means, first a call from God, and then a call from the Bishop.

Before then, every priest has a vocation to be a seminarian. If you are genuinely being called by God, then you will find out for sure in the seminary. In the meantime, you will learn to pray, you will be educated in Moral Theology, Systematic Theology, Church History, how to administer the sacraments, etc. It usually takes six to eight years. If you have a college education AND thirty credit hours in Catholic Philosophy, the bishop *might* let you do it in five years. Usually, there is four years of Philosophy followed by four years of Theology.

To enter the seminary, one must have completely High School (normally, there are minor seminaries that start after eighth grade), be single, be a practicing Catholic for at least one year and have no major impediments (Impediments would be anything from being already validly married, being currently active sexual, having an active homosexual lifestyle, etc.)

To explore whether you might have a possible vocation, talk to your parish priest and tell him about your thoughts, and your current involvement in your parish (you attend Mass regularly, etc.) He will direct you from there.

AnswerNormally, a man must be reasonably intelligent, unmarried, and in reasonable health. He must be a practicing Catholic who frequents the Sacraments of Confession and the Eucharist. He must be a man of prayer with no active scandals in his life. Most diocese require that you completed at least High School, some require a couple year of college. Most require that the man be under 40, although that varies. Finally, he must have the recommendation from his pastor, and be a Catholic for at least one year, if not more. If the pastor approves, then you are sent to the Diocesian Vocations Director, who will interview, ask for various paperwork, baptismal certificate, and a mental health test. AnswerTo become a priest, one must have completed, at a minimum, six years of seminary training: two years of philosophy, and four years of theology. One must be a baptized male in good standing with the Church, and have completed his twenty-fifth year, and promise perpetual celibacy. He must be accepted by a Bishop, and approved by the people, and previously been ordained to the diaconate.