Our Mission:

SS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary is a Roman Catholic graduate school of theology offering academic and formation programs to candidates for ordained and lay ministry.

Deeply rooted in its American and Polish heritage, the Seminary shares in the mission of Jesus and the Church to form evangelizers.

The Seminary seeks to develop in its students a sensitivity to and respect for the multicultural and pluralistic character of God's people and to prepare them to "Go forth and make disciples of all nations."

History:

SS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary was founded in 1885 in Detroit, Michigan, to prepare candidates for the Roman Catholic priesthood primarily to serve Polish American immigrant communities. Approval for founding such a seminary was granted on January 14, 1879, by Pope Leo XIII upon the petition of Father Leopold Moczygemba, O.F.M. Conv., founder of the Polish settlement in Panna Maria, Texas, in 1854.

The establishment of the seminary was realized by Father Joseph Dabrowski, the first rector, who obtained approval from Bishop Caspar Borgess of Detroit for constructing a building on St. Aubin Avenue between Forest Avenue and Garfield Street and organizing the seminary program.

Increasing enrollment and the need for additional space led the second rector, Father Witold Buchaczkowski, to transfer the seminary in 1909 from Detroit to the site of the former Michigan Military Academy in the rural village of Orchard Lake, northwest of Detroit.

The original academic program of the seminary consisted of ten years of studies: five in the preparatory classical department and five in the upper division, namely, two in philosophy and three in theology. In 1927, three four-year administratively independent schools were established: SS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary, St. Mary's College, and St. Mary's Preparatory, known collectively at present as the Orchard Lake Schools.

In 1968, the Seminary began to provide a training program for permanent deacons, field education for seminarians, and continuing education for adults. In the ensuing years, the following degree programs were introduced: Master of Divinity (1973) for priesthood candidates, religious, and lay women and men; Master of Religious Education (1977), later designated as Master of Arts in Religious Education (1989); and Master of Arts in Pastoral Ministry (1989), an upgrading of the Certificate in Pastoral Ministry, which had been in existence since 1975.