Eight seminarians from the Diocese of Phoenix’s Nazareth Seminary were part of the largest graduating class from the University of Mary on Saturday (April 26) in Bismarck, N.D. The eight graduating seminarians, the first group from the Nazareth Seminary to do so, are Bobby Balser, Jacob Barnett, Chris Lukaszewski, Julian Mena, Jose Munoz, Br. Damien Van Amerongen, Alexander Vinciguerra and David Wilmowski.
Saturday began with a baccalaureate Mass, celebrated by university President Msgr. James Shea in the campus chapel, followed by the commencement ceremony at the Bismarck Event Center where an all-time high 1,081 graduated. Fr. Kurt Perrera, the vice rector of Nazareth Seminary, Fr. Jesús Martinez and Fr. Peter McConnell from the Diocese of Phoenix were also in attendance.
The University of Mary partners with Arizona State University (ASU) in Tempe, Ariz., to run a local branch of the university called Mary College at ASU. This is where the eight seminarians have been studying for the past three years to earn their bachelor’s degree in Catholic Studies and Philosophy.
The men will now continue their formation at St. Gregory House in Phoenix for the three-and-a-half-year Configuration Stage of formation. Men from this class are on track for a 2030 priestly ordination.
The historic Nazareth Seminary, which began expansion in October 2023, is a household model of formation and education where seminarians and their formators live, pray, study, cook and care for the home together. The local program also allows men to get to know the cultures, parishes and people they may one day serve as priests. Nazareth Seminary consists of four formation homes, the fourth of which will be St. Agnes House, which will be located at St. Agnes Parish and is slated to open in fall 2026. Discussions are currently underway for a fifth formation house, which will potentially open in fall 2027.
