History of Kenrick-Glennon Seminary

 

1826:   Foundation of the Diocese of Saint Louis by Pope Leo XII; appointment of Bishop Joseph Rosati, C.M., as first bishop of the diocese the following year; Seminary students of the new diocese shared the Vincentian facilities at Perryville until 1842

1842:   Transfer of the seminarians of the diocese by Bishop Peter Richard Kenrick to a Vincentian house on Carroll Street in Saint Louis

 

1858:   Transfer of the entire Archdiocesan Seminary to Cape Girardeau to form a regional seminary at St. Vincent’s College, which did not prosper due to the hostilities of the Civil War and resulted in the sending of students to other locations, including Saint Francis Seminary, in Milwaukee; Saint Mary’s Seminary, in Baltimore; and the North American College, in Rome, by Archbishop Kenrick due to dropping enrollment at Archdiocesan Seminary

1893:   Re-opening of the philosophy and theology departments of the Archdiocesan Seminary in Saint Louis by Archbishop John J. Kain; Entrustment of the new Seminary—the first to bear the name of Kenrick Seminary—to the direction of the Vincentian Community and located in a former convent of the Visitation Nuns at 19^th Street and Cass Avenue

 

1900:   Re-establishment of the Minor Seminary—Kenrick Preparatory Seminary—at the Cass Avenue building by Archbishop Kain

 

1915:   Opening of the second Kenrick Seminary located on Kenrick Road by Archbishop John J. Glennon (Cardinal Glennon in 1946), since the Cass Avenue facilities proved inadequate

 

1916:   Formal dedication of the new Kenrick Seminary on April 27

 

1931:   Opening of the first Saint Louis Preparatory Seminary, the present Kenrick-Glennon Seminary building, on the same spacious grounds as the second Kenrick Seminary

 

1957:   Opening of a new facility for the high school at 5200 Shrewsbury Avenue by Archbishop Ritter, effecting a division of the Archdiocesan seminary into the new Prep (a four-year high school); Cardinal Glennon College (a four-year college), and Kenrick Seminary (a four-year theologate)

 

1961:   Granting of full accreditation to Cardinal Glennon College by the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools

 

1970:   Granting of full accreditation to Kenrick Seminary by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada and by the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools

 

1987:   Consolidation of the seminary system of the Archdiocese of Saint Louis by Archbishop John L. May, including relocation of Kenrick Seminary on Kenrick Road to the Cardinal Glennon College building (after extensive renovations) on Glennon Drive, to become the present-day Kenrick-Glennon Seminary; Kenrick retained its status as a freestanding school of theology but Cardinal Glennon College closed its freestanding undergraduate program and established a collaborative-model program in conjunction with the College of Philosophy and Letters at Saint Louis University

 

1988:   Beginning of formal operations of the Board of Trustees

 

1995:   Announcement by Archbishop Justin Rigali (Cardinal Rigali in 2003) that, after 177 years of collaboration between the Vincentian Community and the Archdiocese in the running of the Seminary, the Archdiocese would henceforth assume full responsibility while the Vincentian Community would continue to make personnel available for certain positions in the Seminary faculty

 

2008:   Authorization by the Higher Learning Commission of Kenrick-Glennon Seminary to extend accreditation to include the Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy

 

2009:   Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy first awarded to College and Pre-Theology seminarians who successfully completed their studies in May from the Cardinal Glennon College of Kenrick-Glennon Seminary

 

2011:   Major renovations of the Kenrick-Glennon Seminary building during which time the Seminary community was housed at a temporary location

2013:   Return to newly renovated Kenrick-Glennon Seminary campus