The Diocese is blessed to support men who have heard the Lord’s call to serve His people as priests. Our seminarians are ordinary men responding to an extraordinary invitation.

In 2025, Bishop Baldacchino erected two diocesan seminaries to address the Diocese’s missionary and pastoral needs. The Diocese currently supports seminarians in formation at both St. Joseph Diocesan Seminary and Redemptoris Mater Diocesan Missionary Seminary, preparing men for ordained ministry in service of the faithful of our Diocese. Seminary formation is a multi-year journey that integrates four pillars — human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral development — in accordance with the Program of Priestly Formation (PPF) established by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. To learn more about our seminaries and seminarians, or how you can support them, explore the links below.

Founded in 2025, St. Joseph Diocesan Seminary was erected to support the vocations of local men called to the priesthood in service to our Diocese, following the example of St. Joseph in humility, courage, and faithfulness to the Church. Seminary life is marked by communal prayer, fraternity, and a shared life ordered toward holiness. Seminarians are prepared for ordination in accordance with the PPF with the mission to serve the faithful of the Diocese of Las Cruces for the entirety of their priestly ministry. The seminary offers a local path to the priesthood, allowing seminarians to grow in their vocation while remaining connected to the parishes and communities where they received their call from the Lord.

The Redemptoris Mater Diocesan Missionary Seminary was erected in 2025 according to a model first established by Pope Saint John Paul II in 1987 in the Diocese of Rome and now found in 120 other dioceses throughout the world, including Washington, D.C.; Madrid; Paris; London; Quebec; and Guadalajara, among many others. There are nine other Redemptoris Mater Seminaries in the United States. Seminarians are ordained as diocesan priests for the Diocese of Las Cruces and serve under the authority of the local bishop. They are prepared for ordination in accordance with the PPF and participate in a post-baptismal itinerary of Christian initiation through the Neocatechumenal Way. The local bishop may decide to send priests from the seminary in service of the New Evangelization whenever the need arises.

The decision to bring seminarian formation home to the Diocese has resulted in a local increase in interest in the vocation to the priesthood and has effectively reduced the costs of formation by over 50% per seminarian. The Diocese now has nearly 4x the number of seminarians it had in 2019, and it is able to support them at a fraction of the cost.

Your gift — of any amount — helps carry a seminarian closer to the altar. Join the volunteers and supporters already making this possible.