About Saint Vincent Seminary

Saint Vincent Seminary is a Roman Catholic seminary in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Father Boniface Wimmer in 1846, who came from Saint Michael’s Abbey in Metten, Bavaria, to insist Saint Vincent Archabbey as the first Benedictine monastery in North America. It is the fourth oldest Catholic seminary in the United States.

The seminary was officially established on August 24, 1855 through an Apostolic Brief of Pope Pius IX. Civil degrees are conferred by virtue of a charter fixed by an act of the Pennsylvania State Legislature upon April 18, 1870. Since 1870 more than 300 students have earned the Master of Arts degree and 400 Master of Divinity degrees. More than 2,400 diocesan and religious students have been ordained priests.

Latrobe /ləˈtroʊb/ is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, in the United States and part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area.

The city population was 8,338 as of the 2010 census (9,265 in 1990). It is located close Pennsylvania’s scenic Chestnut Ridge. Latrobe was incorporated as a borough in 1854, and as a city in 1999. The current mayor is Rosemarie M. Wolford.

Latrobe is the house of Saint Vincent Archabbey, the Latrobe Brewery (the indigenous brewer of Rolling Rock beer), and Saint Vincent College. Latrobe was the home of golfer Arnold Palmer. It was the childhood house of children’s television personality Fred Rogers. The banana split was invented there by David Strickler in 1904. Latrobe is also home to the training camp of the six-time Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers. Latrobe was long qualified as the site of the first professional American football game in 1895 until research proved otherwise.