Seminario Hispano de Santa Maria de Guadalupe was established in 1999 in the Archdiocese of Mexico to promote the pastoral care of Hispanic communities in the United States of America.

We are convinced that it is a very concrete response by Divine Providence addressing a need so deeply felt in the Catholic Church.

Seminario Hispano de Santa Maria de Guadalupe began on August 31st, 1999, with the Decree of Erection signed by Cardinal Norberto Rivera. He named Fr. Rodrigo Benítez as Rector and Fr. Alberto Pacheco as Legal Representative. Following the directives of Cardinal Rivera, Fr’s Benítez and Pacheco were to acquire sufficient land for the project, and begin construction of the seminary in the Southern zone of the city named Tlalpan, where there are 25 seminaries and 52 women’s religious communities. Because of the large number of spiritual communities in this area, it is seen as a small Vatican within Mexico City.

Activities at the seminary began very quickly. On August 1, 2000, while the seminary was still under construction, five seminarians pertaining to the Archdioceses of Los Angeles and Milwaukee arrived. All of them began their philosophy courses with enthusiasm in this fledgling work.

Now, twenty years after the signing of the Decree of Erection, more than 200 alumni from not less than 55 dioceses of the United States have passed through this beautiful experience of seminary formation.

The most important service of our institution is to develop the vocation of young Hispanics who have the desire to exercise their priestly ministry in the different dioceses of the United States of America.  For this reason, our program tends to ensure that students receive training according to their own culture,

emotionally balanced and well established in the guidelines given by the authority of the Catholic Church. In doing so, we do our best to ensure that our students are better prepared to serve in a multicultural context such as the one in the USA.