St. Francis Xavier Seminary In 1829, Bishop Fenwick founded St. Francis Xavier Seminary in the former Christ Church in Cincinnati. Two years later, he established the Athenaeum to educate lay students. In 1840, the Jesuits took over operation of the Athenaeum and renamed it St. Xavier College.
Mount St. Mary's of the West On October 2, 1851, a new seminary building was dedicated by Archbishop
John Baptist Purcell in
Price Hill, Cincinnati, and the seminary was renamed Mount St. Mary's of the West. The new name was selected in honor of
Mount St. Mary's of the East in
Emmitsburg, Maryland, where Purcell had been rector. In 1879, the seminary closed for eight years due to financial difficulty. When it reopened, Purcell decided to create a separate preparatory school,
Saint Gregory Seminary, which was opened in Mount Washington in 1890. In 1906, Archbishop
Henry K. Moeller had a mission to build a new cathedral, archbishop's residence, and seminary in Cincinnati. The next year, the archbishop accepted a donation of in
Norwood, some eight miles north of downtown Cincinnati. Groundbreaking on the seminary did not occur until 1921, with dedication in 1923. Mount St. Mary's of the West moved to the St. Gregory location in 1981 after the St. Gregory's Seminary was forced to close due to declining enrollment in 1980. The Norwood site now houses Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Center, a retreat facility, for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. In October 2019, '''Mount St. Mary's Seminary & School of Theology''' opened a new residence building, Fenwick Hall at the Mount Washington campus. The building also has meeting and classrooms to host ongoing or secondary formation throughout the summer months. ==Alumni==