Saint Joseph Major Seminary of Zipaquirá
ZIPAQUIRÁ - COLOMBIACarrera 25 no 3-02
Zipaquirá, Cundinamarca, Colombia. Contact: M. Manuel Bautista, PSS, Rector (57-1) 852-2680
Fax: (57-1) 852-0205 semayorzipa@hotmail.com
SAINT JOSEPH MAJOR SEMINARY OF ZIPAQUIRÁ
BRIEF HISTORY
In 1980, Bishop Rubén Buitrago Trujillo, the third bishop of Zipaquirá, asked the Canadian Province of the Society of Priests of Saint Sulpice to establish the first seminary in his diocese. Accepting this invitation, the Canadian Province appointed Fr. Alfredo Botero Maya, PSS, as its first rector. He assumed leadership of the seminary in January 1981, along with a team composed of Sulpicians and priests from the diocese.
During its first year, the seminary welcomed 28 seminarians, and its enrollment reached approximately 130 by the end of the 1990s. The rectors were Carlos Ballén, PSS (1987) and Manuel Bautista, PSS (1994).
The Seminary was run by the Sulpicians for 18 years, until the end of 1999. Thereafter, priests from the Diocese of Zipaquirá assumed the direction of the Seminary
In December 2007, the Provincial Council accepted a request from the new bishop, His Excellency Héctor Cubillos, for a temporary collaboration with the Diocese of Zipaquirá. The Provincial Council appointed Fr. Hernando Chitiva, PSS, as rector effective January 2008. Since January 2011, Fr. José María Castro, PSS, as the new rector, has led the seminary. The formation team is composed of six priests from the diocese.
