In addition to our 150th Anniversary, the Spiritans of the United States Province wish to celebrate Holy Ghost Prep on its 125th Anniversary this year. 

Mother Saint Katharine Drexel was influential in the Spiritans obtaining a tract of land just a mile from her Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament on which to build a seminary in 1897. Fr. Joseph Eigenmann, C.S.Sp. was the first superior of the Holy Ghost Community.  Holy Ghost Apostolic College (now Holy Ghost Prep) was established as a preparatory school and junior college seminary for young men studying to become members of the Congregation. Holy Ghost Apostolic College educated seminarians from first-year high school through second-year college. 

In the 1920s, under Fr. Jeremiah J. Callahan, C.S.Sp., the name of the school was changed to Holy Ghost Missionary College, a reflection of the important Spiritan apostolate in the African missions. In the 1950s, under Fr. George Collins, C.S.Sp., the school moved its college-level program to Duquesne University. Non-seminarians were admitted to the school in 1959 under the leadership of Fr. Francis J. Fitzgerald, C.S.Sp. and Fr. Salvatore J. Federici, C.S.Sp. In 1967, under Fr. Andrew A. O’Rourke, C.S.Sp., the seminary program was discontinued. 

In 1970, with Fr. Henry J. Brown, C.S.Sp. as the superior, Holy Ghost Preparatory School was formed as a non-profit corporation. The Provincial Council of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, U.S. Province-East, served as the Board of Directors for the school until 1992, under Fr. James P. McCloskey, C.S.Sp., when a Board of Trustees was created by them. This Board consists of a minimum of eleven and a maximum of seventeen members and is composed of Spiritans and laypeople. Fr. Jeff Duaime, C.S.Sp. became the director of the school from 2002-2013 and continued the building expansion of the school and its program. 

In 2015, Mr. Gregory J. Geruson (Class of 1979), became the first layperson to direct the school. Today, Holy Ghost Prep is the only Spiritan High School in the United States and is one of this country’s premier preparatory schools.

According to Mr. Geruson, president of the school, “central to the mission of Holy Ghost Prep is our motto “Cor Unum et Anima Una,” which means, ‘One Heart and One Mind.’ We are a community dedicated to awakening and guiding the hearts of our students to become compassionate, caring, and faith-centered young men. At the same time, our commitment to the development of their minds is unparalleled. Critical thinking, intellectual curiosity and rigor, and the drive to be one’s best self are the hallmarks of the Holy Ghost Prep educated student.”