The University of Saint Mary of the Lake, also called Mundelein Seminary, is the principal seminary and school of theology for the formation of priests in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, governed from Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. Chartered by the Illinois General Assembly in 1844, it has the longest continuous academic charter in the state of Illinois.The largest major Catholic seminary (a seminary containing a graduate school of theology) in the United States, Mundelein Seminary serves 45 dioceses in eight different countries and was the first ecclesiastical faculty in the U.S.In addition to the seminary, the University of St. Mary of the Lake offers the Lay Formation Program, Instituto de Liderazgo Pastoral, Diaconate Formation Program, and the Liturgical Institute.