/Institutions/Catholic-University-of-America/json/2023-2024/Graduate-Announcements-local.json

/Institutions/Catholic-University-of-America/json/2023-2024/Graduate-Announcements.json

Graduate Announcements > School of Theology and Religious Studies > Degree and Certificate Programs > Educational Affiliations Institutes and Opportunities > Intellectual Formation of Seminarians in Theology

Intellectual Formation of Seminarians in Theology

The School of Theology and Religious Studies at The Catholic University of America boasts a faculty of distinguished, often internationally renowned, scholars.

Many professors are the authors of texts used in colleges, seminaries and universities throughout the United States. Seminarians at Theological College and other Catholic houses of studies are registered in the school with access to the faculty in all the academic areas of study: biblical studies and languages; Church history and historical theology; liturgical studies and sacramental theology; moral theology/ethics; pastoral studies, religious education/catechetics, spirituality and supervised ministry; religion and culture; and dogmatic and systematic theology.

Seminarians may take courses that draw on the resources and talents of more than 40 scholars. Because the School is an ecclesiastical as well as a recognized civil faculty, it grants a wide variety of civil, ecclesiastical, and pastoral degrees. All seminarians are required to complete ordination requirements established by the Program on Priestly Formation promulgated by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. These requirements include Scripture, systematic theology, moral theology, liturgy, history, and canon law. They also include direct service to the poor, supervised ministry, two years of parish placement, preaching and the celebration of liturgical rites. The School of Theology and Religious Studies cooperates with Theological College and other houses of studies to provide these additional pastoral programs. Seminarians ordinarily enroll in one of three degree programs under the guidance of the Associate Dean for Graduate Ministerial Studies and the student's academic advisors:

1. The Master of Divinity degree (M.Div.)-90 Credit Ordination Track is a first professional degree for seminarians for whom the pastoral focus of academic formation in all the academic areas of Catholic theology is especially significant.
2. The Bachelor of Sacred Theology degree (S.T.B.) a first ecclesiastical degree that provides seminarians with a basic theological orientation in Catholic theology.
3. The joint Bachelor of Sacred Theology and Master of Divinity degrees.

The School of Theology and Religious Studies also offers the Master of Arts (M.A.), Master of Catechesis (M.Cat.), Licentiate in Sacred Theology (S.T.L).; Doctor of Sacred Theology (S.T.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) degree. The licentiate and the doctorate in theology are advanced ecclesiastical degrees with concentrations in biblical theology, historical theology, liturgical studies, moral theology and systematic theology. The Master of Catechesis is a professional master's degree that focuses on training parish and diocesan directors of faith formation in the ministry of catechesis. The Doctor of Ministry is a professional doctorate that focuses upon pastoral ministry in evangelization, liturgical catechesis, spirituality, and seminary formation. Qualified seminarians who complete their first graduate degrees prior to ordination can often begin work on many of these advanced degrees Seminarians may also benefit from more than 250 elective course offerings available at The Catholic University of America and 10 other independent ecumenical schools of theology that make up the Washington Theological Consortium. During their matriculation at the university, seminarians are required to take at least one course in another ecclesial tradition through the offerings of the Consortium. Through a cooperative agreement with the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family, seminarians, as well as other graduate students in the School, can also elect coursework in this highly specialized academic area with permission of either the Associate Dean for Graduate Ministerial Studies or the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies. In summary, seminarians have the opportunity to integrate the traditional intellectual riches of Catholic theology, its interaction with contemporary culture and other religious traditions, and a supervised pastoral commitment.

Together these elements should form not only competent, faithful priests, but genuine pastoral leaders in the Church.