/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 > History

History

History

From its foundation, The Catholic University of America has given academic priority to theology and religious studies and related disciplines. Initially the academic programs in these areas were offered in the School of Sacred Sciences (1889). In time there emerged the School of Canon Law (1923), followed by the Seminary Program (1931) and, within the School of Arts and Sciences, the Department of Religion (1932). The original School of Sacred Sciences was later divided into The School of Sacred Theology and The School of Philosophy (1937). In 1970 The Liturgical Studies Program was instituted. After an extensive review of programs and structures, the Board of Trustees approved a recommendation by the Academic Senate to establish a new School of Religious Studies in September 1973. The school was composed of five departments: biblical studies, canon law, church history, religion and religious education, and theology. In 2002, the Board of Trustees, in accordance with the recommendation of the Academic Senate, voted that the canon law department be reestablished as the School of Canon Law and that the remaining academic units of the school become programs in the School of Theology and Religious Studies. By thus coordinating existing units, The Catholic University of America established the School of Theology and Religious Studies as a national center of academic research, instruction, and service.

The School of Theology and Religious Studies at The Catholic University of America is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada.

Mission

The mission of The Catholic University of America is to render service in the United States as an intellectual center of the highest quality where every dimension of truth, natural and revealed, can be examined with competent expertise. The university seeks in particular to maintain a position of excellence in biblical and liturgical studies, church history, religion and culture, religious education, ethics, spirituality, and theology. The university accords priority to theology and to religious studies and to programs that explore the Roman Catholic tradition of humanistic learning and that study its relevance to the needs of society and the Church.

To help realize the mission of the university, the School of Theology and Religious Studies sets itself two goals, namely, to promote excellence in teaching, research, and publication in the area of theology and religious studies, and to provide professional training for lay and clerical leaders who will serve the Roman Catholic community in the United States and throughout the world. In pursuit of these goals, the school places emphasis on an interdisciplinary approach and collaboration with other schools of the university, on the ecumenical and interreligious dimensions of all theological studies, on the exploration of relations between religion and culture, and on the promotion of informed efforts to work for justice and peace, both within the Church and in the world, in the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.