Formation of seminarians in Configuration Stage takes place within the School of Theology. Priests and professors strive to provide a thorough and integral theological formation with a pastoral emphasis. Formators guide seminarians to full maturity and prepare them to undertake priestly ministry with skill and pastoral sensitivity. The dimensions of formation are integrated in a way that assists seminarians in developing a priestly identity and heart, as well as a capacity for leadership in the Church.
The School of Theology serves the Configuration Stage of seminary formation. Seminarians in the theologate already have completed the Discipleship Stage of seminary formation and therefore bring to the theologate a mature experience of formation. While discernment of a priestly vocation does not formally conclude until ordination to the diaconate, a seminarian who has completed the Discipleship Stage does enter the Configuration Stage with a commitment to prepare for ordination. He therefore embraces completely and unconditionally the expectations of the Configuration Stage.
Seminarians presented for ordination should be converted to the service of Christ, understand the tradition of the Church, and possess the attitudes and skills necessary to begin priestly ministry. The School of Theology is dedicated primarily to providing four full years of theological and ministerial formation in preparation for priestly ordination through the Master of Divinity program (MDiv). Within that context, graduate-level academic subjects provide the intellectual foundation of priestly formation and are integrated with the human, pastoral, and spiritual dimensions of the Configuration Stage.
The School of Theology offers three additional academic programs: a Master of Arts in Theology degree, a Bachelor of Sacred Theology degree (completed in affiliation with the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome, Italy), and a Certificate in Hispanic Ministry Field Education.
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