Catholic Theological Union

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Catholic Theological Union
Catholic Theological Union Seal.png
Seal
MottoPreparing effective leaders for the Church, ready to witness to Christ's good news of justice, love, and peace.
Type Private graduate school of theology
Established1968
Accreditation ATS
Religious affiliation
 Roman Catholic
Academic affiliations
Association of Chicago Theological Schools (ACTS), DePaul University, Lay Centre at Foyer Unitas, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, McCormick Theological Seminary, University of Chicago Divinity School
Endowment $41.7 million (FY23) [1]
President Enzo Del Brocco
Dean Ferdinand Okorie
Academic staff
16 full-time, 20 full-time equivalent [2]
Administrative staff
42 [3]
Postgraduates 193, 127 full-time equivalent [4]
Location
Chicago, Illinois
,
U.S.
CampusUrban
Website ctu.edu
Catholic Theological Union Logo.png
Catholic Theological Union

Catholic Theological Union (CTU) is a private Catholic graduate school of theology in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It was formed in Hyde Park as a union of schools from three Catholic religious institutes and has since been sponsored by 24 institutes and Catholic faith communities. It is one of the largest Catholic graduate schools of theology in the English-speaking world, training men and women for both lay and ordained ministry within the Catholic Church. [5] It gained renewed attention in 2025 when alumnae Robert Francis Prevost, who earned a Master of Divinity degree in 1982, was elected Pope Leo XIV. [6]

Contents

History

A plaque within one of the rooms at the Union Plaque in my room at CTU.jpg
A plaque within one of the rooms at the Union

The Union was founded in 1968, when three religious institutes—the Franciscans, Passionists, and Servites—united their separate theology programs to form one school. [7] As such, it was influenced a bit by the feeling of 1960s radicalism, [6] but more directly was inspired by the changes of the Second Vatican Council. [7] The Union has since gained the sponsorship of twenty-three religious communities. [7]

During the 1970s and 1980s, there was a movement among some Union students and faculty in support of the ordination of women within the Catholic Church; this included organizing a meeting on the CTU campus in 1976 of the Women’s Ordination Conference and staging a protest at a 1981 ordination event at the nearby St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church, with the latter being one of the events that led the Vatican to order an investigation of American Catholic seminaries. [6]

The school granted its first Master of Divinity degree to a woman in 1981. [6]

The Catholic Theological Union building is at 5416 South Cornell Avenue in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. In 2023, the campus of the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago relocated to the 4th floor of the James and Catherine Denny Center at the Catholic Theological Union. Construction of new facilities on the floor of the Catholic Theological Union had begun earlier: the space includes four classrooms; two zoom rooms, thirty office spaces; a prayer and meditation room, a café, a chapel, and a grand hallway meeting space. [8] With it came the McCormick Theological Seminary, with which it had already been sharing facilities. [9]

Academics

CTU is staffed by religious and lay men and women. International students constitute nearly one-third of the student body. [10]

The main library of CTU is the Paul Bechtold Library, named after CTU's founding president. [11] Distinctive collections in the library include Catholic religious communities, dialogue across ecumenical and inter-religious lines, and pastoral theology. [12]

Publications

Presidents

Notable theologians and faculty

Catholic Theological Union building in Hyde Park, with sign indicating that Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and McCormick Theological Seminary share space with it Catholic Theological Union sign and building with Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and McCormick Theological Seminary included.jpg
Catholic Theological Union building in Hyde Park, with sign indicating that Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and McCormick Theological Seminary share space with it

Notable alumni

In 2025, a cardboard cutout of alumnae Pope Leo can be seen in the lobby of the Catholic Theological Union Lobby of Catholic Theological Union with cardboard cutout of Pope Leo.jpg
In 2025, a cardboard cutout of alumnae Pope Leo can be seen in the lobby of the Catholic Theological Union

References

  1. ↑ "2023 - 2024 Annual Data Tables". The Association of Theological Schools. 2023–2024. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
  2. ↑ "2023 - 2024 Annual Data Tables". The Association of Theological Schools. 2023–2024. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
  3. ↑ "Directory" . Retrieved April 26, 2024.
  4. ↑ "2023 - 2024 Annual Data Tables". The Association of Theological Schools. 2023–2024. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
  5. ↑ "Living our witness in the world". Archived from the original on March 2, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Graham, Ruth; Bogel-Burroughs, Nicholas (May 15, 2025). "Pope Leo's Classmates Drew Ire of Church With Protest for Women". The New York Times.
  7. 1 2 3 "The Union" . Retrieved April 26, 2024.
  8. ↑ "Architectural Firm Completes the Design for LSTC's New Location". Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  9. ↑ "Institutions Agree on Plan for Sale of Hyde Park Property" . Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  10. ↑ "We answered the call". Catholic Theological Union. Archived from the original on May 11, 2020. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  11. ↑ Content, Contributed (February 25, 2005). "BECHTOLD, REV. PAUL IGNATIUS". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
  12. ↑ "Catholic Theological Union Paul Bechtold Library". Atla Digital Library. Retrieved May 7, 2024.

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