The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject.(March 2023) |
A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, in academics, or mostly in Christian ministry. [1]
The English word is taken from Latin : seminarium, translated as 'seed-bed', an image taken from the Council of Trent document Cum adolescentium aetas, 'Since the age of adolescence' which called for the first modern seminaries. [2]
In the United States, the term is currently used for graduate-level theological institutions, but historically it was used for high schools.
The establishment of seminaries in modern times resulted from Roman Catholic reforms of the Counter-Reformation after the Council of Trent. [3] These Tridentine seminaries placed great emphasis on spiritual formation and personal discipline as well as the study, first of philosophy as a base, and, then, as the final crown, theology. [4] The oldest Catholic seminary in the United States is St. Mary's Seminary and University in Baltimore founded in 1791. [5] In the United States, Protestant institutions also widely adopted the term 'seminary' for independent graduate schools (separate from a university) to train their ministers. The oldest such Protestant seminary in the United States was founded in Andover, Massachusetts in 1807 as the Andover Theological Seminary and was affiliated with the Congregationalist Church. After two mergers and a number of relocations, Andover is now part of the Yale Divinity School, in New Haven, Connecticut.
Seminaries in the Catholic Church are divided into minor seminaries for teenagers and major seminaries for adults, including both college seminaries, sometimes also known as minor seminaries, for undergraduate students and post-graduate seminaries for those who already have a bachelor's degree. There are also seminaries for older adults who are well out of school, such as the Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary in Massachusetts, and for other more specialized purposes.
All seminaries are run either by religious orders or by dioceses or other similar structures. Often a seminary will train both that particular order's or diocese's priests and the priests of other orders or dioceses that select that particular seminary for its priests. For instance, Saint John's Seminary in Boston, Massachusetts trains priests for many of the other dioceses in New England which are suffragan dioceses of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. Either way, a man who seeks to enter a seminary to become a priest must be sponsored by either a diocese or by a religious order.
Catholic seminary formation is composed of four major components, or dimensions: human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral. The human dimension focuses on the seminarian's ability to relate to others, show etiquette, and care for himself (in what he eats, frequency of exercise, healthcare, etc.). The spiritual dimension aids the seminarian in becoming more responsive to God and forming a habit of prayer throughout the day. It also emphasizes the importance of the Sacraments and liturgy. The intellectual dimension consists of academic classes, usually beginning with a college degree, usually a Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Philosophy, and terminating in a higher degree, such as a Master of Arts in Theology or a Master of Divinity. The pastoral dimension helps to develop pastoral familiarity with situations such as bedside manner, marriage, and life in the parish.
For Catholic seminarians, seminary formation can be divided into four distinct stages of formation.
Often a diocese might be attached to or affiliated with a larger Catholic college or university so that the larger college and its faculty provides more general education in history or theology while the seminary focuses on topics specific to the needs of future priests, such as training in canon law, the sacraments, and preaching, or specific to the particular order or diocese. For instance the Theological College in Washington, D.C. is part of The Catholic University of America.
Further, in Rome there are several seminaries which educate seminarians or already ordained priests and bishops and which are maintained by orders or dioceses from outside of Italy. Many countries have their own pontifical seminary in Italy, usually very close to the Vatican. For instance, the Pontifical North American College, which trains priests from the United States and elsewhere, is supported by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. These colleges usually award degrees to seminarians and priests pursuing further education and specializing in specific fields such as Scripture, hagiography, moral theology, or Canon Law, among countless others. In addition to civil degrees, these pontifical seminaries confer ecclesiastical degrees (Baccalaureate of Sacred Theology, Licentiate of Sacred Theology, and Doctorate of Sacred Theology), which are backed by the Holy See. Only some Catholic universities may bestow these degrees; these are called ecclesiastical or pontifical universities. The only pontifical seminary outside of Italy is the Pontifical College Josephinum, in Columbus, Ohio.
The International Council for Evangelical Theological Education was founded in 1980 by the Theological Commission of the World Evangelical Alliance. [6] In 2015, it would have 1,000 member schools in 113 countries. [7]
In some countries, the term seminary is also used for secular schools of higher education that train teachers; in the nineteenth century, many female seminaries were established in the United States. [8]
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) hosts seminary classes for high school students ages 14 to 18, as part of the Church Educational System. Unlike use in other religious contexts, the word "seminary", in an LDS Church context, does not refer to a higher education program designed to train students that they may obtain a church-based career. [9] LDS seminary students do not get high school credit for their seminary studies.
For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and divinity schools.
The University of Saint Mary of the Lake (USML) is a private Roman Catholic seminary in Mundelein, Illinois. It is the principal seminary and school of theology for the formation of priests in the Archdiocese of Chicago in Illinois. It was chartered by the Illinois General Assembly in 1844. USML is often referred to by the name of its graduate program, Mundelein Seminary. Its compound name is University of Saint Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary.
William Francis Murphy is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Rockville Centre on Long Island, New York, from 2001 to 2016 and as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Boston in Massachusetts from 1995 to 2001.
The Pontifical North American College (NAC) is a Roman Catholic educational institution in Rome, Italy, that prepares seminarians to become priests in the United States and elsewhere. The NAC also provides a residence for priests who are pursuing graduate work at other pontifical universities in Rome. The NAC also has a continuing education program for veteran priests.
The Pontifical College Josephinum is a Roman Catholic seminary and private university in Columbus, Ohio. It was founded by Joseph Jessing in 1888 and was granted the status of a Pontifical College in 1892 by Pope Leo XIII, making it the only pontifical seminary in North America. Although the college is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) and Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS), the HLC placed the institution on probation in 2022 for issues including problems in strategic planning, internal leadership structures, and declining enrollment, while the ATS gave a warning for problems in planning.
Daniel Nicholas DiNardo is an American cardinal of the Catholic Church. He is the second and current archbishop of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston in Texas serving since 2006. He previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Sioux City in Iowa from 1998 to 2004.
The Saint Paul Seminary (SPS) is a Catholic major seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. A part of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, SPS prepares men to enter the priesthood and permanent diaconate, and educates lay men and women on Catholic theology.
The Pontifical Lateran University, also known as Lateranum, is a pontifical university based in Rome. The university also hosts the central session of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family. The university is known as "The Pope's University". Its Grand Chancellor is the Vicar General to the Holy Father for the Diocese of Rome. As of 2014 the Pontifical Lateran university had students from more than a hundred countries. It is also sometimes also known as the Pontifical University of Apollinaire.
Sacred Heart Major Seminary is a private Roman Catholic seminary in Detroit, Michigan. It is affiliated with the Archdiocese of Detroit.
The Royal and Conciliar San Carlos Seminary is the archdiocesan seminary of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila. It was established in the year 1702, by decree of King Philip V of Spain. At present, the institution houses seminarians belonging to various dioceses in Luzon, particularly from the Metro Manila region.
St. John Fisher Seminary Residence is sponsored by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Men between the ages of eighteen and forty live at the Seminary while studying subjects based on a liberal arts curriculum, especially philosophy and classical languages, in preparation for graduate theological studies outside of the Diocese. St. John Fisher seminarians are formed to be faithful, perceptive, and well-balanced men. The formation experience at the Seminary is meant to leave an imprint on conscience, character, and manners; it is meant to develop style and to nourish action.
The Roman Colleges, also referred to as the Pontifical Colleges in Rome, are institutions established and maintained in Rome for the education of future ecclesiastics of the Catholic Church. Traditionally many were for students of a particular nationality. The colleges are halls of residence in which the students follow the usual seminary exercises of piety, study in private, and review the subjects treated in class. In some colleges there are special courses of instruction but the regular courses in philosophy and theology are given in a few large central institutions, such as Pontifical Urbaniana University, the Pontifical Gregorian University, the Pontifical Lateran University, and the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum.
Saint John Vianney Theological Seminary is a Catholic seminary in Denver, Colorado, dedicated to Saint John Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests. It is located at 1300 South Steele Street in the Cory-Merrill neighborhood of Denver, on the campus of the St. John Paul II Center for the New Evangelization. Founded in 1999, St. John Vianney is run by the Archdiocese of Denver.
Joseph Mark Siegel is an American prelate of the Catholic Church who has served as the Bishop of Evansville since 2017. He previously served as auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Joliet from 2009 to 2017.
Eduardo Alanis Nevares is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic church. He has been serving as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Phoenix in Arizona since 2010.
Allen Hall Seminary, often abbreviated to Allen Hall, is the Roman Catholic seminary and theological college of the Province of Westminster at 28 Beaufort Street in Chelsea, London, in the London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is situated on the site of the house that was once occupied by St Thomas More. Though nothing of the house remains, parts of the 16th-century garden wall exist today.
St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary is a Roman Catholic seminary located in Boynton Beach, Florida for the education and formation of seminarians to the Roman Catholic priesthood.
John Walter Flesey is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Flesey served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Newark in New Jersey from 2004 to 2017.
Bernard Edward "Ned" Shlesinger III is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was appointed as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Atlanta in Georgia in 2017.
Stephen Antony Pillai mononymously known as Stephen is the Indian bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tuticorin.