Catholic vs. Non-Catholic Degree

[myway22883]

I want to pursue my 2nd Bachelors, this time in something like Theology or Pastoral Studies; then later apply it to a career in a parish/diocesan position, or non-profit social work. Of course I’d love to go to Steubenville, Ave Maria, CUA, or the like; but it may be more financially feasible for me to go somewhere else. In this area, does it work against you if your degree is from a non-orthodox Catholic school? One good possibility for me is Brigham Young University (basically the Mormon ‘Notre Dame’). I would love to hear from some CA staff on this.

On a related note, I have seen Theology listed as both B.A. and B.S., which should it be?

P.S.
Does Notre Dame even still count as ‘orthodox Catholic’? - perhaps another forum…

Thanks!
Adam

 

[Joe_5859]

I do know some people who work for the Church who have religious degrees from non-Catholic schools. But, please, please, please do not be one of them!

In all seriousness, though, I would recommend going to a Catholic school. If you already have a bachelor’s degree, there’s no reason you cannot go for your Masters degree instead of a second Bachelor’s degree, even if your Bachelor’s degree is in a completely unrelated field. You may simply have to take a few “catch-up” courses. But if you want to work for the Church, an MA is better than a BA.

You could get your MA in Theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville via their Distance Learning program. It’s a much cheaper alternative to attending on campus.

Catholic Distance University is another cost-effective alternative.

I have only ever seen a BA in Theology, not a BS (though I know many theologians who do like to BS ).

 

[Insight]

I want to pursue my 2nd Bachelors, this time in something like Theology or Pastoral Studies; then later apply it to a career in a parish/diocesan position, or non-profit social work. Of course I’d love to go to Steubenville, Ave Maria, CUA, or the like; but it may be more financially feasible for me to go somewhere else. In this area, does it work against you if your degree is from a non-orthodox Catholic school? One good possibility for me is Brigham Young University (basically the Mormon ‘Notre Dame’). I would love to hear from some CA staff on this.

On a related note, I have seen Theology listed as both B.A. and B.S., which should it be?

P.S.
Does Notre Dame even still count as ‘orthodox Catholic’? - perhaps another forum…

Thanks!
Adam

Does it make difference at this point? With Notre Dame crowning the king of abortion while fining and prosecuting Pro-Life Priests to the fullest extent of the Law? With Notre Dame’s Sr. Jeannine Gramick giving speeches at Catholic Colleges on how Jesus and John were homosexual lovers. In this day and age you need to determine if the college is truly Catholic.

Voting4Life.org/Pages/007_Notre_Dame.htm

God Bless

 

[Swiss_Guy]

Does it make difference at this point? With Notre Dame crowning the king of abortion while fining and prosecuting Pro-Life Priests to the fullest extent of the Law? With Notre Dame’s Sr. Jeannine Gramick giving speeches at Catholic Colleges on how Jesus and John were homosexual lovers. In this day and age you determine if the college is truly Catholic.

Voting4Life.org/Pages/007_Notre_Dame.htm

God Bless

so what do you think about other Catholic schools like Marquette and Georgetown?

 

[Swiss_Guy]

I want to pursue my 2nd Bachelors, this time in something like Theology or Pastoral Studies; then later apply it to a career in a parish/diocesan position, or non-profit social work. Of course I’d love to go to Steubenville, Ave Maria, CUA, or the like; but it may be more financially feasible for me to go somewhere else. In this area, does it work against you if your degree is from a non-orthodox Catholic school? One good possibility for me is Brigham Young University (basically the Mormon ‘Notre Dame’). I would love to hear from some CA staff on this.

On a related note, I have seen Theology listed as both B.A. and B.S., which should it be?

P.S.
Does Notre Dame even still count as ‘orthodox Catholic’? - perhaps another forum…

Thanks!
Adam

I’d choose a Catholic school. But why even think about a mormon one ? Protestant is better than that.

 

[LoyalViews]

Does it make difference at this point? With Notre Dame crowning the king of abortion while fining and prosecuting Pro-Life Priests to the fullest extent of the Law? With Notre Dame’s Sr. Jeannine Gramick giving speeches at Catholic Colleges on how Jesus and John were homosexual lovers. In this day and age you need to determine if the college is truly Catholic.

Voting4Life.org/Pages/007_Notre_Dame.htm

God Bless

Oh yeah, Notre Dame is as orthodox as it gets (queue sarcasm)

P.S.
Does Notre Dame even still count as ‘orthodox Catholic’? - perhaps another forum…

Thanks!
Adam

 

[Insight]

so what do you think about other Catholic schools like Marquette and Georgetown?

They also support planned parenthood, an organization founded by a woman speaker for the women’s division of the KKK, who argued that it was needed to reduce undesirable populations.

God Bless

 

[Swiss_Guy]

They also support planned parenthood, an organization founded by a woman speaker for the women’s division of the KKK, who argued that it was needed to reduce undesirable populations.

God Bless

Cr*p, cause I like Marquette and might want to go there

 

[Swiss_Guy]

Are there any large Catholic schools that are orthodox?

 

[Redratfish]

Are there any large Catholic schools that are orthodox?

I keep receiving letters from Catholic University of America in or around Washington DC. I also am looking for an orthodox Catholic college

 

[anp1215]

I don’t know how big you want, but I’ve never heard any bad things about St. Thomas here in Houston. It has about 3,200 students I believe. A very orthodox and traditional friend of mine went there and he loved it. One of his teachers even married him (and another friend as well).

 

[puzzleannie]

I want to pursue my 2nd Bachelors, this time in something like Theology or Pastoral Studies; then later apply it to a career in a parish/diocesan position, or non-profit social work. Of course I’d love to go to Steubenville, Ave Maria, CUA, or the like; but it may be more financially feasible for me to go somewhere else. In this area, does it work against you if your degree is from a non-orthodox Catholic school? One good possibility for me is Brigham Young University (basically the Mormon ‘Notre Dame’). I would love to hear from some CA staff on this.

Thanks!
Adam

of what possible use would a theology degree from BYU be to you if you plan to apply it working for some capacity with the Catholic Church? There may be some theology degrees in secular or denominational schools that do not actively teach against Catholic doctrine, but I surely can’t think what they would be.

what for curiosity is the social justice dimension of your question?

 

[Cristiano]

I don’t know how big you want, but I’ve never heard any bad things about St. Thomas here in Houston. It has about 3,200 students I believe. A very orthodox and traditional friend of mine went there and he loved it. One of his teachers even married him (and another friend as well).

One of his teachers even married him despite being orthodox and he also married another friend as well? This sounds intriguing!

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

I don’t think BYU is even an option.

When I was working on my master’s degree in theology one of my classmates was Mormon. I asked why he was attending a Catholic school and he said it was because he wanted to be a chaplain in the Army. The Army required a graduate degree in theology and Mormons don’t have that type of thing so he chose a school that was convenient. He didn’t mind putting up with Catholic theology as long as he didn’t have to say he believed any of it.

 

[anp1215]

One of his teachers even married him despite being orthodox and he also married another friend as well? This sounds intriguing!

haha!
Allow me to rephrase
“One of the professors even officiated at my friend’s wedding Mass. This same professor also officiated at another friend’s wedding Mass.”

 

[Joe_5859]

I would recommend to the OP that you really look into any school that seems like an option and don’t necessarily dismiss it out of hand. Do the research yourself. Make the phone calls to the Admissions office. Seek (name removed by moderator)ut from those who have actually been there.

Schools like Notre Dame tend to be lightning rods for our knee-jerk disparagement, but that doesn’t mean it is impossible to get a good training in theology there. You simply may have to pay more attention to which professors you choose.

In any case, it would certainly be far preferable than going to a Mormon college.

 

[MrsStephanieH]

I say don’t dismiss a school because it seems more difficult to go there. I ended up transferring to Benedictine College (If you haven’t heard of it, it is also in the Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic College. It’s a really amazing school.) even though it was a very difficult thing. I lost a lot of scholarship money and I had to move states, but for the education I received it is well worth it. I mean you can get an ok education elsewhere, but if you are going to spend the thousands of dollars to go to school, you might as well get your moneys worth. Also, building connections is nice. If I were a Theology major I would want to be able to say I went to Franciscan and was taught by Scott Hahn.

 

[myway22883]

Many thanks for all the replies. After this and some offline feedback, I definitely will not being going to anything other than a solidly Catholic school! I will be consulting the Newman Guide and also a list put together by Fr. Groeschel some time ago when making my selection.

When I look at it a different way: if I’m going to go running to the front lines of a battle, why would I want to do so with anything less than the BEST training? Thanks again for helping me sort it out.

To answer one of the poster’s questions, assisting women who have unplanned pregnancies would be my desired social field.

 

[Domer1997]

Does it make difference at this point? With Notre Dame crowning the king of abortion while fining and prosecuting Pro-Life Priests to the fullest extent of the Law? With Notre Dame’s Sr. Jeannine Gramick giving speeches at Catholic Colleges on how Jesus and John were homosexual lovers. In this day and age you need to determine if the college is truly Catholic.

Voting4Life.org/Pages/007_Notre_Dame.htm

God Bless

Dear OP…please do not listen to many on this website as they CLEARLY know very little about the University of Notre Dame, and in particular their very orthodox theology program. Perhaps the following link will help you: newsinfo.nd.edu/news/14019-notre-dame-theologian-john-cavadini-receives-high-papal-honor/

I doubt any institution in the US can better prepare theologians and philosophers than Notre Dame. I earnestly suggest you look into their programs, as all Masters of Divinity and Masters of Theology students have full-tuition scholarships. Another (of the many) gift Notre Dame gives to her beloved Church.

And, whoever mentioned Sister Gramick (“Insight” I believe)? She is not a faculty member at the University of Notre Dame. She never has been. She was, however, a School Sister of Notre Dame, of which the order has no connection to the university (Notre Dame is completely a Holy Cross order). So, I suppose there could be some misunderstanding.

And, as for the horrible allegations from the previous poster (“Insight” I believe once again), maybe all would feel rest-assured in Notre Dame’s Catholic and pro-life identity with the following news flashes:

adultstemcell.nd.edu/
newsinfo.nd.edu/news/22538/
adultstemcell.nd.edu/stem-cell-research-faqs/

God Bless and Go Irish!

 

[Domer1997]

Does it make difference at this point? With Notre Dame crowning the king of abortion while fining and prosecuting Pro-Life Priests to the fullest extent of the Law? With Notre Dame’s Sr. Jeannine Gramick giving speeches at Catholic Colleges on how Jesus and John were homosexual lovers. In this day and age you need to determine if the college is truly Catholic.

Voting4Life.org/Pages/007_Notre_Dame.htm

God Bless

Here is another newsworthy article for my friend Insight. And, all the rest who may be interested (albeit very off topic from the OP my apologies). But, I just couldn’t resist.

God Bless and Go Irish!
nationalreview.com/articles/270474/good-news-notre-dame-kathryn-jean-lopez