Studies required in order to be ordained

[Praying4Love]

For the past months I am asking myself which are the studies required by the Church in order to be ordained. The Seminary or any Catholic Theology Institute?

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

For the past months I am asking myself which are the studies required by the Church in order to be ordained. The Seminary or any Catholic Theology Institute?

Depends on who you are being sponsored by.

To study for the priesthood you must be in formation. For a diocese this will mean that you will attend a seminary. For some religious communities/orders this will also mean a seminary.

For other religious communities/orders it will mean a theologate.

A seminary teaches the necessary courses while also having the formation necessary going on at the same place. A theologate teaches the necessary courses while the formation necessary takes place at the religious community/order’s house of studies.

To study to be ordained one must both take the classes (in the United States this means getting a Masters of Divinity) as well as the formation requirements. To do this you must be sponsored by a diocese or religious group. While a lay person can get a Masters of Divinity it lacks the formation for the priesthood as well as a number of classes that priestly candidates take that lay people do not and can not take.

 

[Praying4Love]

And finally, for how many years one must study in a seminary ? For example, if one has already a BA.

 

[Tsuwano]

Depends on who you are being sponsored by.

To study for the priesthood you must be in formation. For a diocese this will mean that you will attend a seminary. For some religious communities/orders this will also mean a seminary.

For other religious communities/orders it will mean a theologate.

A seminary teaches the necessary courses while also having the formation necessary going on at the same place. A theologate teaches the necessary courses while the formation necessary takes place at the religious community/order’s house of studies.

To study to be ordained one must both take the classes (in the United States this means getting a Masters of Divinity) as well as the formation requirements. To do this you must be sponsored by a diocese or religious group. While a lay person can get a Masters of Divinity it lacks the formation for the priesthood as well as a number of classes that priestly candidates take that lay people do not and can not take.

I’m not sure which courses required for the M.Div. degree not opened to lay students you are refering to (presumably those practicum courses directly associated with the liturgy and the sacraments), but when I earned my M.Div from the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago in 1985, lay students and clerical students took the exact same classes, including those practicum courses. As you mentioned, formation programs exclusive to each individual religious community participating in the Union were not opened to those who were not members of that community, but that was separate from the requirements for a Masters of Divinity degree. As far as the theological school was concerned, there were not two different tracks of studies, though it was possible to focus your studies in certain areas, such as Liturgy, Scriptural Studies, or Missiology.

 

[Tsuwano]

And finally, for how many years one must study in a seminary ? For example, if one has already a BA.

This depends on who you are studying for. In my case, I studied with a religious missionary society. After earning my undergraduate degree, one year of novitiate was required. If you were allowed to take minor vows with the Society, you were then required to complete your M.Div. which generally required four years. In addition to this, the Society I studied for required its seminarians to spend two years in a cross cultural ministry, usually working in one of the foreign missions served by the Society. After completing this course of study, you would then take final vows with the Society and, if you were a clerical candidate, prepare for ordination. The entire process took between 7 and 9 years depending on individual circumstances.

 

[Praying4Love]

I am thinking of the studies required for a person that already has a degree in theology (BA in Catholic Theology) and wants to become a diocesan priest.

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

I’m not sure which courses required for the M.Div. degree not opened to lay students you are refering to (presumably those practicum courses directly associated with the liturgy and the sacraments), but when I earned my M.Div from the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago in 1985, lay students and clerical students took the exact same classes, including those practicum courses. As you mentioned, formation programs exclusive to each individual religious community participating in the Union were not opened to those who were not members of that community, but that was separate from the requirements for a Masters of Divinity degree. As far as the theological school was concerned, there were not two different tracks of studies, though it was possible to focus your studies in certain areas, such as Liturgy, Scriptural Studies, or Missiology.

Lay students do not, nor should they, take any of the practicum courses as those courses teach those to be ordained how to celebrate the sacraments which a lay person can not do. My guess is that back in 1985 CTU was including other stuff in the practicum courses such as Canon Law and such.

Also, at WTU, there are separate courses for preaching, that is there is Homoletics for those on the ordination track and lay preaching for the lay person.

The document released by the Vatican on the visitation of the semianies here in the United States has called for more separation of lay students and those working towards ordination. They found that in some cases there is a de-emphasis on the priestly character that is to be formed in those working towards ordination. Instead of speaking of priest they change it to minister.

Priesthood is not better than the lay life but it is different. Equality does not mean bluring the differences.

 

[Joannm]

I am thinking of the studies required for a person that already has a degree in theology (BA in Catholic Theology) and wants to become a diocesan priest.

You would still have to earn the Master’s degree and take all the coursework required for the degree. The courses are on a Master’s level. It would be the same as if you earned a Bachelors degree in accounting and then went on for a Masters. You could not say that you already earned a degree in accounting so now I would need less classes for my masters. The course work is different. Now if you already had a Masters in Theology there might be some leeway with regard to course work so that you are not repeating courses that you already took on a master’s level.

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

I am thinking of the studies required for a person that already has a degree in theology (BA in Catholic Theology) and wants to become a diocesan priest.

You would still need the four year professional Masters of Divinity degree and most, if not all, dioceses add a pastoral year so that is at least 5 years.

That is also with the understanding that with your BA in Catholic Theology you have 30 credit hours of philosophy that the seminary you will attend will accept.

 

[Tsuwano]

Lay students do not, nor should they, take any of the practicum courses as those courses teach those to be ordained how to celebrate the sacraments which a lay person can not do. My guess is that back in 1985 CTU was including other stuff in the practicum courses such as Canon Law and such.

Also, at WTU, there are separate courses for preaching, that is there is Homoletics for those on the ordination track and lay preaching for the lay person.

The document released by the Vatican on the visitation of the semianies here in the United States has called for more separation of lay students and those working towards ordination. They found that in some cases there is a de-emphasis on the priestly character that is to be formed in those working towards ordination. Instead of speaking of priest they change it to minister.

Priesthood is not better than the lay life but it is different. Equality does not mean bluring the differences.

I can’t speak for the course of studies required for the M.Div degree at CTU today, but I can affirm that there was no difference in the course of studies for clerical candidates and lay students at CTU during the time I was there (1980 ~ 1985). I entered the program as a clerical student, left my religious order after two years and continued my studies on my own as a layperson. During my years at CTU Canon Law was not a practicum. Laity applying for the M.Div were required to take the Liturgy practicum (how to say mass) as well as the Reconciliation practicum (how to hear confessions) even though it was understood that performing these sacraments are reserved for those who are ordained within the Church. Homiletics was also taught to laity and clerical candidates in the same class. I took these practicums and homiletics as a lay student. I’m sure changes have been made over the years and more changes are afoot for whatever reasons the Bishops and the Vatican have. I can’t speak to those reasons. I can say, from my own perspective, that undergoing the same course of studies as the clerical candidates gave me a greater appreciation and understanding for the different roles of the laity and clerics and did not diminish or blur the differences between the these two states within the Church. You’re absolutely right that the priesthood is not a better or holier state than the lay life (a point I find less understood by clerics than by lay people) and it is different, but again, from my experience, studying with clerics allowed a greater understanding of those differences to take place, not a blurring between the two different roles.

 

[L_Marshall]

If you already have a B.A., it’ll probably require six years of study. The first two years will be Pre-Theology, where the seminarian works on human and spiritual formation, and mainly studies philosophy (approximately 30 credits). Once a sound basis has been built in philosophy, the student will study four years of theology.
Although you already have achieved a B.A. in Theology, it’s important to recognize that your studies of Theology in seminary will be very different. You will be studying with other men who want to do the exact same thing as you. You will focus on theology from a pastoral level, and how theology will specifically work in the ministry of priesthood.