Pre-Theology Academic Program
(* Note: The directives of the Program for Priestly Formation in the United States of America, 6th edition will be fully implemented in Fall 2024 and will change the nature and structure of the Pre-Theology program as given here. Watch this page for more information as it becomes available.)
The first step in the process for admission to the seminary and the Master of Divinity degree program is to contact the Vocation Director, Father Eric Garris, at the Center for Pastoral Leadership. For more information about the admission process, please visit: www.clepriesthood.org
Saint Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology recognizes that candidates entering the process of priestly formation will have disparate backgrounds in philosophy and in religious studies. For students who do not have the required 36 hours of Philosophy and 12 hours of Religious Studies to begin the Master of Divinity Program, Saint Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology currently sponsors a Pre-Theology Program.
The academic courses of the Pre-Theology Program are taught primarily by the faculty of Borromeo Seminary and are accredited by John Carroll University. However, the faculty of Saint Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology directs the formation components.
Among the courses currently required and offered are the following:
TRS 200 Old Testament Introduction
TRS 205 New Testament Introduction
TH 300 The Catechism of the Catholic Church*
TH 301 Documents of Vatican II*
PL 101 Ancient Greek Philosophy
PL 225 Medieval Philosophy and Logic
PL 240 17/18th Century European Philosophy
PL 246 Contemporary Philosophy
PL 308 Philosophy of God
PL 368 Ethical Theory
PL 387 Philosophy of Nature
PL 395 Metaphysics
PL 396 Epistemology
PL 425 Philosophy of the Human Person
* Taught through Saint Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology