Pre-Theology

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