MOSAIC, Winter 2005
During his pontificate, Pope John Paul II has repeatedly identified the need to engage our highly secularized culture in new and creative ways. He has called for a "New Evangelization" that is rooted in the perception that we are at a crossroads in the history of the world and in the Church.
The Holy Father points to the rapidly collapsing Christian culture in much of the West as a "sign of the times" that must be understood and addressed. As servants of the Word, we must respond to the appeal of the Holy Father, who wrote, "I sense that the moment has come to commit all the church's energies to a new evangelization and to the mission ad gentes" (Redemptoris Missio, 3).
With the vision, encouragement, and active support of His Eminence Adam Cardinal Maida, seminary administrators several years ago initiated plans to address the challenges of the New Evangelization. They clearly recognized that a single, isolated course or seminar would not fulfill the need as articulated by the Holy Father. More was needed.
STL: First in the U.S.
The project began with the fundamental mission of Sacred Heart Major Seminary: students who pass through the doors of Sacred Heart Major Seminary are formed to be "Heralds for the New Evangelization." Preparing such heralds—messengers—for the New Evangelization occurs through the exciting and innovative programs that are now in place: a new Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL), and concentrations in the New Evangelization in the Master of Arts in Theology (MA) as well as the Master of Arts in Pastoral Studies (MAPS) programs.
On September 14, 2004, the Feast of the Exultation of the Cross, His Eminence Zenon Cardinal Grocholewski, Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, signed the official approval of aggregation, joining Sacred Heart Major Seminary to the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome (Angelicum). The signature marked an historic occasion for the seminary and the Archdiocese of Detroit. The aggregation allows Sacred Heart Major Seminary to offer courses for the Licentiate in Sacred Theology. This ecclesiastical (or canonical) degree, which has a specialization in pastoral theology with a focus on the New Evangelization, is the only one of its kind in the United States. An ecclesiastical degree is distinct from a civil degree (BA, MA) offered at most universities in the United States. It is offered through a university or ecclesiastical faculty that has been canonically erected or approved by the Holy See and ordered to the norms of the apostolic constitution Sapientia Christiana (On Ecclesiastical Universities and Faculties).
Faculty Meets Approval
The approval of aggregation took several years of preparation and negotiation with representatives from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas, as well as with officials at the Congregation for Catholic Education. The petition included identifying the nature of the program, the resources present in the library, the long-term funding and the potential student body.
However, one of the essential factors for receiving approval was that our professors had the requisite degrees, experience in teaching, and professional activity through publishing and presentations. Sacred Heart, as I say often at conferences and gatherings, has one of the most highly qualified and professional theological faculties among seminaries in the United States, to which the Congregation agreed.
The course work in the STL program thoroughly explores the theology, spirituality and history of evangelization. It pays special attention to factors affecting the family and challenging new life issues. The goal of the STL is to form students who understand, appropriate and articulate the Catholic tradition so they may engage the challenges facing the Church today.
The forty-eight credit hour STL program is an advanced degree, open to priests, religious and laity. However, admission into the program requires a substantial philosophical and theological background.
New MA Concentrations
In addition to the STL, Sacred Heart also offers concentrations in the New Evangelization in the MA program as well as the MAPS. These program options demonstrate clearly the commitment of Sacred Heart to address the challenge of "preparing heralds for the new evangelization." At this level, students take courses that contribute to their comprehensive knowledge of theological principles and the appropriate pastoral application for ministry.
Through these new and exciting programs, Sacred Heart has enthusiastically embraced the call of the Holy Father: "To nourish ourselves with the word in order to be 'servants of the word' in the work of evangelization" (Novo Millennio Ineunte, 40). Students who complete one of these programs will be well equipped to participate actively in a variety of activities, apostolates and ministries within the life of the Church.
Again, as the Holy Father notes, we are at a critical crossroads. He, along with Sacred Heart Major Seminary, "sense that the moment has come to commit all the church's energies to a new evangelization and to the mission ad gentes" (RM, 3).
Fr. Todd Lajiness is dean of studies at Sacred Heart Major Seminary.
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