Catholic Theological Union
“Catholic Theological Union bears powerful witness to a special kind
of ecumenism, the ability of religious orders to compose differences, to
cooperate in common work and to live in harmony, despite variations in
background and training. This has not been done on this scale and in
this way in the history of the American Church.”
– Paul Bechtold, CP, Founding President, CTU, September 1978
The year 1968 was turbulent. The United States witnessed the
assassinations of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. and
presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, as well as the escalation of
the war in Viet Nam. The 1968 Democratic Convention hosted by Chicago
turned into a riot scene and much of the city was set aflame as citizens
looked on wondering with great fear what the future would hold. It was
in the midst of these uncertain and frightening times that Catholic Theological Union was
born. After the close of the Second Vatican Council, three religious
orders decided to take a chance. Filled with hope and the desire to
participate in the renewal of the Church, these orders took a risky move
and closed their individual seminaries. They decided to work together,
to share their resources – libraries, professors, staff, and finances –
to create a seminary that would be based on a model of collaboration. To
enable their future priests to learn in an ever-changing and diverse
world, they moved from their rural settings to an urban center – Hyde
Park. To heighten the academic training of these seminarians, they moved
near a major university (University of Chicago). And to ensure that a
spirit of ecumenism would be a part of the students’ formation, they
became neighbor to other seminaries. Such an experiment had never before
been undertaken, but they believed they could create a new way of
training men for the priesthood. It would not take long, only a few
years, for CTU to open its doors to lay students. Almost since its
founding, lay men and women, religious sisters and brothers, and
seminarians have studied alongside one another, preparing to serve God’s
people. CTU has grown to be the largest Roman Catholic graduate school
of theology and ministry in the United States. Students from all over
the world, of every age and vocation, study together. They learn about
the Catholic faith as well as how to dialogue with other Abrahamic faith
traditions – Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim. With a distinguished and
world-renowned faculty, CTU is a place where students are challenged,
mentored, and prepared for whatever they are called to do next with
their lives. Today, there are 32 religious orders who send students to
CTU. In any given academic year, there are a few hundred lay students
from the United States and many countries throughout the world preparing
at CTU. With more than 3,500 graduates serving in the United States and
in 65 countries worldwide, CTU has brought, and will continue to bring,
God’s hope and love where it is most needed.
The Bernardin Center for Theology and Ministry
Keeping the Vision Alive...
“Will you join me in
becoming a living sign of Christ’s loving presence so that all who are
lonely or hurt, abused or abandoned, vulnerable or alienated might
experience His love?
Together we can do this.”
–Joseph Cardinal Bernardin
The vision of Cardinal Joseph Bernardin is the same as that of the
Second Vatican Council—a vision of a church renewed, a church that
mirrors the compassion of Jesus. In 1997, with the Cardinal's
endorsement, Catholic Theological Union established the Bernardin Center
to build upon his work and vision. The Center focuses on a range of
public programs about issues that were hallmarks of his vision. An
integral part of CTU, the Bernardin Center advances
Cardinal Bernardin’s vision through an array of initiatives focused on
his signature issues of reconciliation and peacemaking, interreligious
dialogue, the consistent ethic of life, leadership development for the
church, and Catholic Common Ground. Among the Center’s distinctive
initiatives are:
- The Bernardin Scholarship Program prepares promising students for a life of ministry and leadership.
- Catholic-Jewish and Catholic-Muslim studies offer education and opportunities for interreligious dialogue among the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faith communities.
- The Peacebuilders Initiative prepares high school students for lives of service.
- Catholics On Call invites young adults to explore the theology of vocation
- Endowed faculty chairs: the Vatican II Chair in Theology, the Erica
and Harry John Family Chair in Ethics, and the Crown Ryan Chair in
Jewish Studies.
Catholic Common Ground Initiative
In 1996, the Catholic Common Ground Initiative
was founded in an effort to lessen polarities and divisions that weaken
the communion of the Church. At the origin of the Initiative, the
National Pastoral Life Center released a charter statement, “Called to Be Catholic,”
proposing guidelines for dialogue within the Church. The Initiative
begun thirteen years ago by Cardinal Bernardin continues today. The
Catholic Common Ground Initiative is committed not only to facilitating
dialogue but also to exemplifying a process of communication that values
varying perspectives and works to foster faith and understanding.
Through lectures, conferences, and programs in Catholic parishes,
schools, and organizations, the Catholic Common Ground Initiative
continues to promote dialogue within the Church on a variety of
theological and social issues, including the changing roles of women,
human sexuality, healthcare reform, and immigration—challenges facing
not just the American Catholic Church but the United States as a whole.
In the Spring of 2009, the Initiative created a new strategic plan, “A Living Witness."
The Initiative moved to the Bernardin Center at Catholic Theological
Union in November 2009. Mission statement The Catholic Common Ground
Initiative, inspired by the call to be one in Christ, invites Catholics
with differing views about critical issues in the Church to engage in
prayerful dialogue for the sake of building up the communion of the
Church.
DePaul University
Recognized for Academic Excellence DePaul offers
a high caliber, challenging learning environment that is respected by
employers, community leaders and other universities. Many of our more
than 275 graduate and undergraduate programs of study have earned national acclaim, and has received both institutional and specialized accreditation. Most importantly, more than 93 percent of employers report they are pleased with the caliber of DePaul graduates.
Hands-on Learning, Practical Knowledge
DePaul's
location in Chicago provides countless opportunities for class projects,
research, internships and experiential learning programs that bring
theory to life. Students synthesize knowledge across multiple courses to
solve problems, preparing them to succeed after graduation.
A Passion for Service and Social Justice
Our
nationally ranked service-learning program integrates the service
concept into our curriculum and inspires many students to make a
lifelong commitment to service and social justice. They complement the
university's own dedication to serving first-generation and underserved
student populations and to addressing social issues through more than 45
specialized centers and institutes.
Capitalizing on Chicago Connections
DePaul's long-term partnerships throughout Chicago lead to extensive educational and career opportunities for
students in the corporate, civic and cultural arenas. Our faculty,
active in research and consulting, bring real-world experience into the
classroom every day. Our students benefit from the networks of their
professors, as well as the more than 86,000 alumni who live in the
metropolitan area.
Focused on Teaching, Focused on Students
Teaching
comes first at DePaul — more than 98 percent of all classes are taught
by faculty members, not teaching assistants. Students are considered
partners in research and community action, and are often credited by
name in publications and presentations.
Open Doors Deepen Relationships
Because the average
class has fewer than 40 students, our faculty members know their
students' names, concerns and goals. Professors are accessible and
approachable in class, through regular office hours and via e-mail.
A Global Society within the Classroom
Driven by a
respect for the inherent dignity of all people, DePaul welcomes students
and employees from all ethnicities, religions and backgrounds. By
routinely incorporating multiple viewpoints into academic and student
life, we have become a model of diversity on campus. For six consecutive
years, The Princeton Review has ranked DePaul in the top 20 most
diverse student populations in their "Diverse Student Population"
category. We are proud to be among the top 100 universities in the
nation for conferring degrees on students of color.
Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology
Through the creation of the Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology,
DePaul University has established itself as a leading center for
research and reflection on the church’s demographic shift to Latin
America, Southeast Asia and Africa, the so-called Global South.
“A primary goal of the center is to be at the forefront of the
discussion about the relationship between the global Catholic Church and
the forces of globalization,” says Peter Casarella, director of the
center and a professor of Catholic Studies. “It’s an exciting time to
have launched the center because by the year 2050, nearly 70 percent of
the world’s Catholics will be from the Global South.”
The center got the discussion going in a big way in its inaugural
year by convening an international conference on Catholic social
theology that featured the pastoral leaders of Latin America, Canada and
the United States, as well as the Rev. Gustavo Gutierrez, a University
of Notre Dame theologian and founding father of liberation theology. The
three-day conference in the fall was held at both DePaul and Chicago’s
Catholic Theological Union.
In the winter, the center hosted a colloquium of 15 international
scholars from such cities as New Delhi, India; Nairobi, Kenya; and
Buenos Aires, Argentina, on the topic of how the Catholic Church can
become a model of unity and diversity in an increasingly globalized
culture. In the spring, it held its first public lecture delivered by
the center’s inaugural senior research fellow, the Rev. Emmanuel
Katongole, associate professor at the Duke University Divinity School
and co-director of Duke’s Center for Reconciliation. “DePaul’s approach
is fresh and it is new. I don’t know of any other center that is having
this kind of conversation about global Catholicism,” says Fr. Katongole,
a Catholic priest from Uganda who spent four months in residence at
DePaul. “For some people, Catholicism’s shift to the Global South is
frightening; something to be denied. DePaul, on the other hand, is saying: ‘Wow! What a great moment for Catholicism. We want to be leading that conversation.”