Aim
The normal academic requirement for admission to the Faculty of Arts is graduation from Grade 12 on a university entrance program. A student who does not have this standing and who, after being out of school for a number of years, wishes to become a priest, may apply as a mature student. Each application will be considered on its own merits.
Lower and Upper Divisions
Lower-division courses are numbered in the 100s and 200s and provide a foundation in the humanities during the first and second year. Upper-division courses are numbered in the 300s and above and lead to the Bachelor of Arts degree.
Semester Hours
Courses are evaluated for credit in terms of semester hours. The number of semester hours is indicated immediately after the course number: thus PHIL 200 (3) INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY is a 3-semester-hour course. This is equivalent to 3 lectures per week during one semester. The academic year consists of a fall semester (September-December) and a spring semester (January-April).
Bachelor of Arts Program
The Seminary’s four-year BA program focuses on subjects within the Humanities which have special relevance for the study of Theology.
The Code of Canon Law (Canon 250) requires two full years devoted to philosophical disciplines, while the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops in its Program of Priestly Formation specifies metaphysics, epistemology, anthropology, natural theology, ethics, logic, the history of philosophy and a thorough treatment of the philosophy of St Thomas Aquinas. Furthermore, Vatican II’s Optatam Totius (n. 13) presupposes that seminarians have a “literary and scientific education”, including the study of Latin.
To satisfy Church regulations and to meet the B.A. standards of the Seminary Charter, the Seminary offers majors of 20 or more semester hours of upper-division work in Philosophy and History with minors of 12 upper-division semester hours in English, History of Liturgy (within Religious Studies), and Latin.
Bachelor of Arts requirements:
- a minimum of 120 semester hours of credit, with at least 48 in courses numbered 300 and above.
- 20 semester hours in courses numbered 300 and above in one field of concentration.
- 12 semester hours in courses numbered 300 and above in another field.
- a grade point average of 2.00 or higher.
A student is expected to carry not less than 15 nor more than 19 semester hours in any semester.
Pre-Theology Program
The Seminary’s Pre-Theology program is intended to give, in one or two years of academic work, adequate preparation in the Humanities for the study of Theology.
Admission requirements
With the agreement of the Admissions Committee, mature candidates or candidates with a previous undergraduate degree may be admitted to the Pre-Theology program.
Academic Program
The concentration is on Philosophy, with a minimum of 18 semester hours. Other courses from the Faculty of Arts are taken, depending on the individual’s needs and interests. A student is expected to carry not fewer than 15 or more than 19 semester hours per semester. No degree or diploma is awarded, but the student will have fulfilled the academic requirements for the Seminary’s Faculty of Theology programs.