The American College of St Maurice at Münster in Westphalia was founded in 1867 to train priests for the Catholic missions in the United States. This paper outlines the history of this short-lived educational institutions (1867-1879), with particular focus on the 68 seminarians, who attended this theological seminary for their pastoral formation,…

The assassination of Ignacio Ellacuría and seven others at the Universidad Centroamericana José Simeon Cañas (UCA) in San Salvador in 1989 has had a deep and profound impact on the world-wide Jesuit community and the Catholic Church. His philosophy and theology of liberation have been carefully studied, as has his vision and operation of the UCA…

Current trends in disaffiliation and declining enrollment in Catholic schools raise difficult questions about the perceived value of Catholic education and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition (CIT). Following the work of theologian David Tracy, the author makes a case for engagement with Christian "classics" as a promising means not only…

This article reflects on the process, challenges, and opportunities of conducting a graduate-level class in environmental philosophy for Catholic priests who were seminary formators in the time of pandemic in the Philippines. The final output of the course is a participatory action research project. I developed an engaged pedagogical framework,…

In 1623, Hernando Ruiz de Alarcón, a parish priest in Atenango, Mexico, was commissioned by his archbishop to record Nahua beliefs and healing practices for the purpose of denouncing their superstitions and demonic magic. His "Treatise on the Heathen Superstitions That Today Live Among the Indians Native to This New Spain," 1629…

This article delineates the foundational theological principles upon which a Catholic Higher Education chaplaincy devoted to the spiritual development of staff and students might rest. We claim that this is a key dimension of chaplaincy work. In a (post)modern culture where staff and students exhibit a range of beliefs or none, we offer a broad…

This study focuses on two major aspects of Jesuit pedagogy in Spain that should be held in mind in order to understand Jesuit educational transformations after the Second Vatican Council: Firstly (A), the theological renewal undertaken since the end of the 1960s, mainly by the Jesuit institute "Fe y Secularidad" founded in 1967 and the…

What is the role of the chaplain on the 21st century campus? Comparing today's chaplains to their mid-century counterparts, this article presents findings from the National Study of Campus Ministries. Based on a 2006 survey of 1,659 campus religious professionals, it focuses on a subsample of 335 chaplains employed in private colleges and…

This paper explores the process of negotiation, lobbying and parliamentary debate that brought the Irish universities legislation into being in the early 1900s against a backdrop of political and religious conflict. The complex interaction between British ministers and Catholic bishops before and throughout the legislative process dictated the…

One of the identified causes for clericalism -- associated with the sex abuse crisis currently plaguing the Church -- is the closed seminary model that prevails in many parts of the world: all four pillars of formation of seminarians occurs in the seminary. This model, which has prevailed since the Council of Trent, encourages future priests to…

An unexpected academic department closure can be deeply unsettling to many stakeholders. Department closure is typically intended to be a cost-saving measure; however, department closure can be a difficult, time-consuming process with unexpected consequences. This study takes a hermeneutical phenomenological approach to explore the impact of the…

How might Catholic colleges and universities draw from their unique missions to educate and act together in response to the pressing needs of the environment? Honoring the fifth anniversary of "Laudato si," this article argues that Pope Francis's notion of ecological conversion and his bold conviction that the "cry of the earth is…

Roman Catholic priests undergo years of formation prior to being ordained. Upon ordination, they are assigned to a particular ministry. Diocesan priests are typically assigned to a parish. As ordained ministers, priests exercise both service and leadership. This study therefore examined the presence, experience, and perceptions of servant…

This essay explores Jacques Maritain's philosophy of education as a means to better understand Pope Francis's recent promotion of a "Global Compact on Education," and in particular Francis's commitment "to make human persons in their value and dignity the center of every educational program." After situating Maritain's…

Canon law recognizes the pastor as the chief educational officer (CEO) of the parish school. However, recent studies demonstrate that seminaries do not prepare seminarians for work in or leadership of Catholic schools, and recent scholarship also demonstrates that an increasing number of seminarians lack the desire to lead a parish school. Our…