STL Program: Twenty-three Students from Eight Countries
Fr. Todd Lajiness and Mr. Ralph Martin
MOSAIC, Summer 2007

These seventeen STL students attended a gathering prior to the fall term 2006. The number in the program has grown during the 2006-07 academic year to twenty-three.

The generation of any new academic program is never an easy task. It takes visionary leadership born from sustained prayer. It takes the commitment of the faculty who assist in the course composition and instruction of the students. It takes the cooperation of the support staff to assist students and professors in their efforts.

The Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL) at Sacred Heart Major Seminary has all of that and more. In the Winter 2005 issue of the Mosaic, we noted that students who passed through the doors of Sacred Heart are formed to be "Heralds for the New Evagelization." This vision, originally coming from Pope John Paul II, and affirmed by Cardinal Adam Maida, formed the foundation for our aggregation to the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome (Angelicum) by which we are able to offer the STL.

Now, just two years later, it is inspiring to see the fruit of that vision and labor.

With twenty-three students already enrolled in the program from eight different countries, the STL has taken a decidedly international composition. The students include priests from Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon in Africa, St. Lucia in the Caribbean, Iraq in the Middle East and Ireland. We also have two priests who commute each week to classes from the Diocese of London, Ontario. There is a priest from the Archdiocese of Atlanta, a number from the Diocese of Lansing, as well as priests from the Archdiocese of Detroit.

All of the lay students in the program are already engaged in full-time ministry in the Church: in a marriage tribunal, in campus ministry, in an archdiocesan evangelization office and in high school teaching. We also have a number of promising students who are completing the prerequisites that are required to enroll in the program.

While holding to high academic standards, the program attempts to keep its focus on the real challenges facing the Church today and linking academic knowledge to practical application and experience. We believe that Cardinal Maida's vision in calling for the creation of this program in response to the repeated call of Pope John Paul II and now Pope Benedict XVI for a "new evangelization" will bear abundant fruit for the Church throughout the world as well as our local Church.

This innovative program provides tremendous opportunities. Students who are qualified are highly encouraged to inquire about enrollment with the seminary's director of admissions.

Fr. Todd Lajiness is dean of studies. Mr. Ralph Martin is director of graduate programs in the New Evangelization.