9 Theology and Divinity Degree Programs in Italy

The student of the Master’s degree course in “Religions, Cultures, History” (Class LM 64) has the opportunity to choose the double degree program in “Religions, Cultures, History / Religion in the Public Sphere”, in collaboration with the University Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in Hannover.

This programme explores the major religious traditions in the world, including Hinduism and Buddhism, the religions of China and Japan, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The student should focus on the academic study of religion, with particular attention to: common dimensions of religious experience; the interplay between religion and culture; the theoretical analysis of religious belief and experience; religious expression in myth, ritual, symbol and social organization; religious responses to archetypal problems of human experience.

First Cycle or Institutional Five-year, for the attainment of Bachelor’s degree in Theology (First academic degree). Duration 5 years. The Institutional Cycle includes Philosophical-Theological Biennium, Theological Triennium.

The Doctoral Program in Spiritual Theology, with a minimum duration of two years, offers the student the possibility of writing a dissertation on a specific area of Spiritual Theology under the guidance of one of the professors of the Department. This program also prepares the students for teaching at the University level.

The Pontifical Pastoral Institute “Redemptor Hominis” trains and specializes students in pastoral theology: both in its fundamental themes (identity and method) and in relation to some specific areas of ecclesial activity. In particular, it prepares future teachers for teaching in seminaries and theological institutes as well as pastoral workers who are experts in the various fields of ecclesial life. In view of a missionary renewal of the Church, the Institute pays particular attention to the themes of the Social Doctrine of the Church, the pastoral and health care; and the dialogue between theology, social and human sciences.

The first cycle lasts three years - five years, if the candidate has not already obtained a baccalaureate in philosophy or completed two years of philosophical studies - and is aimed at the acquisition of an organic and complete formation in the theological disciplines.

The course is intended for students who have already obtained at least the Baccalaureate in Holy Scripture or the Licentiate in Theology with biblical specialization, or who have an equivalent biblical maturity. The course, lasting one year or two semesters, comprises 36 ECTS, of which 21 in compulsory disciplines and 15 in optional disciplines. It ends with a written paper of about 30 pages or with a “lectio magistralis” 25 ECTS .

The Superior Institute of Religious Sciences Mater Ecclesiae, connected to the Faculty of Theology of the PUST, is a school of theological training where one trains to think about faith, to exercise believing reason. Since the commitment to think, to love, to hope is necessarily exercised in harmony with the places and times in which believers live the human and religious experience, the Mater Ecclesiae Institute is attentive to the need to give a universal breath to the activity of Training; this is guaranteed by the international character of the staff of the Institute's teachers and students. The Mater Ecclesiae is interested in current or frontier religious and cultural issues, in order to foster mutual understanding between Christians, between them and those belonging to other religions, between believers and people who are in search of the truth. Therefore, in addition to the courses provided for the formation of men and women religious, catechists, pastoral workers, courses of ongoing formation and/or theological-pastoral updating, or of an intercultural or interreligious nature, are offered.

The third cycle is a specialized research track mainly targeted to those who wish to teach and do university research.