University Resources
As an M.Div. candidate at Notre Dame, you are attending a leading U.S. university that is also a recognized center of Catholic intellectual life. The Notre Dame community includes about 8,000 undergraduates, along with about 3,000 graduate and professional students. For all these students, the Catholic tradition of this university encourages an education that is well-rounded, embraces both faith and reason, and pursues truth and understanding.
The intellectual opportunities and challenges of a major teaching and research university are appropriate backdrops for pastoral studies. An enormous array of backgrounds, talents, and interests are represented in the students and faculty, as well as the priests, sisters, and brothers of the Congregation of Holy Cross (C.S.C.), the religious community that founded Notre Dame. The resources also include the steady stream of guest lectures, conferences, and other events that fill the calendar during each semester. They also include the beautiful Basilica of the Sacred Heart, the excellent Hesburgh Library, and various residential environments and campus services that nurture the sense of joyful solidarity that is summed up in the phrase, “We Are Notre Dame.”
More specifically, the resources pertinent to the M.Div. program include these opportunities for service and spiritual development:
- An extensive, well-conceived Campus Ministry offers a spectrum of liturgical and pastoral opportunities
- The Institute for Church Life, which reaches out to the whole spectrum of Church leaders—its bishops, clergy, religious, and laity—to provide training and service as well as opportunities for spiritual rejuventation and personal growth.
- The Center for Social Concerns, one of the affiliate centers of the Institute for Church Life, sponsoring many educational initiatives in social justice and direct service to the poor, locally, nationally, and internationally
- The Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism, a leader in historical research on Roman Catholicism in the United States
- The Institute for Latino Studies, which promotes understanding and appreciation of the the social, cultural, and religious life of U.S. Latinos.
More on Latinos, the Catholic Church, and Notre Dame
Social opportunities also abound in the campus community, and one can take advantage of a wealth of excellent cultural opportunities. The new
DeBartolo Performing Arts Center [performingarts.nd.edu] brings internally known musicians, actors, and other performers to campus. The neighboring community of South Bend and the city of Chicago, 90 miles away, add to the options for a rich extracurricular life.
“Notre Dame’s program invites students to study at an institution with world-class resources to educate those preparing for ministry in the Catholic Church. The faculty is outstanding, and there are many opportunities for learning outside of the classroom and in the community.”
--MARK DeMOTT
