Type | Private |
---|---|
Established | 2008 |
Parent institution
|
Boston College |
Religious affiliation
|
Roman Catholic, Jesuit |
Dean | Thomas D. Stegman |
Academic staff
|
60 (w. Theology Dept.) |
Students | 416 |
Location |
Chesnut Hill, Massachusetts Coordinates: 42°20′34.18″N 71°9′49.34″W / 42.3428278°N 71.1637056°W |
Affiliations | Boston Theological Institute |
Website | bc.edu |
The Boston College School of Theology and Ministry in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States, is the Jesuit, Catholic graduate theological school of Boston College and an ecclesiastical faculty of theology that trains men and women, both lay and religious, for scholarship and service, especially within the Roman Catholic Church.
Boston College School of Theology and Ministry was founded in the merger of Weston Jesuit School of Theology and the Boston College Institute for Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry on June 1, 2008.
Weston College opened in 1922 as a faculty of philosophy for the New England Province of the Society of Jesus in Weston, Massachusetts. The faculty of theology was added in 1927 to prepare men for ordination. The school was incorporated by an act of the Massachusetts legislature in 1929, and in 1932 was empowered by a papal charter to grant ecclesiastical degrees.
In the spirit of the Second Vatican Council, in 1967, Weston College joined with Boston College and five other theological institutions to form the Boston Theological Institute (BTI). For the first time, Weston College matriculated students in its theology programs who were not members of the Jesuit order.
In 1968, Weston College moved its campus and residences to Cambridge, Massachusetts, adjacent to the Episcopal Divinity School. Weston College also became one of the first three Catholic schools accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in 1968.
In 1971, Boston College opened a summer Institute of Religious Education and Service. During its early years, the Institute primarily served priests and vowed religious women and men from throughout the New England region. Its first degree program was an M.Ed. in Religious Education, offered in conjunction with the Boston College Lynch School of Education.