www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Is there any seminary which accepts women?

Glory to our Lord Jesus Chrsit!

Is there any seminary which is sutable for a lay woman who wishes to devote her entire life for the Church and for the Lord?
She feels need to study for train and educate herself for the future's apostolic works.
At present, She belongs to the Roman-Catholic Church but will move to the Byzantine rite Catholic in the near future.

In Glorified Christ,

Chalis

I don't know about the Seminary itself (mostly a residence), but at the the Sheptytsky Institute, the theological academy (part of St. Paul University in Ottawa, Canada) (where the Seminarians attend classes and take courses), there are certainly women studying theology.

Some of these are wives of seminarians, some are fiancees, some might/will be wives, some are just interested in theology, some are interested in future work in the Church somehow, and some are nuns. etc.

All the best.

Herb

Dear Friend in Christ,

And the Ukrainian Orthodox Seminary of St Andrew in Winnipeg has many courses specifically geared toward those who wish to work in the Church, but not as priests, bishops or patriarchs.

Many women study there to get degrees and diplomas in all sorts of "churchy" skills and vocations.

One can even train to be a proper presbytera there, everything you've always wanted to know about parishioners, but were afraid to ask, that sort of thing . . .

Alex

What about studying to prepare for an eventual restoration of the Diaconate for women (not priesthood)?

St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in Crestwood, NY accepts female students and there are currently female students enrolled there. There is also a female-only dorm.

You can find out more at www.svots.edu. [svots.edu.]

I would be happy to help if I can, I am a student there.

There are several houses of studies in the Washington, DC area that admit female students. I studied theology and church history at a university, but I have been looking into some of these houses of study. I'm a lawyer and I was thinking of further studying Aquinas at the Dominican House. (Interestingly, I first studied his writing in my last year of very secular law school!)

Please let us know how your studies progress and what you learn about programs of study.

Three other Orthodox Catholic seminaries in North America that I know of (in addition to St. Vladimir's) admit women:

St. Tikhon's, South Canaan, Pennsylvania
Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Theological Seminary, Brrokline, Massachusetts
St. Herman's, Kodiak, Alaska

In Christ.

Greetings,

Holy Cross in Brookline, Massachusetts as well as St. John's Seminary, Roman Catholic, admit women. Women at Holy Cross can take any degree. AT St John's there is a program designed for people not going to be ordained. An MA program, they take the same classes as the seminarians do, as well as field education. Most of the classes are in the evening, but one can take classes during the day. www.sjs.edu [sjs.edu]

Peter

Dear All,

At the risk of being labeled a "nitpicker"...

Technically, seminaries can not admit female students. I believe the Holy See came out with a directive on this. That being said "schools of theology" can and do have women studying in them. I bring this point up because I received my Masters in Theology from such a school. Only a handful of MEN there were actually seminarians - i.e. on the way to Holy Orders. However, some of the more agenda-driven ladies insisted that they too were "seminarians" and demanded taking classes on preaching, "presiding", etc. [classes BTW which I did NOT take since I was not on ordination track]. The whole business got ugly and very uncomfortable, with any male (even religious) being labeled clerical if such distinctions as the proper ministry of the ordained and laity were pointed out.

My experience, but I think it wise to be precise.

Are there seminaries that accept women candidates? Yes - Protestant ones. But there are some fine Catholic & Orthodox schools of theology for both clerics and laity, men and women.

PAX

Br. Elias

Not to forget Saint Cyril and Methodius Byzantine Catholic Seminary in Pittsburgh, where women may enroll for classes, and also for the degree program.

Since Br. Elias wishes to be precise, he should not include Orthodox in his assessment since St. Valdimir's makes it a point to refer to all students as seminarians, whether they be men or women, on ordination track, or not.

In Christ,

anastasios

Anastasios,

St. Vladimir's has women seminarians on the ordination track? Which Protestant Churches are they pursuing ordination in? I was unaware of such a level of cooperation with non-Orthodox groups.

Those wishing to obtain information about SS Cyril & Methodius Seminary can obtain contact information at www.byzcath.org/seminary .

Admin

St. Sophia Ukrainian Orthodox Seminary does take and has taken women in; I know a graduate. She is very active as a lay person.

Why can't women be allowed to recieve theological training and then take it into the parishes or to the Church?

Most seminaries allow women to enroll and take a degree. I think that the focus of the discussion has shifted to whether they are properly considered seminarians. I understand Br. Elias' point. Since there are lots liberal women around who are demanding ordination one can sympathize with the desire not to use the term "seminarian" since the average person equates it with "studying for ordination".

It is great that Chalice knows someone who is looking to devote her entire life to serving the Lord and desires a good education to assist her in this vocation. She might also consider investigating a women's religious order. Even if she is not called to monastic life, being close to a woman's religious house or monastery might provide the fellowship and prayer to keep her going while she pursues her education.

Anastasios is correct. The Byzantine tradition does not employ the Roman definitions of "seminaries", "schools of theology" "places that call themselves seminaries but are legally schools of theology", etc.

Not being bound to Roman canonical definitions, we Orthodox simply follow the dictionary non-Catholic definition of seminarian -- one who takes a seminar.

Orthodoxy also does not ban women from any class or course of study including Liturgical presidency. Some of ou rbest theologians, including liturgical theologians, are women.

I guess for every liberal woman wanting to be a seminarian, there is an illiberal man that wants to preclude women receiving this type of education.

Axios