Detroit, Michigan. November 12, 2004— Sacred Heart Major Seminary of the Archdiocese of Detroit is offering an innovative postgraduate degree program, a Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL) with a specialization in pastoral theology focusing on the New Evangelization. Sacred Heart is offering the STL degree through aggregation to the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome (the Angelicum). The seminary received approval for the program in September from the Congregation for Catholic Education.

The 48 credit hour STL program is open to priests, religious and laity. Students will receive training in modern methods of evangelization, along with course work in Christology, Christian anthropology, Catholic social analysis, urban ministry, and spirituality. Graduates will be prepared to lead efforts in the New Evangelization at the parish or diocesan level. They will also be prepared to teach at a Catholic seminary and university. Admission requirements are a Bachelor of Sacred Theology (STB) or its equivalent, along with classical and modern languages and sufficient philosophical preparation.

Sacred Heart, through its STL and concentrations in the New Evangelization in two Master of Arts programs, is embracing the challenge of Pope John Paul II. In the 1990 encyclical Mission of the Redeemer, the Pope reaffirmed the permanent validity of the Church's missionary activity. He called upon all Catholic ministries and institutions to commit their resources to a "New Evangelization" of the Church and the world in the twenty-first century. The Licentiate in Sacred Theology in the New Evangelization is the first program of its kind to be offered in the United States.

Email newevangelization@shms.edu for information on the New Evangelization initiative at Sacred Heart Major Seminary.