Four Seminarians Receive Certificate of Propaedeutic Studies From Aquinas College

Four diocesan seminarians received their Certificate of Propaedeutic Studies from Aquinas College in Nashville Thursday, April 25, making them the second class of seminarians to complete the program.

This year’s graduates of the Propaedeutic Certificate Program include seminarians Dalton Beard, Jesus Hernandez Cruz, Francis Izundu and Tu Vu.

The certificate program was created two years ago in collaboration with the Diocese of Nashville to fulfill the need for an extra year of preparation for seminarians. This need, described in the 2016 Vatican document “The Gift of Priestly Vocation,” inspired the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to create a propaedeutic, or preparatory, stage of priestly formation. This foundational stage is a time for human, intellectual and pastoral formation marked especially by the development of a life of prayer and fraternity. The new program in Propaedeutic Studies at Aquinas College utilizes Aquinas’ experience in program development and evaluation, its deep devotion to Catholic theology as expressed in the Dominican charism of preaching and teaching and the rich and successful history of Aquinas’ partnership in the religious and academic formation of the young Sisters of the St. Cecilia Congregation. Courses of the program include Spanish, Sacred Scripture, A Catholic Introduction to the Great Books and the year-long Internship in Parish and Priestly Formation