The Center for Catholic Studies at St. Mary’s University has both strong support and an ambitious mission to encourage faculty, staff and students to explore the richness of the living Catholic Intellectual Tradition and its impact on knowledge, culture and faith.

The Center for Catholic Studies is located in Reinbolt Hall.

Established in 2018, the Center supports St. Mary’s University in its mission to foster the formation of people in faith and to be a community where students are educated to become leaders for the common good through academic excellence across an integrated liberal arts and professional education.

The Center encourages faculty, staff, alumni and students to explore the impact of the Catholic Intellectual Tradition, Catholic social teaching and the characteristics of a Marianist education on knowledge, culture and faith. The Center offers practical and scholarly resources to promote exploration of academic disciplines, faith in culture and the Marianist educational characteristics, with a focus on both intellectual inquiry and action.

The Center for Catholic Studies, under the leadership of the Beirne Director, provides programs dedicated to enriching the University as well as the local, national and global Church, especially in regard to social issues and cultural reflections of faith practice that highlight Southwest regional Catholic traditions. These programs create opportunities for dialogue, research and community outreach that focus on key elements of the Catholic Intellectual Tradition and Catholic Social Teaching.

Watch videos of past events

The Center for Catholic Studies integrates the study of Catholic teachings with the nuances of the Characteristics of a Marianist University, which includes five elements that characterize the Marianist approach to education:

  1. Educate for formation in faith
  2. Provide an integral, quality education
  3. Educate in family spirit
  4. Educate for service, justice and peace, and integrity of creation
  5. Educate for adaptation and change

… with the ultimate goal of …

Building a community of scholars who engage in academic environment that is nourished by our Catholic mission and Marianist identity in order to form people in faith and justice, a mission that is [in] a search for right relationship with God, self, others and creation.

Characteristics of Marianist Universities, 2019, 19

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