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More About the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception
Today, the Dominican House of Studies (DHS) is the home of a vibrant community of Dominican Friars as well the site of one of the six pontifical faculties of theology in the United States. The Friars first came to Washington DC more than a hundred and fifty years ago in 1852 to establish St. Dominic’s parish, and in 1905 they transferred their program of priestly formation in theology for Dominican seminarians from St. Joseph Priory in Somerset, Ohio to its current location.
The Vatican confirmed and promoted the academic growth of DHS in 1941 when it established the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception (PFIC), which enables the Dominicans to confer advanced degrees in theology in the name of the Catholic Church. These ecclesiastical degrees are required in Church law for holding certain roles and functions (e.g. serving as a seminary professor).
As a pontifical faculty, the PFIC also acts as a kind of accrediting institution for other theological schools and institutes. Accordingly, there are two affiliated theological programs: Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland and St. Vincent Seminary in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Faithful to Vatican provisions, the ecclesiastical degree programs in theology at the PFIC are open not only to Dominicans, but to all qualified applicants. While a larger student body is foreseen in this year, there were 80 students (66 men, 14 women) enrolled in the ’06-’07 academic year, including 23 Dominican Friars. In addition to American clerics, religious and laity, there were 20 students hailing from Brazil, Canada, France, Indonesia, Nigeria and Vietnam. Of the 23 faculty members (20 men, 3 women; 16 full-time and 7 adjunct), 16 were Dominicans and 6 were laity.
The PFIC has actively participated in several fruitful relationships with other academic institutions. Since 1967 it has been a member of the Washington Theological Consortium, whose administrative offices have been housed at the DHS from its inception. The PFIC provided the original home in the United States for the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family. The PFIC was also a member of the former Cluster of Independent Theological Schools. The scholarly journal of theology and philosophy, The Thomist, is based at DHS and extends the academic mission of the PFIC throughout the academic world.
Blessed with an excellent reputation merited by its faculty, pedagogy and theological library, the PFIC is expanding its academic initiatives, most recently by undertaking the construction of a new academic center, scheduled to be completed before the 2008 academic year. The new academic center will facilitate achieving the educational goals of the PFIC by offering an expanded environment exclusively dedicated to its academic mission and by the integration of modern technology into its facilities.
With a tradition of sound scholarship and authentic community life going back well over a hundred years, the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies is poised to continue and enhance its contributions to the teaching mission of the Church for the next hundred years and beyond.
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