The Catholic Institute of Sydney will be able to confer a new three-year degree – the Bachelor of Religious Sciences – from next year. Source: The Catholic Weekly.
Coordinated by the newly established Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Higher Institute of Religious Sciences (HIRS) at CIS, an institute approved earlier this year by the Holy See, the degree is only the second of its kind to be offered in the English-speaking world after the United Kingdom.
It’s an “impressive achievement” for the Sydney Archdiocese, said the institute’s outgoing president, Professor Isabell Naumann ISSM, and deputy president and academic dean Rohan Curnow.
“Sr Isabell shepherded the application through the approval process at the Dicastery for Culture and Education very promptly, which was a testament to her knowledge of the workings of the dicastery and the relevant accreditation requirements,” Professor Curnow said.
Offered both part-time and full-time, the Bachelor of Religious Sciences is two years shorter than the five-year Bachelor of Sacred Theology degree undertaken by seminarians studying for the priesthood and other interested students.
Busy people working in lay ministries, religious in consecrated life, men preparing for the permanent diaconate or people who teach religious education and engage in other forms of service within the Church will find it most attractive, Professor Curnow said.
It will be offered in conjunction with an Australian university degree, the Bachelor or Master of Divinity from CIS partner the University of Notre Dame Australia.
“So, graduates of the Our Lady Seat of Wisdom HIRS will hold a degree accredited civilly by UNDA and ecclesiastically by CIS, and a CIS degree means, ultimately, a degree from the Holy See,” Professor Curnow said.
Offered initially only in person at CIS’ Strathfield campus, flexible delivery methods will be incorporated into the program in due course to enable students from other dioceses across Australia and Oceania to undertake the degree
Sr Naumann said she was pleased her efforts to have the institute established at the CIS come to fruition.
FULL STORY
CIS to launch a new institute and degree in 2025 (By Marilyn Rodrigues, The Catholic Weekly)
