· The John Paul II Pontifical Institute for the Study of Marriage and Family, created in 1982 at the Pontifical Lateran University and made an autonomous institute in 1993, to help promote the Theology of the Body of Pope St. John Paul II.
· The Pontifical Graduate Institute of Latin for classical studies. Although it is under the special patronage of the Congregation for Catholic Education, it is located at the Pontifical Salesian University, on the same level as all its other faculties and under the title of the Faculty of Christian and Classical Literature.
· The Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music has as its goal the teaching of sacred and liturgical music in its principle sections: Gregorian chant, sacred polyphony, the composition of sacred music, choral direction and organ, as well as the study of musicology, especially in reference to the sacred liturgy.
· The Pontifical Institute of Christian Archeology, which mainly deals with research regarding the monuments and the institutions of early Christianity, and with the teaching of these topics.
· The Pontifical Theological Faculty of St. Bonaventure, operated by the Friars Minor Conventual Franciscans.
· The Pontifical Theological Faculty and Pontifical Institute of Spirituality Teresianum, operated by the Discalced Carmelites, which offers academic degrees in theology with a specialization in spirituality as well as theological anthropology. In 1987 it incorporated the Institute of Pastoral Health Care Theology Camillianum, run by the Camillian Fathers.
· The Pontifical Theological Faculty Marianum, operated by the Order of the Servants of Mary. This faculty confers academic degrees with a specialization in Mariology.
· The Pontifical Institute of Arabic Studies and of Islam, operated by the Missionaries of Africa. This institute has as its purpose, with an essentially pastoral perspective, the training of clergy and laity in Arabic language and literature as well as in a knowledge of the religion and institutions of Islam.
· The Pontifical Faculty of the Science of Education Auxilium, operated by the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. In the past this was incorporated into the Graduate Institute of Pedagogy of the Pontifical Salesian University of Rome and is now governed by its own statutes.
The Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, under the supervision of the Secretary of State of the Vatican. This unique academy prepares, by a specialized course of studies, certain young priests chosen for the diplomatic service of the Holy See. While it does not confer its own academic degrees, the students are required to obtain a doctorate in canon law, or at least a licentiate in canon law if the candidate already has a doctorate in theology.
Lastly, there are several graduate institutes of religious science connected to schools previously mentioned. These institutes were created to assure adequate theological and spiritual formation mainly to prepare nuns for evangelization work in missionary countries as well as for assuming offices of leadership in their respective communities.
After at least four years of study, these students are able to receive the academic degree of Magisterium in Scientiis Religiosis, which enables them to teach religion in the schools of every level or grade except university level. This academic degree can also constitute a preparation for those training to be permanent deacons and catechists.
After an enriching time in Rome and upon completion of their degrees, students both lay and religious return home to the far ends of the earth to teach in response to the command of Christ in Matthew 28:19, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.”
J.P. Sonnen is a tour operator and history docent with Vancouver-based Orbis Catholicus Travel.
