Juan Diego House

Disciples are learners. The first task of intellectual formation is to acquire a personal knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Seminary intellectual formation assumes and prolongs the catechesis and mystagogia that is to be part of every Christian's journey of faith (PPF #137).

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Your light must shine." (cf. Mt. 5:14, 16)

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The community of Juan Diego House recognizes that as part of their personal responses to the call of the Lord to seek his will, they are committing themselves to be well-educated men. As a result, the commitment to academic studies, diligent learning and excellence in education is a high priority. All efforts will be made as a community to foster an academic environment in which each member can excel in the schools and colleges at which they are attending. An environment conducive to study is maintained at all times, specifically during those times determined by the community to be optimum times for study. This includes a time of quiet, maintaining a low level of distracting noise after 10 p.m. especially on Sunday through Thursday evenings.

Education and learning has an integral role in the formation of a seminarian as part of Juan Diego House. The academic plan of each candidate will be based on his specific academic needs. This plan will be determined by the Vocation Office and the student as he works to eventually meet the requirements for admission to St. John's Seminary.

PRE-THEOLOGY PROGRAM FOR PHILOSOPHY STUDENTS ARCHDIOCESE OF LOS ANGELES + ST. JOHN'S SEMINARY, CAMARILLO

Overview
College students sponsored by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles at Juan Diego House are expected to complete most of the 30-unit Program of Priestly Formation philosophy requirement at the California State University, Dominguez Hills. In addition to that requirement, the Program of Priestly Formation also requires 12 units of undergraduate theology. This will be accomplished as pre-theologians by JDH students so that they can complete the current PPF requirement in 18 additional semester hours of instruction (spread out over a two-year period) at St. John's Seminary, in addition to their bachelor's degree from CSUDH.

Philosophical Requirements Not Satisfied at CSUDH
The PPF requires 30 semester credit hours of philosophical formation (PPF #161). Most of this requirement can be satisfied by the philosophic curriculum at CSUDH for a philosophy major (see the appendix below). Unsatisfied requirements would have to be covered through the program at St. John's: Metaphysics and Philosophy of Nature (covered only in part by CSUDH courses), Natural Theology (covered only in part by CSUDH courses).

To fully satisfy the PPF requirements, as well as to introduce the students to a Catholic perspective in philosophy, we propose the following series of supplemental philosophy modules:

Metaphysics and Philosophy of Nature (2 units). This course would be a more intensive and explicit focus on metaphysics and philosophy of nature than the students would otherwise get.
Recent Catholic Philosophy (2 units). This course would treat anthropology and natural theology through discussion of the thought of contemporary Catholic thinkers including traditional Thomists such as Gilson and Maritain, transcendental Thomists such as Marechal, Rahner, and Lonergan, and some non-Thomistic approaches found in thinkers such as Newman, Blondel, Edith Stein, Marcel, Dussel, Marion, etc. This would also give the students an appreciation for contemporary Catholic writings in philosophy perhaps otherwise lacking and nicely supplement their philosophy courses at CSUDH [this course could also be combined with the previous one if necessary or desirable].

Theological Requirements Not Satisfied at CSUDH
In addition to the philosophic requirement, the PPF requires 12 semester credit hours of undergraduate theology. It states: "College level seminarians should also begin the study of theology with undergraduate courses that focus on the fundamental beliefs and practices of the Catholic faith. In particular, they should concentrate on those elements of the faith that may have been overlooked or neglected in the students' earlier religious education and that stand as a presupposition for all forms of graduate theological study. College level theology courses should study the themes contained in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and its contents as a source of ¡®a full, complete exposition of Catholic doctrine' and for 'the requirements of contemporary catechetical instruction'." (PPF #158)

In the present Pre-Theology curriculum at St. John's Seminary, the theology requirement is treated under five headings:

Systematic theology (doctrine)
Moral theology
Liturgy and sacraments
Spirituality (prayer)
Biblical Studies

Two-Year Pre-Theology Program
The Pre-Theology requirements not covered by the CSUDH program are completed by a two-year cycle of courses held at the seminary. This course sequence, in conjunction with the student's classes at CSUDH, will satisfy the current as well as the proposed future revision of the PPF.

Year One

Two weeks in January. During two weeks in January, the pre-theologians would meet at St. John's Seminary for an intensive program that would cover Metaphysics and Philosophy of Nature.
Four weeks in July. During this period, the pre-theology students would meet at the seminary for an intensive program to cover Introduction to Moral Theology and Introduction to Liturgy and Sacraments.

Year Two

Two weeks in January. During two weeks in January, the pre-theologians would meet at St. John's Seminary for an intensive program that would cover Spirituality.
Four weeks in July. During this period, the pre-theology students would meet at the seminary for an intensive program to cover Recent Catholic Philosophy (including natural theology), Biblical Studies, and Introduction to Systematic Theology.

[Note: The above has no overlap with the student's course loads at CSUDH, and also allows for the most face to face meetings, discussion, and reflection time with the students. However, if needed or desired some or all of these courses could be taught in other ways such as distance-learning Web courses or Bi-monthly classes held at the Formation Houses or SJS curing the course of the normal academic year, i.e. overlapping with the CSUDH courses.]

Cost for the program will be subsidized for each student by Juan Diego House.

Matrix for PT Program for LA Collegians
FIRST YEAR [begins after first semester of junior year at CSUDH]	SECOND YEAR [begins after first semester of senior year at CSUDH]
January Session: -Metaphysics and the Philosophy of Nature	January Session: -Spirituality
July Session: -Introduction to Moral Theology -Introduction to Liturgy and Sacraments	July Session: -Recent Catholic Philosophy -Biblical Studies -Introduction to Systematic Theology

Juan Cano, one of the two most recent graduates during graduation ceremony.