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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS What is Sant' Anselmo? The Pontifical University of Sant' Anselmo, an international Catholic institution of higher learning established by the Holy See, is administered by monks of the Benedictine Order. Located in Rome, it is the principle intellectual and cultural center of the Benedictine Confederation, which has monasteries on six continents. Sant' Anselmo is open to all qualified women and men who desire to pursue studies within the faculties of Philosophy, Theology or at the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Liturgy. Each faculty offers degrees to the doctoral level. For more information about Sant' Anselmo, see the History section. Who studies at the Pontifical Institute of Liturgy? The Institute welcomes all qualified women and men--lay, cleric and religious--who are eager to undertake a disciplined study of the sacred liturgy, the source of Christian spirituality. The courses and academic program enable students to pursue diplomas in liturgical studies, a licentiate (S.L.L.), or a doctorate (S.L.D.) in sacred liturgy. The goal of the Pontifical Institute is to promote the scientific study and practice of the sacred liturgy through teaching, research and publications. It prepares women and men to become teachers, scholars and pastoral leaders in local churches, seminaries and religious and monastic communities. Through a four-fold methodology (theological, historical, spiritual and pastoral) students study the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, the Liturgy of the Hours (the Divine Office) and the Liturgical Year. St. Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury and Benedictine patron, taught that theology is faith seeking to understand what it believes. Thus, acquired knowledge can be transformed to spiritually-informed wisdom. The faculty of the Liturgical Institute is an international body of scholars trained at a number of prestigious universities. Women and men, lay and cleric, religious and monastic, give their talents and time to form new generations of liturgists for the Church. The size of the student body, normally comprised of 400 individuals, allows for personal and direct contact with the faculty. What are the needs of the Benedictine Education Foundation? The Foundation exists to support the Benedictine Confederation's educational apostolate at Sant' Anselmo in Rome. It accomplishes this by responding to a variety of needs, some more urgent than others. Most pressing is the need to provide scholarships and grants for the many aspiring, yet under-funded, women and men who come from around the world to study at Sant' Anselmo. Often the dioceses or religious communities that send students have limited financial resources due to their many pastoral commitments or third world economic status. Lay students also require financial support. Scholarships and tuition assistance are compelling needs that possess human faces and names. However, there are other important needs that also contribute directly to the learning environment. Three such needs are: the endowment of academic chairs and assistance to professors to insure that the Pontifical Athenaeum of Sant' Anselmo remains a world-class teaching institution; acquiring the technology to support learning and scholarship in the twenty-first century; and maintaining the specialized liturgical and theological library in an up-to-date manner with new acquisitions. Closely allied is the need for financial support of Sant' Anselmo's esteemed series of publications: scholarly books, textbooks, lectures, acts of international congresses, and, since 1984, the official journal of the Pontifial Institute of Liturgy, Ecclesia Orans. Finally, the university building itself, which is more than a hundred years old, requires repair and renovation of many of its facilities, as well as capital improvements. |