Catholic Theological Union

Catholic Theological Union, located in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, is one of the largest schools of theology in the world and trains men and women for lay and clerical ministry within the Roman Catholic Church. It was founded in 1968, when several religious communities united their separate theology programs to form one school.

Since its inception, CTU has been blessed with a rich diversity reflecting the global church itself: a student body representing forty-six countries worldwide; religious order seminarians and lay women and men; students of varying ages and backgrounds. Its distinguished Catholic faculty also includes scholars from the Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim traditions. And over the years CTU’s programs have expanded to address the intercultural needs of the Church in an increasingly global society.

CTU alums now number more than 3,500, serving the Church across the United States and in sixty-five countries worldwide. They work in parishes, homeless shelters, prisons, hospitals, schools, colleges and universities, gang ministry, hospices, social service organizations, and myriad other ministry settings.

CTU is also home to the Bernardin Center of Theology and Ministry. Its many initiatives include Catholics on Call, Peacebuilders Initiative, In Good Faith, Catholic-Jewish Studies, Catholic-Muslim Studies, and Catholic Common Ground Initiative.

In addition, CTU is home to the Hesburgh Sabbatical Program, the Institute of Religious Formation, and the Biblical Study and Travel Program.

The faculty are Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, and Muslim. The student body is multi-ethnic and international in composition, and graduates of the school minister in a large variety of ways throughout the world.