Article

Oscott College Today

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The current situation of the College

The formation of candidates for priesthood at Oscott normally takes 6 years. The type of education seminarians receive in a seminary is called formation because it is not simply an intellectual exercise; it is focused also on the development of their human virtues, their spiritual life and their pastoral practice. A seminary, therefore, is first of all a community where seminarians learn how to live with each other as they seek a relationship with God through prayer and study. The College buildings and grounds at Oscott provide an excellent environment for quiet and reflection, whilst being surrounded by city parishes and many other opportunities for the seminarians to participate in pastoral outreach.

The intellectual curriculum comprises two years of formation in philosophy, followed by four years of theology. The first three years of the academic programme are validated by the University of Birmingham as a BA in Fundamental Catholic Theology. Those who complete the 6 year programme also obtain an S.T.B. through affiliation with the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.

A typical programme for a seminarian would be as follows: During the first three years he would prepare to receive the ministries of Lector and Acolyte. Then in his fourth year he returns to his home diocese for a semester for an extended pastoral placement. After the placement has been completed, he returns to his studies and if it is discerned that he is suitable, he is accepted as a candidate for Holy Order at the end of his fourth year. At the end of his fifth year he is ordained a deacon in the College chapel and, finally, ordained priest in his home diocese at the end of his sixth year.

At present there are 28 seminarians in formation for the priesthood at St. Mary’s College Oscott. 12 of these are from the Archdiocese of Birmingham, 6 from East Anglia, 2 from Northampton and 1 from Nottingham. We also have 7 students from religious orders; 3 from the Sacred Heart Fathers, 3 from the Vocationist Fathers and 1 Benedictine from Belmont Abbey. The average age of the students is 29 and about half of the community were graduates before they entered. It is quite an international community, demonstrating the Catholic nature of the church.10 of the students are not natives of the British Isles; 1 is from the U.S.A., 1 from Ghana, 2 from Vietnam, 3 from India and 3 from Italy.

Since 2005 Oscott also provides a part time formation programme for Permanent Deacons. This involves study at home through course books and attendance of 9 formation days and two weekends at the college with pastoral placements in the home diocese. At present we have 31 part-time students in formation for the Permanent Diaconate from Birmingham, Shrewsbury and Menevia dioceses.

Most members of the teaching staff do not live at the college apart from the seven priests who are on the formation staff. Although the majority are priests, there are also two laymen and four lay women on the teaching staff.

Mission Statement of St. Mary’s College

St Mary’s College, Oscott is a Seminary for the formation of Catholic men for the priesthood and for the diaconate. The aim of the formation programme is to form priests and deacons who will be men of faith, hope and love, who know themselves called to share the ministry and mission of Christ. Deacons, configured to Christ the Servant, and priests, to Christ the Teacher, Sanctifier and Shepherd, are ordained within the Church to build apostolic faith-communities within society by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The primary function of Oscott College therefore is twofold:

  • to help those who have been accepted by their Ordinaries as potential candidates for the Catholic priesthood or permanent diaconate to discern further their vocation; and
  • to form them for service as diocesan priests or permanent deacons.

This means helping students develop a clear sense of their identity as priests or deacons and of their mission within contemporary culture