Loyola University Chicago, Institute of Pastoral Studies (Core Partner)

Loyola’s Institute of Pastoral Studies prepares leaders for ministry through a Catholic, Jesuit approach to theological reflection and pastoral practice. Rooted in the University’s Ignatian commitment to faith in action, IPS helps you connect with the needs of the Church and society. Its global partnerships and adult-learning model teach students to listen and serve in changing religious landscapes.

Catholic Theological Union (CTU)

Catholic Theological Union trains ordained and lay leaders to share the good news of Christ. Founded after the Second Vatican Council, this graduate school offers a collaborative model of theological education shaped by students from more than 40 countries. The curriculum emphasizes cross-cultural learning and interfaith engagement, forming ministers who carry justice, love, and peace into their communities.

CTU brings to CENTERS a wisdom for fostering collaboration across charisms and ecumenism among Christian denominations.

Xavier University

Xavier University provides undergraduate and graduate students with a Jesuit Catholic education grounded in rigorous academics and service. Founded in 1831, Xavier focuses its education on intellectual growth and spiritual formation that prepares students for lives of service to the common good. Xavier lives out the Jesuit value of cura personalis—care for the whole person—by honoring each student's unique gifts and calling.

University of Dayton (UD)

At the University of Dayton, Catholic, Marianist values create a campus culture known for faith, outreach, and community. UD serves undergraduate, graduate, and law students through academic programs that pair classroom learning and hands-on experience. The holistic approach to education develops leaders with critical minds and compassionate hearts for lives of service.

This university offers CENTERS a model for strong partnerships between academic and pastoral formation at the graduate level.

University of Dallas (Core Partner)

The University of Dallas anchors its academic programs in a rigorous search for wisdom. Its nationally recognized Core Curriculum and Rome campus provide

students a strong foundation in the Western liberal arts and the Catholic intellectual tradition. UDallas encourages students to unite faith and reason as they prepare to act responsibly in their professions and communities.

The Ann and Joe O. Neuoff Institute for Evangelization and Ministry at UDallas is an essential resource in adult faith formation in the Dallas–Fort Worth (DFW) area and its surrounding dioceses.

Loyola University New Orleans

At Loyola University New Orleans, students use creative thinking and Jesuit reflection to build lives of service. With a focus on the liberal arts, Loyola equips students across undergraduate, graduate, professional, and online programs to lead in the classroom and community. Its Catholic, Jesuit mission helps students pursue truth while working toward a more just and humane world.

In addition to forming ministers from around the country, the Loyola Institute for Ministry brings to CENTERS grant-funded experience in cultivating synodality among young adults.

Mexican American Catholic College (MACC)

Mexican American Catholic College educates leaders to respond to the needs of a culturally diverse Church through biliterate pastoral ministry formation. Founded after Vatican II, MACC grew from a pastoral center for the Mexican American religious and social experience to a bilingual Catholic college. Its programs help priests, deacons, and religious or lay leaders deepen cross-cultural understanding while serving Hispanic communities in the United States.

As a successful experiment in collaboration between the Archdiocese of San Antonio and the University of the Incarnate Word, MACC offers CENTERS its expertise in innovating Catholic higher education to meet the needs of the people of God.

Xavier University of Louisiana

Xavier University of Louisiana is the nation’s only Catholic and historically Black university. Founded in 1915 by Saint Katharine Drexel, who also established the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament Catholic order in 1891, Xavier prepares students to

lead by fostering a mission shaped by racial justice, Catholic faith, and community outreach. Equipped with strong academic programs, students carry that mission into the Church and into their careers.

The Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier resources Catholics from across the country, adding the essential contribution of Black Catholicism to our initiative through academic and enrichment programming.

Villanova University (Core Partner)

As the sole Augustinian university in the United States, Villanova University serves students across the full range of study, from undergraduate to doctoral programs. Its mission draws on the Catholic, Augustinian tradition that people learn best from and with one another. Because of their liberal arts and community-centered education, Villanova students use their knowledge to build a more just and peaceful world.

Its graduate programs in theology and internationally recognized Center for Church Management provide CENTERS with expertise in both spiritual renewal and structural reform.

St. John’s University

With four locations around the world, St. John’s University offers a Catholic education centered on faith in action. Students in more than 100 programs study in a rigorous, community-based learning environment shaped by civic responsibility. Through unique research and outreach opportunities, they turn their education toward the people who are most in need.

Their Vincentian charism and integral main campus in the New York metro area make them invaluable to our initiative’s efforts to link synodality and the common good.

Saint Joseph’s University

Saint Joseph’s University prepares students for personal excellence and professional success through a Jesuit Catholic education. Across 260 degrees, Saint

Joseph’s curriculum provides hands-on learning opportunities that are shaped by social justice work. Their approach to education encourages reflection and inspires students to serve their communities.

As the alma mater of Julia Oseka, the youngest female voting delegate to a General Assembly of Bishops in the history of the Church, Saint Joseph’s contributes to CENTERS through a commitment to grow the leadership and authority of women.

Southeast Pastoral Institute (SEPI)

Southeast Pastoral Institute serves as the educational branch of the U.S. Catholic Bishops’ Southeast Regional Office for Hispanic Ministry, covering 30 dioceses across the region. Since 1979, SEPI has supported Hispanic lay ministers through Spanish-language theological formation and pastoral leadership programs. Its work helps Latino Catholics take a fuller role in diocesan ministry and in the Church.

This institute acts as a leader in the National Encuentro, a two-year process to improve Hispanic ministries through pastoral discernment and leadership development. For CENTERS, SEPI is a vital teacher in the practices of encounter and dialogue, particularly with peripheral communities.

Santa Clara University, Jesuit School of Theology (Core Partner)

Santa Clara University’s Jesuit School of Theology is an international Catholic center in Berkeley, California. Located within the Graduate Theological Union, JST serves lay students, Jesuits, clergy, and members of other religious orders in programs shaped by Catholic and Ignatian traditions. By focusing on synodal leadership training, they bring theology into dialogue with the needs of their local community.

Under the leadership of Dean Abonkhianmeghe Orobator, a voting delegate to the General Assembly of Bishops for the Synod on Synodality, JST remains committed to forming the next generation of pastoral ministers for a Church that walks together.

Gonzaga University

In person or online, Gonzaga University draws undergraduate and graduate students into a Jesuit community that pursues the common good. Since 1887, Gonzaga has supported students in mind, body, and spirit while deepening their responsibility to Spokane and the Northwest. Its Catholic, humanistic mission teaches students to shape the world for the better.

Loyola Marymount University (LMU)

Loyola Marymount University connects rigorous undergraduate, graduate, and professional education to the creative energy of Los Angeles. Its Catholic identity draws from Jesuit and Marymount traditions, grounding LMU’s mission in a whole-person education. LMU students often use their education to address real-world issues and promote justice from a faith-based perspective.

Their orientation to the lived realities of the people of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles is a unique resource for the CENTERS network.

University of San Francisco (USF)

The University of San Francisco teaches students to use their education in direct response to the needs of the city around them. Across more than 150 academic paths, USF links classroom learning with social justice work and the Jesuit call to serve others. Its diverse campus culture gives students the chance to engage with people with different worldviews from their own.

The Joan and Ralph Lane Center for Catholic Social Thought and the Ignatian Tradition helps ensure that CENTERS’ work stays anchored in and oriented toward this rich tradition for serving the Church’s mission.