St. Vincent School of Theology (SVST) is an institute for the theological, pastoral and missiological formation of persons for effective service to the Church and society.
It fosters a way of doing theology that builds on the religious experience and praxis of the socially excluded, and gears towards the evangelization of the poor.
Our Mission
To achieve this vision, it offers a program of theological studies:
- inculturated and contextualized in Asia-Pacific/Philippine realities and seeks to be responsive to the vision and program of the local churches;
- marked by an inter-disciplinary character;
- that fosters critical-collaborative approach to theology, pastoral practice and mission;
- grounded both in the classical sources and in the contemporary global developments.
It endeavors to form a community of disciples whose theological knowledge, pastoral competence and missionary consciousness serve as catalysts towards ecclesial and social transformation.
A Fragment of History and Context
The Vincentians came to the Philippines in 1862 for the formation of the local clergy, running practically all major diocesan seminarians in the country at one point in history. Such was their commitment to the local Church that they recruited their own candidates only in the 1950s. They also took on the formation of the laity, giving popular missions in the remote parishes and organizing associations linked to the Vincentian family.When the diocesan clergy felt they can already run their own diocesan seminaries, the Vincentians started to rethink their roles of formations in the new and changing contexts. In the school year 1985 – 1986, they opened the St. Vincent School of Theology as their response to the contemporary needs of local churches apropos theological and pastoral formation. Wanting to undo the paradigm of theological education as a clerical privilege, SVST views theological formation as both a right and responsibility of the whole people of God. Thus, it offers courses both for the priesthood candidates and for the laity and the religious as well.
In an effort to go beyond the one-sidedness of a highly academic theology or of a purely pastoral application- of mere historical research or of a basically practical theology-SVST has designed its program to establish a synthesis of pastoral competence and academic excellence, of historical inquiry and contemporary relevance, of critical stance and constructive collaboration with other agents of transformation within the society and the Church.
Faithful to its Vincentian spirit, SVST holds in value the grassroots communities as the contemporary locus theologicus. Its theological-pastoral program aims not only to form people to evangelize the poor, but also to take the grassroots’ struggles and their experiences of God as the preferred starting point of theological reflection and pastoral practice.
"It is good for us to be here, with Jesus, Moses, and Elijah." These three biblical personalities embody the best of the Judaeo-Christian tradition. So, we at SVST invite you t meet these people through the study of the Law and the Prophets, and ultimately, the Word Incarnate, himself. Here, you also have the opportunity to meet classic theologians of the Church like Augustine, Aquinas, and more contemporary like Rahner, Segundo, etc. Beyond them, you get to meet friendly professors, classmates, and staff. You certainly are welcome to join us in this journey of doing theology all the way to the margins!
Fr Jimmy Belita
Rector
Welcome to the SVST Website!
Let me tell you an experience I have in SVST.
I had a young student from Myanmar. She is a youth leader in her diocese and was taking up the introductory theological course here. When she first came for the classes here, she hardly understood English. I really do not know if she understood anything in my class. In the classroom, she just keeps quiet or she cries. I was thinking inside myself, she might be a good youth leader in her country but because of language, she had to feel helpless. It can be a bit unfair to her. After a year, she went back home. And I did not hear anything from her since then. Then in April 2008, the cyclone Nargis struck Myamar killing thousands and even millions of people. She and her group of Catholic youth went out to those difficult places and helped all they can. Months later, Monica told a nun-friend who was coming to the Philippines. She said she remembered something that I said in the classroom years ago: “in front of someone in need, wherever you may be, please do something. Whatever it is, just do something.” And Monica told this nun-friend: “Sister, when you see Fr. Danny in the Philippines, please tell him that here in Myanmar now, I am doing something.” When I heard this, I felt some deep joy inside me. Even if she did not understand maybe 70% of what I said in class, she learned the most essential thing in theology at SVST.
“Doing theology from the margins,” this is SVST’s motto! One can read theology from all sides – from above, from the below, from the center, from the sides. In SVST, the option to hear the people in the margins of church and society is crucial to the way we read the scriptures, theology, history, doctrines, morals and pastoral action. It is through the lens of the poor that we want to see God’s hand moving in history. It is their view that colors the way we read the whole Christian tradition.
I have noticed that many of those who graduated here are now back to the margins themselves – pastors of far flung villages, pastoral workers of urban squatter areas, sisters teaching in grassroots communities, etc. “From the margins to the margins and being with them.”
SVST is open to all interested in deepening their faith – seminarian-candidates for the priesthood, sisters in formation, pastoral workers in parishes, youth leaders, lay people, clergy and religious, etc. We believe that theology is not a privilege of some few but a right and responsibility of the whole people of God – from those engaged in pastoral work to those who want to pursue an academic theological career.
Welcome one and all!
Fr. Daniel Franklin Pilario, C.M.
Dean
Gregorio Bañaga
President
Adamson University
Fr. Gerardo Vibar, CM
Assistant Dean
Fr. Raul Pura, CM
Director for Projects and Media
Fr. Peter Solis, CM
Director for Recruitment and Admissions
Fr. Dario Pacheco, CM
Chair of the Philosophy Department
Dr. Agnes Brazal
Director of Research and Publications (Get Picture from Faculty Members)
Graduate Program Coordinator
Fr. Thursisius Junge Gonesto, CM
Treasurer
About the Library :
The library of St. Vincent School of Theology is known as St. Justin Theological Library, which came from the Vincentian saint’s name St. Justin de Jacobis. It is located in a separate one-storey building at the center of the school and is fully air-conditioned. The library is open from 8:00 - 12:00 AM and 1:00 – 5:00 PM during school days. The different sections of the library include the Cataloging, Acquisition, Reference, Filipiniana, Periodicals, Circulation/Reserve; it has a special collection section, known as the Vincentiana collection. The St. Justin Theological Library of SVST adopts an open-shelf system whereby users have direct access to the collection. The library integrated system software is the Athena 8.1 version.
The library has a computer room consisting of 12 computers for the students’ use. Two computers are available for the Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC) use of library users. There is also a reading area that can accommodate thirty to forty students. The library also has photocopying and printing services.
Collections:
The library’s present collection includes about 21,000 titles of books; 119 titles of periodicals, local and international. The reference collection totals to 1000 volumes of well-chosen titles; Filipiniana has 3,253 titles. Most of the collection consists of Philosophy and Theology books. The Vincentiana collections contain biographies, correspondence, conference proceedings and documents of St. Vincent de Paul written by Vincentian priests. The collection has 50 titles of books and 105 volumes of bound periodicals starting with the year 1986 up to the present. The titles of the Vincentian’s periodical collection include Anales, Vincentiana and Vincentiana Heritage. However, some of the old Vincentian books and periodicals are located in the Museum at the other building. The other Vincentiana collections such as Vincentian Priests’ and Brothers’ personal memorabilia, biographies, diaries, correspondence, minutes of meetings, financial records, etc. and congregation’s religious artifacts, documents and any other item or object that may be related to the congregation are also found in the Museum.
INTRANET Connection to the Adamson Library:
Adamson University Library provides intranet connection to the SVST Library. The students can access the internet, search the Adamson Library website as well as the online full-text journal database.
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