It's here! The chance to deepen your Catholic faith through studying at the UK's leading Catholic university in Edinburgh.

St Mary's University has teamed up with the Archdiocese of St Andrews & Edinburgh to offer courses in Theology and Education beginning in the autumn. They are flexible, part-time and take place in the evenings and at weekends at the Gillis Centre in Strathearn Road.

Individual modules of each programme as well as full Masters programmes are available to study. Plus, bursary opportunities have been announced.

Here are the courses:

• MA Applied Catholic Theology
• MA Catholic School Leadership
• MA Education: Leading Innovation and Change
• MA Education: Pedagogy
• MA Education: Religious Education

Here's where you can find the details:

stmarys.ac.uk/edinburgh

Encouragement from Archbishop Cushley

In a pastoral letter to all parishes, Archbishop Leo Cushley encouraged parishioners to consider taking a course. He said: "There is no doubt in my mind that our partnership with St Mary’s will create an invaluable addition to the Church in Scotland – invaluable, above all, for what it can offer to you, our Catholic lay men and women.

"I have written to you previously about how you, as lay Catholics, through your words and actions, your presence and witness, are called to permeate society with the grace and truth of Christ. The arrangement that we have made with St Mary’s will provide an invaluable means for Catholics to grow in the knowledge and love of their faith.

"In this way we are also responding to Pope Francis’ call to invest in the intellectual formation of the laity, and the evangelization of professional and intellectual life."

Match funded bursaries

St Mary's University is offering match funded bursaries for courses starting September 2020.

Dave Hartnett, interim vice chancellor of St Mary's University, has also written to parishes. He said: "We will offer bursaries of £500 to parishioners in the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh participating in a full postgraduate programme at the new Gillis Campus this Autumn, provided this is matched by a similar contribution towards the fees from the parish.

"We hope our flexible programmes...will create significant new opportunities for mature students, teachers, health professionals and others with an interest in deepening thier faith through academic study. We are looking forward immensely to our first students coming through the doors."

  • Read the Archbishop's pastoral letter here
  • Read Dave Hartnett's letter here