On February 25, 2021, the Catholic University of Korea’s College of Theology awarded UST’s Bachelor of Sacred Theology degrees for the first time after the aggregation agreement, which allows an institute to award bachelor’s and licentiate degrees from an ecclesiastical faculty like UST’s, between the UST Faculty of Sacred Theology and the Catholic University of Korea was approved by the Congregation for Catholic Education on September 3, 2019.
Thirty-eight newly minted Bachelor of Sacred Theology degree holders were recognized during the occasion, with Sr. Kyoungah Lee leading the batch as Summa cum Laude.
Faculty of Sacred Theology Dean fr. Rodel E. Aligan, O.P., SThD pointed to the timing of the occasion, which coincides with the 200th birth anniversary of Saint Andrew Kim Taegon, the first native Catholic priest of Korea who sought refuge in the Philippines and learned under the tutelage of Dominicans in Bulacan. The Sacred Theology Dean encouraged the 38 graduates by saying, “These maybe the worst of times and yet also the best of times for you students. There will never be a time like this. As we honor and praise our own frontliners in this fight against COVID 19, you too will become frontliners for education as you minister to the Korean faithful. Let this defining moment be your shining moments to let the light of Christ continue to shine in Korea and in Asia as well.”
First reported in: The UST Ecclesiastical Faculties Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/USTeccle)