Training for Ministry
Blackfriars Studium is the House of Studies of the Dominican Friars in Britain.
The Studium acts like a seminary for members of religious orders, and has prepared many men for ministry.
It offers a philosophical and theological formation which is both rooted in the riches of the Catholic Tradition and engaged with contemporary thought and concerns.
Pontifical Qualification
Students study philosophy and theology in the Catholic and Dominican tradition; those preparing for ordination to the Catholic priesthood can read for the STB (Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology) granted by the Pontifical University of St Thomas, Rome (the Angelicum).
Our Community
Our study of philosophy and theology has always had its home in a Dominican life of prayer and religious observance; Blackfriars Priory is a community of more than twenty Dominican friars living, praying and studying in the centre of Oxford.
Recently, Dominican students and lecturers have come to Oxford from America, Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland and Poland.
We welcome students from other religious orders: since the 1970s, our own Dominican students for the priesthood have been joined by students from the Benedictines, Servites, Franciscans, Oratorians and Carmelites.
Teaching and Study
You will be taught by a combination of lectures, classes, and the famous ‘Oxford tutorial’ for which you prepare a piece of work to be discussed with your tutor.
We offer you access to a specialist teaching staff, a library of some 35,000 volumes in theology and philosophy, IT facilities, and the support of a small and friendly academic community which draws on the strengths of the Dominican tradition of intellectual endeavour.
Other facilities
- The common room offers a friendly space where students can meet one another, relax, make snacks and hot drinks, and socialise.
- The church is open daily for private prayer and public worship.
- Accommodation cannot normally be offered to Studium students.