News

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Jan. 6, 2026— Santa Clara University has received a grant that will help it greatly expand the University’s theological formation and ministerial educational offerings, positioning the University to better meet the diverse current and future needs of the Catholic Church. 

The $10 million grant to the University was made through Lilly Endowment’s Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative, which is supporting theological schools across the United States and Canada as they prioritize and respond to the most pressing challenges for pastoral leaders of Christian congregations, now and into the future.

A New Institute for Pastoral Flourishing 

The grant will help the University's Jesuit School of Theology (JST-SCU)—an international leader in contextualized theology and synodal approaches to pastoral leadership—create and launch the Pope Francis Institute for Pastoral Flourishing. It will do so in partnership with the University’s Department of Religious Studies—comprised of internationally known scholars of theology, ethics, scripture, and religion—and the Graduate Program in Pastoral Ministries (GPPM)—which offers master’s degree, graduate certificates, diaconal formation, and pastoral enrichment workshops to Catholic ministers.

The Institute will be an important hub for expanding pastoral formation, synodal leadership, and ecclesial innovation in ways that align with the late Pope Francis’s calls for the Church to be a “field hospital” for the most marginalized, a listening and compassionate body, and a source of hope for people confronting brokenness. 

The Institute, so named because of the late Jesuit pontiff’s prophetic and “synodal” (inclusive and listening) way of moving the Church forward, will ultimately house and help expand existing and emerging centers at Santa Clara, which together will: 

• educate and advance lay leadership in the Church, with a special focus on women in ministry and creative pipelines for youth leadership in the Church.
• serve as a vital hub for learning about and implementing “synodality,” the process of prayer, inclusive listening, and communal discernment and dialogue for how the Church should develop and grow.
• provide programming that reflects Catholicism’s longstanding commitment to social justice and religious pluralism.
• form the next generation of leaders in Latiné theology and ministry in the United States by building on the work of existing programs such as the Instituto Hispano and the expertise of leading Hispanic theologians and ethicists from the Department of Religious Studies, the GPPM, and JST-SCU.

The interdisciplinary faculty that will serve these centers—from JST-SCU, the Department of Religious Studies, and the GPPM—together will comprise what will be the largest faculty of Catholic theology and ministry in the Western U.S. The integration will also result in one of the largest Latiné/Hispanic theology and ministry faculties in the nation.

“This grant marks a major milestone for Santa Clara University to build out and re-envision its rich pastoral and theological resources to better respond and meet the urgent needs of the multicultural and multiethnic Church in the West and nationwide,” said Santa Clara President Julie Sullivan. “We are excited by the opportunities we will be announcing and implementing in the near future, which will advance our strategic goal of becoming the leading Jesuit theologate for the changing face of the Catholic Church.”

Collaborations for Greater Pastoral Reach

The grant will enable Santa Clara to develop strategic partnerships and collaborate with six key regional and national Catholic ecclesial bodies, organizations, and networks to open creative pathways for theological formation and ministerial leadership for women and men served by these organizations. Such work will include co-educating greater numbers of theologians and pastoral leaders, supporting theological research and study, fostering synodal approaches in scholarship and ministry, supporting young people on their faith journeys and identifying pathways for Church leadership and formal education, and preparing new and emerging leaders to serve the significant Hispanic and Asian-American Catholic populations in the Western U.S. 

The six collaborating partners are:

• The Region XI Commission on the Spanish-Speaking (RECOSS), a commission of the bishops of Episcopal Region XI, made up of delegates from each diocese or archdiocese of which they consider themselves members.
• The Diocese of San José
• The Diocese of Sacramento
• Discerning Deacons, which seeks to engage Catholics in the ongoing discernment about women and the diaconate.
• Iskali, which seeks to form, empower, and equip Hispanic youth to become transformative leaders, especially in Catholic dioceses.
• The Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the U.S. (ACHTUS), an association of scholars dedicated to promoting research and critical theological reflection within the context of the U.S. Hispanic experience.

Expanding Pastoral and Theological Education at Santa Clara University

The unique integration of Santa Clara’s graduate, undergraduate, and pastoral programs, which will also draw upon the work of the divisions of Mission and Ministry and Student Life, will facilitate novel and responsive programming to better reach the Catholic communities served by the collaborating partners. Such programming will include new degree and non-degree offerings, workshops, experiential learning opportunities, and facilitated graduate education through use and expansion of programs like Haciendo Caminos.

The grant also will fund a quasi-endowment to help provide financing for scholarships and other student expenses; new courses and pathways; interdisciplinary coursework; and experiential learning opportunities. 

“This grant will be truly transformational to Santa Clara’s ability to leverage our theological resources, faculty expertise, and ecclesial partnerships for the benefit of the Church locally and beyond,” said JST-SCU Dean Agbonkhianmeghe E. Orobator, S.J.  “It gives us the capacity to develop, with our collaborators, innovative resources and exciting opportunities to envision the future of pastoral ministries in the Catholic Church, design new ministerial models, and form pastoral leaders ready to meet the diverse and changing needs of Catholics today and in the generations to come.” 

A Vision for Collaboration

The grant from Lilly Endowment is one of 45 that were approved in a competitive round of funding from the Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative to support theological schools as they lead large-scale collaborations with other seminaries, colleges and universities, and other church-related organizations.  

Lilly Endowment launched the Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative in 2021. Since then, it has provided grants totaling more than $700 million to support 163 theological schools in efforts to strengthen their own educational and financial capacities and to assist 61 schools in developing large-scale collaborative endeavors. 

About Lilly Endowment Inc.
Lilly Endowment Inc. is a private foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. While those gifts remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion and maintains a special commitment to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana. A principal aim of the Endowment’s religion grantmaking is to deepen and enrich the lives of Christians in the United States, primarily by seeking out and supporting efforts that enhance the vitality of congregations and strengthen the pastoral and lay leadership of Christian communities. The Endowment also seeks to improve public understanding of religion and lift up in fair, accurate and balanced ways the roles that people of all faiths and various religious communities play in the United States and around the globe.    

About Santa Clara University
Founded in 1851, Santa Clara University sits in the heart of Silicon Valley—the world’s most innovative and entrepreneurial region. The University’s stunningly landscaped 106-acre campus is home to the historic Mission Santa Clara de Asís. Ranked among the top 15 percent of national universities by U.S. News & World Report, SCU has among the best four-year graduation rates in the nation and is rated by PayScale in the top 1 percent of universities with the highest-paid graduates. SCU has produced elite levels of Fulbright Scholars as well as four Rhodes Scholars. With undergraduate programs in arts and sciences, business, and engineering, and graduate programs in six disciplines, the curriculum blends high-tech innovation with social consciousness grounded in the tradition of Jesuit, Catholic education. For more information, see www.scu.edu.

About the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University
The Jesuit School of Theology is a global ministry of the Society of Jesus and a graduate school of Santa Clara University. It is an international center for innovative theological education and formation rooted in the lived realities of diverse communities of faith. Embracing synodality, it empowers women and men to serve and lead in the global Catholic church. 

Media Contacts 
Deborah Lohse | SCU Media Communications | dlohse@scu.edu | 408-554-5121
Preston Carmack | JST-SCU Marketing and Communications | pcarmack@scu.edu | 510-549-5041