• A centre for theological education and ministerial formation for men and women and seminarians, especially religious and lay people;
• A College in the Catholic tradition, under the auspices of eight religious orders;
• Open to all who would wish to enrol from any background;
• A place of hospitality and welcome;
• Committed to being a community of scholarship, prayer and pastoral care.

Yarra Theological Union (YTU) was originally founded in 1971 by the Carmelites, the Franciscans, the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart and the Passionists. Over the years other orders joined: the Redemptorists (Australian and New Zealand Provinces), Pallottines, Dominicans, Divine Word Missionaries, the Discalced Carmelites and the Blessed Sacrament Congregation. Graced by the generosity of the Franciscan Friars YTU is located at St. Paschal Friary.

On 18th January 1973, YTU was granted formal recognition as an institute of priestly formation by the then Archbishop of Melbourne, James Cardinal Knox. In September 1973, YTU, together with the Catholic Theological College in Clayton and the United Faculty of Theology in Parkville, was approved by University of Divinity (then MCD) as a College with the right to teach for the degree of Bachelor of Theology. This was extended to approving the right to teach towards the postgraduate degrees of Master of Theology and Doctor of Theology in 1975.

Over recent years YTU, together with the other college members of University of Divinity (UD), has extended its teaching program to provide postgraduate units for candidates for the degrees of Master of Theological Studies and, from 2000, Graduate Diploma in Theology, Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy.

We are an inclusive and welcoming community for theological education and ministerial formation, open to those who seek educational and personal transformation in changing contexts. As a College of the University of Divinity, which is Catholic in tradition and ecumenical in spirit, we seek to promote and resource the participation of all people in the mission of God for the building up of a healthy church and for the transformation of the world.

We fulfil our vision by:

• offering undergraduate and postgraduate awards of the University of Divinity and other educational experiences
• engaging in critical theological inquiry, scholarly research and publication in theology
• equipping people (professed and lay) for various ministries in the churches: parishes, schools, hospitals, church agencies and in the world at large
• being a forum for comment and dialogue with the wider society on those matters which fall within our competence.