The people filling the seats in one theology class this semester are technically St. Thomas students, but they’re not the traditional 18-22 year olds taking the class for a core, major or minor requirement.

The Rev. Hugo Montero is teaching the university’s first Spanish-speaking theology class spring semester as part of an effort to include Hispanic community members in the university’s program to certify lay ministers of the Catholic Church.

The certificate program previously consisted of six courses in the English language, but Montero is now teaching the same curriculum in Spanish.

Montero said the 22 students in the first class have already proven the program’s success.

“In this semester I’ve had only one absence. Everyone is eager to learn about theology,” Montero said. “It’s unbelievably successful, and I am so excited.”

Theology department chair Bernard Brady said he and other faculty members started the program because they recognized the need to prepare lay ministers of the Catholic Church from all communities.

“A lot of these churches depend on lay volunteers or lay people to do their ministry and services and religious education,” Brady said. “The students, in some sense, feel alienated from the larger English-speaking Catholic Church, so we’re trying to meet their needs and meet the needs of the community where they serve.”

For students like Carmen Dean, who is originally from Chihuahua, Mexico, this educational opportunity is something she has never experienced.

“I don’t have too much of a chance to have an education in this country since I came and had to start working” Dean said. “I had 10 years working in a church with not much education, but this opportunity helps me learn and share knowledge.”

Another student, Maria de la Luz Zagal, said the education will be especially helpful when dealing with first-generation immigrants in her parish.

“It’s very important that we understand they didn’t grow up here … that we reach out to them where they’re at and not expect them to know what we know,” Luz Zagal said. “I think this opportunity will help us be more open to understanding where they’re at and how they can better reach education.”

While the program is still in its experimental stage, Brady said this is an important step to spread higher education throughout all communities.

“The point of this is they’re taking college classes. They’re not taking a weekend seminar,” Brady said. “We’re very proud of this. We want to see how it’s going to last the next couple of years. If it goes well, we may have another cohort go through.”

Zagal said she is grateful to the university for this educational opportunity.

“It has opened a door, and that will give us the strength to continue in what we are doing. But it will also open doors for other people coming behind us because there will be other ones coming behind us,” Zagal said. “It’s just a great opportunity.”

Molly Sigler can be reached at sigl1215@stthomas.edu.