For those who want to work in the Church in marriage and the family. Married couples, pastoral workers, teachers, and counselors who wish to understand this reality more deeply and to accompany others within it. No prior theological studies are required, only the desire to serve.
Master in Marriage and Family
A two-year graduate program in the Catholic understanding of marriage and the family: academic, practical, and spiritual, for those who wish to serve the Church in this field.
Marriage and the family, seen whole.
This is a rigorous and broad formation in the Catholic understanding of marriage and the family: at once academic, practical, and spiritual. It forms both heart and mind, so that those who complete it may serve the Church wherever marriage and the family are studied, taught, accompanied, and defended. Doctrine, the human person, and the sacrament are held together, and the truth received is ordered toward a life of service.
What is this, in short?
Quick Facts
MMF
Degree
2 years
Duration
English
Language
Autumn
Start
Is this for me?
For those who want to serve in this field.
For those who want heart and mind formed together. You do not want doctrine kept abstract or pastoral care kept shallow. You want a formation in which what you learn of the human person and the sacrament shapes how you live, pray, and serve.
For those preparing to teach, accompany, and defend. You are looking toward pastoral, catechetical, educational, and advocacy work in the field of marriage and the family, and you want the grounding to do it well, joined to prayer and community.
What will I actually study?
Doctrine, the person, and the sacrament.
Doctrine, Sacred Scripture, moral theology, the human person, and the spirituality and sacramentality of marriage: these are the disciplines of the two years below. The program moves from the foundations of Catholic doctrine, through the truth of the human person, to the sacrament and the life it makes possible. The full course list is available from the program office.
Foundations
- The Basics of Catholic Doctrine
- Sacred Scripture on marriage
- Moral Theology
The Human Person
- Human Love and Sexuality
- Psychology of the Couple and the Family
The Sacrament & Its Life
- Spirituality and Sacramentality of Marriage
- And further courses in the field
Complete course descriptions for the MMF program. Program courses are subject to change.
How does a seminar actually work?
Seminar first, with the pastoral question never far away.
The MMF is taught in seminar, and no class may exceed fifteen participants; most gather about a dozen students around one table, with a student-faculty ratio of one to four. No prior theology is presumed, so the reading begins at the foundations, and you prepare by reading and re-reading the assigned pages rather than by taking notes on a summary. In class the professor opens the text and then asks: you bring your own questions, examine what others have said, and argue from principles to conclusions, addressing one another by last name because the discussion is a public act. Electronic devices stay closed unless a professor allows them. Every class is obligatory, and more than two absences in a course normally means it cannot be completed.
- Written work is of two kinds: a divisio textus, an outline of the author's argument, which many professors expect for every assigned reading, and papers, on average three per term, due one week after the end of exam week.
- Grades follow a ten-point scale, from probatus to summa cum laude. A cumulative average of 8.5 is needed to continue in good standing.
- The course load is capped at 24 ECTS per term, with language courses added on top where a student still needs them.
- The final degree grade is 90 percent course average and 10 percent the MMF thesis.
- The thesis takes up a question of pastoral practice: chastity education, marriage preparation, the family as domestic church, pro-life ministry, parenting, care of the elderly.
What kind of life is this?
Here, married life is not the topic. It is the neighbours.
At most universities marriage and the family are a research subject. At ITI about one in seven students is married, children play in the courtyard, and families and single students share feasts, pilgrimages, and daily Mass. MMF students live inside the reality they study.
Formation therefore means more than coursework. It means watching, and joining, a community where the Catholic vision of marriage and family is not defended abstractly but lived concretely, imperfectly, and joyfully.
Where does this lead?
Parish, marriage preparation, classroom, diocese.
Pastoral and catechetical work. Graduates serve in parishes and movements, in marriage preparation and family catechesis, accompanying couples and families in the light of the Church's teaching.
Marriage and family ministry. The formation equips graduates for dedicated ministry to marriage and the family, at the service of diocesan offices, associations, and ecclesial initiatives.
Teaching, counseling, and advocacy. Graduates go on to teach, to accompany and counsel, and to defend and promote the truth of marriage and the family in the Church and in society.
Service in ecclesial structures. The degree prepares graduates for responsibility within diocesan and ecclesial structures concerned with marriage and the family.
What do graduates say?
What these years become in a life.
“I came wanting to serve couples and families. I left knowing how.”
When I came to ITI, I thought I was choosing a degree. What I actually found was a formation that took the whole of marriage and the family seriously: professors who opened doctrine, Scripture, and the human person with us, and a community that prayed together and shared a common life. Slowly, what I studied and how I wished to serve stopped being two separate things. They became one movement.
The MMF gave me more than knowledge. It taught me to understand the couple and the family more truthfully, to accompany with more wisdom, and to speak of marriage with clarity and love. Today I work in marriage and family ministry, and hardly a week passes in which something from those years in Trumau does not resurface: in a conversation, in a decision, in prayer.
I am more grateful for my time at ITI than I can easily say. It gave me lasting friendships, it gave me the grounding I stand on, and it gave me the certainty that this work is worth a life. If you are discerning this path: come and see. These years will stay with you.
Practical Details
What applicants need to know.
Prerequisite
At least a Bachelor's degree or equivalent; no prior theological studies required.
English
English is the principal language of instruction. Applicants who have not completed at least two years in an English-speaking environment or at a school with English as the main language of instruction must submit a standardized test score, such as TOEFL iBT 75 or equivalent.
Languages
No ancient languages are required.
Degree
Master in Marriage and Family (MMF), a professional graduate degree.
Thesis
The program concludes with a thesis of at least 30 pages, or 50,000 to 60,000 characters, on a question of pastoral practice in marriage and the family, prepared with an adviser from the faculty. Title and adviser are chosen by November 30 of the second year, the full draft is due March 31 and the final text April 30.
Documents
Use these for exact requirements, course descriptions, policies, and current academic regulations.
What does it cost?
Tuition, made possible.
12 000 €
Tuition / year
300 €
Registration / year
from 3 000 €
Housing / year
Regular tuition is 25 000 €. Every accepted student automatically receives the Standard ITI Scholarship.
How do I apply?
Everything you need to apply.
For most applicants, the best order is simple: gather your documents, ask for recommendations early, complete the online application, and then follow through quickly on language or visa requirements if they apply to you.
Applications close on July 1 for the academic year beginning in autumn.
Your application checklist
Use this as a working list while you prepare your application.
01
Prepare your documents
Ask for the recommendation letters first: they are the one part of the application you do not control. The rest is a working list.
02
Complete the online application
The application itself is a single online form. Submitting it opens your file with the admissions office.
03
Prove your English
If your previous schooling was not primarily in English, book a standardized test early enough for the score to reach ITI before the deadline. The threshold is listed under the requirements.
04
Apply for a visa in good time
If you need a visa or residence permit, start early. ITI advises submitting residence permit materials before March 1, since the process can take up to six months.
What else do people ask?
Questions applicants usually ask.
Do I need prior theology?
No. The MMF does not presuppose prior theological studies. It begins from the foundations of Catholic doctrine and builds from there.
Who is the program for?
It is for those who wish to serve the Church in the field of marriage and the family: married couples, pastoral workers, teachers, and counselors.
How long is the program?
Two years, comprising six trimesters. It is a full-time residential graduate program.
Is the program residential?
Yes. The MMF is a full-time residential program in Trumau, where study, prayer, and community life belong together.
Take the next step
Apply now
If you are ready for an education where study, prayer, and community belong together, apply now. If you are still discerning, plan a visit and experience ITI in person.