{"id":15516,"date":"2026-02-20T15:00:46","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T21:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usml.edu\/?p=15516"},"modified":"2026-02-20T15:01:38","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T21:01:38","slug":"the-original-decree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usml.edu\/es\/the-original-decree\/","title":{"rendered":"The Original Decree"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.kb-row-layout-id15516_b669e4-b7 > .kt-row-column-wrap{align-content:start;}:where(.kb-row-layout-id15516_b669e4-b7 > .kt-row-column-wrap) > .wp-block-kadence-column{justify-content:start;}.kb-row-layout-id15516_b669e4-b7 > .kt-row-column-wrap{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-md, 2rem);row-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-md, 2rem);max-width:var( --global-content-width, 1290px );padding-left:var(--global-content-edge-padding);padding-right:var(--global-content-edge-padding);padding-top:var(--global-kb-spacing-sm, 1.5rem);padding-bottom:var(--global-kb-spacing-sm, 1.5rem);grid-template-columns:minmax(0, 1fr);}.kb-row-layout-id15516_b669e4-b7 > .kt-row-layout-overlay{opacity:0.30;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kb-row-layout-id15516_b669e4-b7 > .kt-row-column-wrap{grid-template-columns:minmax(0, 1fr);}}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.kb-row-layout-id15516_b669e4-b7 > .kt-row-column-wrap{grid-template-columns:minmax(0, 1fr);}}<\/style><div class=\"kb-row-layout-wrap kb-row-layout-id15516_b669e4-b7 alignnone wp-block-kadence-rowlayout\"><div class=\"kt-row-column-wrap kt-has-1-columns kt-row-layout-equal kt-tab-layout-inherit kt-mobile-layout-row kt-row-valign-top kb-theme-content-width\">\n<style>.kadence-column15516_263814-d9 > .kt-inside-inner-col,.kadence-column15516_263814-d9 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;}.kadence-column15516_263814-d9 > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column15516_263814-d9 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}.kadence-column15516_263814-d9 > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kadence-column15516_263814-d9 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column15516_263814-d9{position:relative;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column15516_263814-d9 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.kadence-column15516_263814-d9 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column15516_263814-d9\"><div class=\"kt-inside-inner-col\">\n<p>Museums are places of beauty and of history.&nbsp; We would rarely think to save the mortgage to our paid-off homes or the certificate from completing a professional course, but these are the very items which help us to understand the cultural and social history of a people.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the top of the stairs in Feehan library is an unassuming little display case. In this case is kept the original decree giving the University of Saint Mary of the Lake the privilege of granting degrees in Sacred Theology.&nbsp; USML was the first seminary in the United States to receive this decree under the Apostolic Constitution &#8220;Deus Scientiarum Dominus.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, USML has granted <strong>hundreds<\/strong> of degrees, sending forth not only priests into the world but also qualified laypersons to promulgate the Word of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/usml.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/SacredTheologyDecree2-1-1024x768.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-15521\" srcset=\"https:\/\/usml.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/SacredTheologyDecree2-1-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/usml.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/SacredTheologyDecree2-1-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/usml.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/SacredTheologyDecree2-1-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/usml.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/SacredTheologyDecree2-1-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/usml.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/SacredTheologyDecree2-1-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/usml.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/SacredTheologyDecree2-1-16x12.jpeg 16w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/usml.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/SacredTheologyDecree-1024x768.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-15522\" srcset=\"https:\/\/usml.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/SacredTheologyDecree-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/usml.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/SacredTheologyDecree-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/usml.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/SacredTheologyDecree-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/usml.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/SacredTheologyDecree-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/usml.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/SacredTheologyDecree-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/usml.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/SacredTheologyDecree-16x12.jpeg 16w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Museums are places of beauty and of history.&nbsp; We would rarely think to save the mortgage to our paid-off homes or the certificate from completing&#8230;<\/p>","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":15521,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[141,143],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-library","category-museum"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Original 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