The Veritatis Splendor Institute (VSI) was founded in the Diocese of Rapid City in 2013 under the patronage of St. John Paul the Great. It is within his legacy and luminous Magisterium that we seek to ground the wholistic formation which the Institute imparts: formation that is human, spiritual, academic, and pastoral.
The goal of the Institute is the mission of the Church: “to proclaim the Gospel to all men” (Ad Gentes 1). As all are called to this mission, the VSI strives to form disciples and catechists who engage in the work of evangelization and catechesis.
To this end, the VSI is offering a Catechist Certification Program for all who are interested in sharing in this mission: DREs, youth ministers, catechists, core team members, Catholic school teachers, volunteers, liturgists, musicians, and any pastoral ministers and others who want to grow as evangelists and teachers of the Faith.
The Catechist Certification Program will provide diocesan certification for catechists: a one-year Basic Certification Program, and a two-year Master Certification Program, through instruction in the content of the Faith and formation as disciples of Christ more deeply conformed to his Most Sacred Heart. The program will include doctrinal and liturgical education, instruction in evangelistic and catechetical methodology, formation in the moral life, discipleship, spiritual life and prayer, community life and mission, Catholic worldview, and more.
The program will include courses of study and an annual retreat. We will provide formation advisors to assist in the work of the study and discipleship formation.
Graduate credits for VS are available through the University of Sioux Falls.