Licentiate of Sacred Theology (S.T.L) is the title of an intermediate graduate degree with canonical effects in the Roman Catholic Church offered by pontifical universities and ecclesiastical faculties of sacred theology.

The licentiate of sacred theology is in some ways comparable to the master of arts degree in Catholic theology (M.A.). In other ways it is closer to the M.Phil. (Master of Philosophy, in those Ph.D. programs that make use of this intermediate degree between the M.A. and the doctorate) or the Th.M. (Master of Theology, often also an intermediate degree between an M.A. or M.Div. and a doctorate) in terms of academic level of study. In several European countries, in fact, the master's level degree is referred to as a licentiate - from its original meaning as a "license to incept", i.e., that is, permission from the local bishop to actually take the master's or doctor's degree, an event which took place through the ceremony of inception.

The usual prerequisites for a licentiate in sacred theology are that a candidate must have the bachelor of sacred theology degree (S.T.B.) or master of divinity degree (M.Div.) in Catholic theology (a candidate must have completed at least the rough equivalent of an undergraduate degree in Philosophy as a prerequisite for studying toward the S.T.B., hence the S.T.B. and M.Div. are considered more or less equivalent, and the S.T.B. is actually a graduate level degree in the American system as all American faculties that offer the S.T.B. require a B.A. before entering their programs). In order for a candidate to receive a licentiate of sacred theology, he or she must engage in a two-year program of theological studies beyond the three years required for the S.T.B. and propose an original thesis which contributes to the understanding of sacred theology.

The license in sacred theology is required before a person may teach sacred theology in a pontifical university. The license is also the prerequisite to the doctorate (S.T.D.) in the same field.

Roman Catholic education | Christian education | Master's degrees | Religious degrees