It is an ecclesiastical faculty of theology that trains men and women, both lay and religious, for scholarship and service, especially within the Catholic Church.

[2] The School of Theology and Ministry was founded in the merger of Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Boston College Institute for Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry on June 1, 2008.

Laypersons comprise 65% of the students at the STM while 35% represent a religious order or are diocesan priests.

Integrating the former collections of Weston Jesuit School of Theology and St. John's Seminary, it contains more than 2.44 million volumes.

The journal has been in publication since 1956, and each year it abstracts approximately 1,500 articles, selected from over 500 periodicals in different languages, as well as hundreds of books.