The school was founded in 1996 as the International Theological Institute at the request of Pope John Paul II.
The ITI's mission, as established by Pope John Paul II, unites in a special manner the Eastern and Western traditions of the Church.
The Institute employs the Great Books method in its pedagogy in preference to lecture-based instruction in the encyclopedist tradition.
The ITI is committed to the primacy of Thomas Aquinas in Philosophy and Theology, it gives a special weighting to the Greek Fathers.
Among its notable alumni includes American Catholic author Charles Coulombe KCSS who graduated in 2023.