CAT - Catechetics
Provides an introduction to the history, methods, and contemporary practice in catechetics. The Church's catechetical documents are studied in depth, providing the necessary foundations for the other religious courses. Catechetical skills will be developed by analyzing specific doctrines in order to learn how to handle them in catechetical presentations, determining what is essential in presenting a catechesis that is systematic and organic. In addition, the students will be introduced to the life and educational practice of St. John Bosco.
Teaches students to see how Catholic doctrine is driven by Scripture, and how to effectively use the Bible in catechesis. The class examines the relationship of Scripture and Tradition, the Catholic hermeneutic in Scriptural interpretation, and the narrative of the Bible. Students will be exposed to various ways of using the Bible in passing on the faith to others, and be challenged to come up with creative ways to use Scripture in different catechetical settings.
This course begins by exploring the fundamental conviction that evangelization is the deepest identity of the Church and therefore influences every facet of her life. The Church's liturgy - because it makes present the Pascal Mystery - is both summit and font of this evangelistic mission. Students will investigate not only the nature and interdependence of evangelization and the liturgy, but also their importance to the contemporary renewal of catechetical practice. Students will additionally come to understand how a close study of sacramental theology can positively influence catechetical practice, particularly by way of well-conceived approaches to sacramental preparation and mystagogical catechesis.
"The 'study of the sacred page' should be the very soul of sacred theology. The ministry of the Word... pastoral preaching, catechetics, and all forms of Christian instruction... is healthily nourished and thrives in holiness through the Word of Scripture" (DV 24). This course focuses on the centrality of Scripture in the work of evangelization and catechesis. The content of the apostles' teaching and their use of Scripture, the scriptural basis of the catechesis of the Fathers and current magisterial documents related to Scripture and catechesis will be covered. Finally, this course explores the implementation of Scripture for evangelistic and catechetical purposes.
THE 780
This course will explore the effective delivery of the content of the Deposit of Faith for the purpose of promoting conversion to Jesus Christ. Kerygmatic catechesis and its emphasis on the means of insertion into the Mystery of Christ will provide the foundation for this exploration. A technique for analyzing doctrine for effective delivery will be employed with specific emphasis on the way in which such a delivery informs the faith, hope and love of the prospective disciple. Finally the challenges to employing a doctrinal delivery in the catechetical field today will be discussed.
This course explores the foundational methodological vision and principles described in the magisterial catechetical documents. A theoretical study and practical application will be made of primary principles of catechetical methodology, including the interconnectedness which exists between catechetical methodology and the Deposit of Faith, the centrality of the pedagogy of God to a proper formulation and evaluation of catechetical methodology, the importance of teaching to the aim of conversion and the spiritual life of the catechist as the "soul of catechetical methodology."
All catechetical methodology must be rooted in the Divine Pedagogy-how God teaches. This course will study the pedagogy of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Because catechesis must always be Christocentric, methodologies will be examined in the context of incarnational dynamism. Since God is truth, beauty, and goodness, this course will also look at specific methodologies in the context of these transcendentals, particularly in the use of art, music, literature, and film. This course should be taken at the end of the program and will evaluate a student's graduate level research and catechetical scholarship.
This course will focus on a particular topic or area of importance in pastoral theology, or practical pastoral work. Examples of possible topics are: Youth Ministry, Parish Pastoral Ministry, Pastoral Structures (Church Government), and Pastoral Guidance (Spiritual Direction), Church Law and Discipleship.
Notes
This course may be taken more than once on different topics.
This course explores the sacramental life of the Church from the perspective that the hallmark of the adult Catholic life must be liturgical. We will discuss preparation for Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Reconciliation, Matrimony and Anointing of the Sick in regard to their Rites, Canon Law, pastoral practice, and the truths they express. The primary objective is to understand how to prepare people to be fully conscious of what is happening in the sacraments, actively engaged in the rites, and enriched by them.
Opportunities to participate in supervised catechetical ministries such as the RCIA, parish adult programs, Catholic schools, or parish religious education are available for students to obtain teaching experience. This may be elected twice for different ministries.
This course studies the needs of the Church in the United States regarding current catechetical practice. Specifically, it covers family-based catechesis, Catholic schools, religious education, PSR, adult catechesis, catechesis for conversion, catechesis and culture, and alternative structures for catechesis. The theory and elements of each type of program are examined, and practice in the development of new programs for specific needs will be provided.
Students must have completed all other catechetics courses; may be concurrent with
THE 692.
This course addresses selected contemporary questions that demand a mature response from the informed Christian. This course emphasizes guided thought into specific dogmatic, moral, and spiritual issues.
The restoration of the ancient catechumenate was one of the major directives of the Second Vatican Council. We will begin with an understanding of the restoration of the catechumenal process which resulted in the Christian Initiation process of today. Primary texts for this section will include the ritual book (RCIA), GDC, and Fr. Yarnold's The Awe-Inspiring Rites of Initiation. We will come to understand the RCIA as a liturgical process, with an emphasis on the role of the initiation sacraments. We will examine the nature and means of the conversion process using the RCIA, catechetical documents, and Newman. Next, we will come to understand the ancient catechumenal origins of the modern RCIA. Finally, we will cover various special topics in the catechumenal process: evangelization, legal issues, and children and teens.
"Even if it is not always easy to approach young people, progress has been made in two areas: the awareness that the entire community is called to evangelize and educate the young, and the urgent need for the young to exercise greater leadership" (Francis, EG 106). This course provides a sociohistorical examnation of youth culture and the Church's response to that culture (successes and failures) in the United States. It examines the role and definition of young people within the Church and society (tweens, teens, and emerging adults). Finally it seeks to propose effective models on how to apply what the Church has taught regarding evangelization to young people in various settings, such as parish youth ministry and campus ministry.
In Christus Vivit, Pope Francis proposed there was a need for “new styles and strategies” in ministry to youth as well as a need to recognize “those practices that have shown their value” (204). This course examines effective methodology in ministry with youth and young adults, helping students critically evaluate current practices as well as propose new styles and strategies to help young people become disciples of Jesus Christ in our world today.
The course examines the relationship between philosophy and catechetics. It is in two parts. The first part reviews the teaching of the magisterium on this relationship, in particular in Aeterni Patris and Fides et Ratio, and then goes on to treat of questions of truth and rhetoric in the transmission of doctrine, studying the role of the catechist as witness and communicator. The second part of the course is an examination of the thought of St Thomas Aquinas and the relation of this thought to themes in the Deposit of Faith. Thus this part of the course enables students to engage with a single figure in some depth, a figure who is philosopher, theologian and preacher of the faith and who is consistently presented by the magisterium as worthy of special study.
During his speech opening the Second Vatican Council, Pope John XXIII stated that one of the purposes of the Council was to "guard the deposit of faith." This course will look at Church history through a catechetical hermeneutic, examining both the successes and failures of catechetical endeavors by reading some major works concerning the handing on of the faith from the time of the apostles to the Second Vatican Council. This course will examine the documents of the Second Vatican Council and their catechetical implications. It will also address the positive developments as well as the challenges encountered in post-conciliar catechesis, and will stress the renewal of catechesis as a result of Vatican II.
THE 604.
This course, building on the work undertaken in the graduate class, CAT 602: Deposit of Faith, examines the transmission of the faith, analyzing the elements involved in this transmission in light of what the Church calls the "original pedagogy" of the faith. Learning the craft of transmission according to this pedagogy is understood as the fostering of faith, hope and love through an intellectual, affective and practical environment that nurtures the development of one's relationship with Christ. The pattern of transmission is analyzed through a study of the annunciation narrative, with the different elements of proclamation, dialogue, questioning,application to life and so on, being inspired by this narrative. A detailed examination is made of the theological virtues of faith, hope and love, gifts that enable us to share in the "dialogue of salvation" and respond to the promptings of God, making a full assent and adherence to him.
Through an examination of Gravissimum educationis, the Vatican II Declaration on Christian Education, as well as key post-conciliar documents on Catholic schools, this course facilitates the formation of a Catholic educational philosophy within the teacher and the school. Key themes include characteristics of a Catholic school, formation of personnel, implications for the curriculum, intercultural dialogue, and the service of the common good.
Students will examine significant periods, figures and texts in the history of catechetics, particularly as this came to be expressed in the Western tradition. Topics include: the classical paideia and its impact on formation of early Christian education and catechesis; the development of catechetical schools; the development of the Creeds; the development and features of the catechumenal model; monastic and cathedral schools in the Carolingian period; liturgy, culture and catechesis in the medieval period; the history of catechisms, with a highlight on the Roman catechism; catechetical movements in the twentieth century; the pivotal importance of Vatican II and trends and movements in post Vatican II catechetics. Students study the catechetical importance of certain perennial texts, including Clement of Alexandria, Paedagogus; Ambrose: de Mysteriis; de Saramentis; Cyril of Jerusalem; Catechetical Lectures; Augustine; De catechizandis rudibus; De doctrina Christiana.
This course will provide a survey of leadership, administrative, management, personal and public relations, policy, legal (civil and canonical), and professional development topics from a gospel perspective for the purpose of facilitating a successful transition to a parish or diocesan position within the Church. It will also explore the mind of the Church and best practices in the variety of catechetical disciplines found in the field today. Specifically it will include discussion of adult catechesis, family catechesis, youth ministry, campus ministry, Catholic schools, parish school of religion, DRE/catechist training, textbook evaluations, chastity education, and catechumenal ministry.
Placed within the first residential week, this nine-day seminar introduces and explains the nature and aims of the doctoral thesis project which is the crown and culmination of the degree. Students are helped to identify possible project topics related to relevant ministry areas, receive an overview of research methodologies (including qualitative, quantitative and survey research, and using church statistics) and undertake an initial review of their possible use for their project, explore how the taught courses might relate to their project and analyze ways of generating a theological framework for their research.
Evangelization and catechesis are God’s initiatives and those called to service in the Church must operate from a relationship of communion with God if their work is to be fruitful. This course explores the need for pastoral leaders to live invested sacramental lives in order for their ministry to be aligned with God’s purposes and if they are to serve as authentic witnesses to the transformative power of sacramental grace. Topics to be explored include: the grace and missionary responsibility which is given through the sacraments; the unique call given to ministry leaders to carry out their ministry in sacramental union with Christ and the Church; and how the liturgy serves as a means of lifelong evangelization.
Evangelization and catechesis are God’s initiatives and those called to service in the Church must operate from a relationship of communion with God if their work is to be fruitful. This course explores the need for pastoral leaders to live invested sacramental lives in order for their ministry to be aligned with God’s purposes and if they are to serve as authentic witnesses to the transformative power of sacramental grace. Topics to be explored include: the grace and missionary responsibility which is given through the sacraments; the unique call given to ministry leaders to carry out their ministry in sacramental union with Christ and the Church; and how the liturgy serves as a means of lifelong evangelization.
Students will examine significant periods, figures and texts in the history of catechetics as it came to be understood within the wider ministry of evangelization, exploring implications and connections with contemporary catechesis in students’ own contexts. Topics include: the classical paideia and its impact on formation of early Christian education and catechesis; the development of catechetical schools; the development of the Creeds; the development and features of the catechumenal model; monastic and cathedral schools in the Carolingian period; liturgy, culture and catechesis in the medieval period; the history of catechisms; catechetical movements in the twentieth century; the pivotal importance of Vatican II and trends and movements in post Vatican II catechetics. The course will include an historical study of the Church’s evangelistic and catechetical outreach in the United States from initial evangelizing activity in the 16th century to the establishment of the Catholic school system to the present day.
This course examines the core theological foundations of an understanding of Catholic pastoral leadership, both at the theoretical level and in its concrete expression. The Scriptural foundations of leadership, especially that manifest in the public ministry of Jesus, are analyzed alongside the dogmatic, moral, and canonical teachings of the magisterium with regard to pastoral oversight and responsibility. Significant elements in theological anthropology are unpacked for their relevance to an explicitly Catholic understanding of leadership, including the relationship of nature and grace, the significance of human work and the vocation of the laity the development and exercise of virtues, and the complementary nature and vocation of men and women, together with ecclesiological teachings and perspectives relevant to questions of hierarchy, authority and co-responsibility in the Church and with regard to her mission. The course includes comparative studies with non-Catholic understandings of leadership, both modern and postmodern.
This course aims to explore the interconnections between Christian anthropology and moral questions, especially those that have surfaced in the past few decades. The course includes a critical investigation of several accounts of the human person in the Christian tradition, together with their philosophical and theological frameworks. The examination of specific twenty-first century moral questions will be driven by which of those issues represent critical points of leverage in the evangelization of culture. The course will provide material for a consideration of how one might approach those moral questions today. The course will also unpack the anthropological and moral aspects of choices regarding research methodology.
This course examines the Church’s mission to penetrate, transform and elevate cultures through the proclamation of the Gospel. This course will consider concepts of culture and inculturation, including the challenges posed by Modern and Post-modern philosophy and the opportunities for developing new methods and new expressions for evangelizing. This course identifies pastoral principles and practices for intercultural communication which lead to ecclesial integration and inform the evangelist’s capacity to communicate effectively with ethnic groups and cultures different from one’s own.
This course considers the call to discipleship, as seen in the New Testament and in the Church’s magisterial vision, and the importance of a discipleship-making orientation for all of Catholic evangelization and catechesis. Predominant models and trends in the formation of missionary disciples will be studied and critically engaged, with the intention of better understanding the ways that the Holy Spirit is inspiring renewal in the Church today and how graduates of this doctoral program might serve today’s important renewal.
On this course, students work through the steps to complete their thesis project proposal. This course is overseen by the DMin Thesis Director who assigns the Primary Advisor, Secondary Advisor, and Data Analysis Advisor for their project (if a student doesn’t already have them). The completed project proposal is approved by the DMin Committee and the advisors involved. The elements of the thesis project proposal include: project outline, aims and objectives, theological framework, literature and key concepts review, relationship of project to taught components, research methodology, and timeline for completion (no more than one academic year after completion of CAT 890).
The student works on his or her approved thesis under the supervision of the DMin Thesis Director and the student’s Primary and Secondary Advisor. The usual length of the thesis is 50-60,000 words, with a maximum of 60,000 words. The usual structure of the thesis is:
- Introduction, including outline of topic and its foundational significance; key research questions and rationale; research methodology; presentation of structure of the thesis and key elements,
- Four-six chapters of 7,000-10,000 words, yielding key principles that will be used to develop the ministerial/educational project. Literature review elements will be placed in the introduction and individual chapters as appropriate.
- Conclusions
The student works on his or her approved project under the supervision of the DMin Thesis Director and the student’s Primary and Secondary Advisor (with Data Analysis Advisor if deemed necessary). The usual length of the project is 30-40,000 words, with a maximum of 40,000 words. The project is introduced with a rationale in terms of significance, aims and learning outcomes, structure and content outline, ministerial/educational philosophy, forms of assessment, and a map of the principles derived from the thesis which will shape the project. The project is an original, complete and coherent piece of work which is field-ready and which demonstrates and instantiates the principles articulated and defended in the thesis.