This course is a historical, systematic, and pastoral study of the sacraments of initiation (baptism, confirmation, Eucharist), in Roman Catholic practice.

This course will provide an overview of the history of philosophy in the Latin West during the millennium that stretches from the 6th century to the 15th century. This epoch , as everyone knows, is characterized by the decisive influence of Christian faith on the cultural and doctrinal life of the West. We should begin by noting that the Middle Ages, according to some, forms a parenthesis — something like a void — in the history o f philosophy. And in light of this, we should ask:  Can we be both Christians and genuine philosophers? Are faith and philosophy mutually exclusive, or not?

Seventh Lesson: Saint Bonaventure

Eighth Lesson: Saint Thomas Aquinas

Ninth Lesson: Radical Aristotelianism

Tenth Lesson: The Turning Point of 1277 and the Movement of Doctrine in the Late 13th century

Eleventh Lesson: John Duns Scotus

Twelfth Lesson: Doctrinal Life in the Order of Preachers in the 14 th Century

Thirteenth Lesson: William of Ockham and the Movement of Doctrine at the End of the Middle Ages

More than fifty years have passed since the opening of the Second Vatican Council, a pastoral Council; which, according to Pope John XXIII, had the concern, “that the sacred deposit of Christian doctrine should be guarded and taught more efficaciously.” The Council itself opened many doors and tried to present a renewed way of living the faith, it launched a call for holiness.

In its (dogmatic) constitutions, decrees and declarations, many important issues were treated;including the understanding of communion, collegiality, revelation, ecclesiology, Mariology, liturgy, the relation between the world and the Church, the role of the consecrated life, as well as the relation towards other religions. The joyful call voiced by the participants of the Council has not been easy to realize.

Soon after the end of the Council, a real struggle arose about the way to interpret the points proposed by the Council. The hermeneutic question became the key question for an authentic understanding. According to Pope Benedict XVI, the problems in its implementation arose from the fact that there were two contradictory hermeneutics which quarreled with each other. The hermeneutic of the so called “discontinuity and rupture”, has caused confusion, splitting the Church; the other “hermeneutic of reform” has brought many fruits. Therefore, the question of the right interpretation became one of the most important issues.

In its opening, this course offers an overview of the most important documents and goals of the Council. It throws light on the most essential topics, based on the letter of the documents themselves. The second part will be dedicated to the hermeneutic issue, the question of how to interpret and to value the different documents. Furthermore, it offers a perspective which can become the key for the new evangelization.

Catholic Social Teaching (also known as Catholic Social Doctrine) sums up the teachings of the Church on social justice issues. It promotes a vision of a just society that is grounded in the Sacred Scriptures and in the wisdom gathered from experience by the Christian community as it has responded to social, economic, and political issues throughout history.

Law is a juridical system that organizes the social aspects of humankind. For that reason the
systematic oranization, the content and the governing principle of canon law and its different
branches should and do conform to how well the Church’s social dimension and social structures
are understood at each moment in time.

The book of Esther tells the story of... Esther, a young Jewish girl who is among the deportees living in Susa, in Persia. After the dismissal of the former queen Vashti because she disobeyed king Ahasuerus, Esther is chosen and becomes queen of Persia.

Legal basis: enforcement of duty on investigators

Philosophical basis: emphasizes principles on which actions are based/justified

Moral basis: Determining which actions are good and allowed or bad and proscribed (in the context of research).

This course intends to familiarize the students with the debates and contributions of the main philosophical scholars and theories which have developed through history from the time of Greek Sophists through the XX century. Based on the Aristotelian assumption that man is a by nature a political animal, the course intends to give ultimate answers to questions such as how material goods should be distributed; on what basis people should possess property; what are the justified reasons why some people have more properties than others; why political power has to exist; what kinds of governments are acceptable; what does it determine the correct balance between authority and autonomy;  what is the right balance between private and common good; what are the justified limits to my/your freedom.

There are many different definitions of Social Political Philosophy (SPP): the political can be defined as social decision making; philosophy is the most general form of inquiry that is the attempt to say what it is true and why. It is a  normative discipline:  SPP tries to establish norms, rules and ideal standards, how the social and political life should be. Different from Political science, which is the art of governing people, the discipline and the practice of assuring the “common good” of a certain society. Different from Social Sciences, which are descriptive disciplines which try to know the social facts and to find connections between them.

PROGRAM 

Part I: Historical contributions on social political thought

The Sophists: philosophy goes public; Plato’s Republic; Aristotle’s Politics; Cicero: Ius Gentium; Patristic era, St. Augustine: “De Civitate Dei”; St. Thomas on Natural law; Marsilio: “Defensor Pacis”; Machiavelli: The Prince; The Protestant reformation,  Luther & Calvin political thought; Hobbes, Locke on Social Contract; Rousseau: Human nature and society; Montesquieu: Separation of powers; Tocqueville: Democracy in America; Adam Smith:  The Wealth of nations; John Stuart Mill: On Liberty; Marx’s Critique of capitalism; Freud: Civilization and its discontents; Dostoyevsky’s Grand inquisitor; Hitler’s Nazism & Mussolini’s Fascism; Gandhi use of Power

Part II: Contemporary social political issues

Theories of Justice & distribution of property; Rights & Freedom; Natural law and social political philosophy; Justifications of the State, forms of Government ; Environment, Individualism, Multiculturalism, Feminism, Civil movements in a globalized world.

BASIC  BIBLIOGRAPHY

Leo Strauss, History of Political Philosophy, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1990

W.L. Mc Bride, Social and Political Philosophy, Paragon House, New York, 1994

Wolff, An Introduction to Political Philosophy, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1996

Santoni, & J. Sommerville, Social and Political Philosophy, Anchor Books, NY, 1963

To examine more profoundly questions regarding Mary’s role by examining her presence in the Gospels, her place in the Christian Tradition, the history of her four dogmas, and of liturgy and devotions, the apparitions, the rosary and her place in contemporary theology.

St. Thomas Aquinas on Man as made to the Image of the Trinity and on the Trinitarian God in whose Image we are made and to whom we are Conformed.

An introduction to the Life, Epistles and Theology of Saint Paul.

According to Gibelin in his Foreword to Religion within the Limits of Reason Alone, Freedom is the central theme of Kant’s philosophy. This course will introduce to Kant, centering on Freedom as a key concept to understand his philosophy, in the three spheres defined by the critical project: Metaphysics, Moral and Aesthetics.

To examine more profoundly questions regarding Mary’s role by examining her presence in the Gospels, her place in the Christian Tradition, the history of her four dogmas, and of liturgy and devotions, the apparitions, the rosary and her place in contemporary theology.

This course explores the mystery of the Church as seen in the light of Vatican II. The basic document is Lumen Gentium. The aim is to examine questions regarding origin, nature, structure, and mission of the Church. At the end of the course, the students will have a better understanding of the the nature, the structure, the work of the Church, and a better understanding of the ecclesiological teaching of the Second Vatican Council.
 

This course is a historical, systematic, and pastoral study of the sacraments of healing (reconciliation, sacrament of the sick), sacraments of vocation (marriage and orders) in Roman Catholic

This course will introduce the students to the historical beginning of bioethics, as well as some of the moral theories employed in bioethics discourse. Specifically, this course will:

• Highlight some of the ethical misconducts in modern human history
• Highlight some basic moral principles of research and clinical encounters with human subjects
• Provide insights into how these principles are employed in concrete human contexts.
 

This course is the second part to Introduction to Moral theories in Bioethics I.

The course will introduce the students to the historical beginning of bioethics, as well as some of the moral theories employed in bioethics discourse. Specifically, this course will:

• Highlight some of the ethical misconducts in modern human history
• Highlight some basic moral principles of research and clinical encounters with human subjects
• Provide insights into how these principles are employed in concrete human contexts.
 

The norm is the idea central to the thought of Michel Foucault. It is the point from which he studies modern society. He distinguishes the norm from other forms of power.

Liturgy is primary theology . It is theology in practice. This introductory course in contemporary liturgy explores basic theological principles and foundational pastoral practices contained in the current normative Roman Catholic documents concerning the liturgy.

This course places the Epistles of John within their context in the New Testament with the Gospel of John. It invites you to think for yourself about the meaning of the texts, and the relationship between the Epistles and the Gospel.