The Institute of Catholic Theology

This course will consist of a survey of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger's book, "Called to Communion: Understanding the Church Today." Writing as Cardinal Ratzinger years before his election to the See of St. Peter, this important contribution to the ongoing study and understanding of the Catholic Church and the theology upon which it is grounded and defined provides us with a renewed appreciation and respect for the Magisterium and the gift of pastoral authority and governance of the Holy Father and the College of Bishops. Using Ratzinger's text as our guide, we will focus on the origin of the Church, the Primacy of Peter and his role in maintaining the communion of the Church, the Universal and Particular Church, and the essence of the priesthood as it relates to our theological understanding of the Catholic Church and the sacraments. In addition to Cardinal Ratzinger's book, we will also review the document Lumen Gentium from the Second Vatican Council, numbers 11, 12, 14,16, & 17, relevant laws from the Code of Canon Law, and the motu proprio Ad Tuendam Fidem issued in 1998 by Blessed John Paul II. The goal of this course is to familiarize students with relevant texts in order to understand how theology, canon law, and the history of the origins of the Church learned from the Scriptures intersect to create what we know and love as the Church of Christ on earth.

Hours of Instruction:  12