The Catechism of the Catholic Church

Distance Learning Syllabus

Introduction

This course will examine the modern Catechism of the Catholic Church (hereafter CCC). Its focus will be
on the content of the doctrines the church teaches and the style through which it teaches them. It is divided into
four major sections, each corresponding to the four major sections of the CCC. The first of these four parts is
entitled the Profession of Faith and is based on the Nicene Creed. It reviews the doctrine of the Trinity of God,
the incarnation of Christ, and the role of the church in the economy of salvation. The second part is called The
Celebration of the Christian Mystery and it describes the Liturgy of the church and the seven sacraments that it
celebrates. The third part is entitled Life in Christ and it discusses the moral teachings of the church. The fourth
part of the Catechism discusses Christian Prayer.

This approach to the writing of the modern catechism is novel in the history of catechisms in that it
emphasizes the reality of faith in God in human experience and the fundamental theology of the church’s
doctrines about God. It emphasizes the sacramentally based liturgical life of the Catholic Christian and the moral
life of the believer. It concludes, rather dramatically, with an emphasis on the life of prayer which is so essential
to Christian existence. Moreover, the CCC is heavily influenced by a set of themes common in much of twentieth
century theology. In this way it distinguishes itself from other catechisms in the last century that mimicked
earlier pre and post Reformation doctrinal summaries. I shall have more to say about these differences from
earlier catechisms in the first, introductory module of the course.

One of the purposes of the course is to make certain that before aspiring deacons move into their
candidacy formation they are familiar with the basic teachings of the church. It will be very difficult for
candidates to understand the content taught in the more advanced, dogmatic, scriptural, sacramental and moral
courses to come if there are basic misunderstandings about what and how the contemporary church teaches its
doctrines. At issue is not only the content, as much as it reflects the theologies of the twentieth century (with
which some may not be familiar), but also how this content is expressed; the language, the style and the
pedagogy implicit in the language and structure of the CCC. All of this must be understood before commencing
to the more complex and challenging courses to come.

For instance, the astute student will quickly note that stylistically the text lacks anathemas, it does not
routinely denounce the views of other religions (in fact it promotes ecumenism), it does not threaten the
believer, its prose is succinct, and it is well footnoted especially from scripture, and from the documents of the
recent councils of the church, most especially those of the Second Vatican Council. The overall posture of the
CCC is to clearly describe the church’s beliefs in contemporary language, to intellectually and spiritually engage
believers in a respectful manner and to invite them to share in the truth of God expressed in the Church’s
beliefs, practices and life. Catechisms from earlier ages are occasionally footnoted but for the most part they are
set aside, as is the articulation of doctrines promoted by the medieval theologians whose work dominated
Catholic catechisms and other church pronouncements for many centuries. The beliefs shared with earlier ages
have not changed, but the language in which they were formulated in the past has been altered and “updated.”
This updating is commensurate with the open commitment of the church to invite its believers, and those who
are interested in its faith, to read about it.

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 What are the themes that emerge in this Catechism? For one, there is the idea that the Triune God, the
central mystery of the faith, is essentially relational ad intra (within himself) and ad extra (in relation to
otherness). For another, there is the notion that this God is personal on analogy to the human person created by
him but in relation to whom he is also absolutely dissimilar. God is in these senses self-disclosing, self-expressive
and self-communicating. The very essence of the divine on this view is that God is revelatory of who he is, the
persons, their common being and their relationality. This revelation is summed up in the scriptures, but is also
expressed in the sacraments, in the presence of the believing person in his or her faith and in the believer’s
liturgical and spiritual life. The salvific end of divine revelation is stressed, as is the long salvation history that
leads eventually to the divine self-revelation in Jesus Christ. There are other themes, most especially, of course,
the central and fundamental reality of Christ, as we shall see, but you should note at the start that there is an
effort in this language to avoid abstract and depersonalized propositions of belief. Much of the language
employed is metaphorical, symbolic and analogous, in keeping with contemporary theology.

On the other hand, the catechism is written as a series of belief claims. These are organized according to
the four general topics and then sub-organized into detailed topics that fall under the four general ones. For
instance, the first part, entitled, The Profession of Faith, is subdivided into two sections, each with its own
chapters and articles. The first section is a discussion of the church’s faith in “man’s capacity for God.” The long
second section, called The Profession of the Christian Faith, reviews in detail all the language and doctrinal
elements of the Nicene Creed. Each doctrinal claim is given a numbered paragraph which can be traced either by
page or by that number itself. And so it goes throughout the four major topical sections of the CCC. At the end of
each subsection there are summary paragraphs, also numbered, which will help you grasp some of the details.
But be careful not to rely on memorization of them alone, for you will be asked to answer questions about the
paragraphs they purportedly summarize.

Pedagogy

It will be your responsibility to learn everything that is said and to be able to use the language style
utilized by it to convey the church’s faith. You may well (think) you know much of what the CCC teaches from
prior learning experiences, but in this course you will be responsible not only for a general level of knowledge
but for deep familiarity with the specifics as well as the style of the language. Success in this course will require
a combination of thoughtfulness and memorization. You will be given ample time to absorb the material –
roughly three weeks for each major topical section – and to think about what is said, but you will also have to
engage in a close study of the texts, attention to the footnotes, and considerable memorization. In most cases it
will not be sufficient to rely on what you already think you know; you will be questioned closely about the
details of a sampling of the texts. You will have plenty of opportunity to ask questions about the meaning of the
belief claims made in the CCC. You will divided into four sub-groups each led by a well-informed cleric from your
diocese. I will be available to respond to general questions in an open forum. In addition I am requiring that you
purchase the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church in addition to a copy of the CCC itself. This
work will help answer questions you might have about the theological content, and other matters of interest
that you might have. The books required for the course and their ISBN numbers are listed below.

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Objectives

The objectives of this course are as follows: (a) learn in detail the teachings of the Catholic Church that
constitute the essentials of its faith; (b) become familiar with the style of language used by the contemporary
church in its teaching role; (c) so that you too can learn use this language in your teaching (and preaching); (d)
and become a worthy model of how the contemporary church relates to itself and the world.

Required Readings

1. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition, ISBN: 978-1574551099 2.

2. Schreck, A. (2019). The essential Catholic catechism: A readable, comprehensive catechism of the
catholic faith. Charlotte, NC: Tan Books .ISBN: 9781505113228
3. Reader's journal for the United States Catholic catechism for adults. (2016). Washington, D.C.: United
States Conference of Catholic Bishops .ISBN: 978-1-60137-003-7
4. United States Catholic catechism for adults. (2019). Washington, D.C.: United States Conference of
Catholic Bishops ISBN 13: 9781574554502.

Recommended Readings – NOT Required

1. The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, ISBN: 978-1574557206

2. Gospel, Catechesis, Catechism, Ignatius, ISBN: 978-089870-633-8
3. Introduction to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (with Cristoph Schonborn), Ignatius, ISBN: 0-
89870-485-5
4. O'Malley, W. J. (1999). The people's catechism Catholic faith for adults. New York
ISBN: 9780824514662

Academic Dishonesty

See the general rules governing courses taken in the Josephinum distance learning program. Academic
dishonesty, which includes plagiarism, unapproved sharing of answers to exams and access to unapproved
information in preparing for or taking exams is strictly forbidden.

Assignments

The required assignments for this course are as follows.

1. Students are required to do the assigned reading for each module including power point audio
presentations. Due to the volume of material that must be learned failure to keep up with the readings
in a regular manner will make it extremely difficult for you to meet the objectives of the course and
could jeopardize your continuation into the candidacy stage of the program.
2. There will be a short answer quiz at the end of each major section of the course. These sections
correspond to the four parts of the CCC. The quiz will vary in length from 30 to fifty questions depending
on the section. You will be given ample time to answer the questions. No extensions will be granted for
completing each quiz except for personal or family problems such as illness or worse.
3. There will be a final exam, also in the form of a short answer quiz, which will address material covered
during the entire course.

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 4. There will be a forum driven by questions that I will formulate for each section of the course. You are
not required to participate in these opportunities to demonstrate your knowledge of Catholic teaching,
but participation can only benefit you. You will not lose credit for failing to participate, but you can
improve your final grade if in my judgement you demonstrate insight into the Church’s doctrines by your
responses to the questions I pose or by the questions you raise. You will have an opportunity to discuss
the issues raised by these questions in your small group meetings led by mentors from your diocese.

Modules

You are required to read, review and study the following material. In reading the CCC, please be
attentive to the paragraphs written in a smaller font than the rest of the text and to the footnotes, and access
the Compendium as necessary. My power point material is explanatory and summary and does not substitute
for a thorough reading of the CCC itself. Occasionally, I refer to specific paragraphs (or footnotes) but for the
most part my comments are not summarized in this fashion. At the top of each slide you will find paragraph
numbers that identify the texts I am on which I am commenting, and you will note that my commentaries
correlate to the CCC material itself.

The few secondary readings are required for background and explanation solely. You will not be tested
on their contents. If you have already read or have studied parts of the CCC please reread it again, following
along with the flow of the course. As you continue your intellectual formation for the diaconate, you will
discover that in studying theology the more you read and reread material or supplement with related readings,
the better your understanding will become of the teachings of the church.

1. Introduction. A discussion of the purposes, history, and literary genre of catechisms in the history of the
church. A brief discussion of the documents issued by the church in connection with the modern
catechism during the period before its preparation, at the time of its publication and after. Apostolic
Constitution Fidei Depositum (On the Publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church), Prologue; See
power point.
2. Ratzinger, Introduction to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, pp. 9-36; Gospel. Catechesis, Catechism,
Preface, 9-60; Part One: CCC, The Profession of Faith, Section One [paragraphs 26-184]; Power Point
3. Part One: The Profession of the Christian Faith, Section Two, Chapter One [185-421]; Power Point.
4. Part One: Section Two, Chapter two [422-682]; Power Point.
5. Part One: Section Two, Chapter Three [683-1065]; Power Point
6. Part Two: The Celebration of the Christian Mystery, Sections One and Two, Chapter One [1066-1419];
Power Point.
7. Part Two: Section Two, Chapters Two and Three [1420-1690]; Power Point
8. Part Three: Life in Christ, Section One, Chapter One and two [1691-1948]; Power Point.
9. Part Three: Section One, Chapter Three; Section Two, Chapter One, [1949-2195]; Power Point.
10. Part Three: Section Two, Chapter Two [2196-2557]; Power Point.
11. Part Four: Christian Prayer, Section One, Chapters One, Two and Three [2558-2758]; Power Point.
12. Part Four: Section Two [2759-2865]; Power Point.

Developed by Deacon Dr. Michael Ross, 2016