Course Number: STD 802

Course Title: ECCLESIOLOGY AND ECUMENISM

Term: FALL 2012

Instructor
Cynthia Toolin, Ph.D.

1. Contact Information
By email:
My email is ctoolin@holyapostles.edu I check messages Monday through Thursday around 1 pm. Accordingly
there may be a delay in my response to your email.
By phone:
Monday through Thursday, at 860-632-3022. Leave a message if I do not answer the phone. Note that I am not in
the office on Friday.
By mail:
Holy Apostles College and Seminary, 33 Prospect Hill Road, Cromwell, CT 06416.

2. Description of Course
This course is a doctrinal investigation into:
• The nature and characteristics of the Roman Catholic Church, its attributes, its structures, its mission and its
relation to the world, and
• The development of Roman Catholic thought concerning ecumenical and inter-religious dialogue since Paul VI.
• Special treatment is given to the thought of Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

3. Materials
All of your weekly reading assignments are available on the Internet. For your book reviews, select from the following four
books by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger.
• Pilgrim Fellowship of Faith: The Church as Communion
• Truth and Tolerance: Christian Belief and World Religions
• Many Religions - One Covenant
• Church, Ecumenism and Politics: New Endeavors in Ecclesiology
Optional Texts
• Avery Dulles, Models of the Church (2nd edition).
• Henri de Lubac, The Splendor of the Church.
• Fr. Brian Mullady, Light of the Nations.

1
4. Time Commitment
Because this is a graduate level course, a substantial amount of reading and writing is required. This is material that must
be mastered if you intend to continue your studies of theology. Accordingly I urge you not only to do the reading, but to do
it prayerfully, thoughtfully and slowly. Review the readings when you have some extra time. If possible, do the optional
readings too. To be able to practice any discipline, three things are required. You must know the material, you must be
able to see relationships within the material and with other disciplines, and you must be able to communicate both the
material and the relationships. Thus mastery of a discipline requires a significant time commitment. The reading and
writing assignments in this course are well worth that commitment!
Weekly you should expect to spend 1 to 2 hours reading and outlining or summarizing the reading, and another 1 - 2
hours posting your assignment and responding to the postings by other students.
You will also have two seven page book reviews. Those weeks you do not have to post a discussion summary.

5. Reading Assignments and Discussion Assignments

These assignments are listed under each Week.
Written Assignments
You will have two book reviews to email to me during the semester. They will be due on the Saturday of Week 6 and
Week 11. Reviews should be double spaced, Times New Roman Font 12, seven pages long. Note that you should
focus on one aspect or even one essay or chapter in the book you select, and address it in detail.
Note: these are book reviews, not book reports!
Term Paper
Your term paper should be double-spaced, Times New Roman Font 12, ten to twelve pages long. In addition to ten to
twelve pages of text, there should be a title page, endnotes and a bibliography with at least seven academic sources.
The issue to be addressed is the relationship between Mary and ecumenism. A good place to start your research
is Lumen Gentium, chapter 8.
Discussion Postings
In weeks when a discussion post is required, you must post your summary by Saturday, midnight. You also must
respond to the summaries of at least five (5) other students by Saturday, midnight of the following week. Weekly
discussions will close promptly at midnight on Saturday of the following week they are due, no exceptions (i.e. Week 1
discussions close on midnight, Saturday of Week 2; Week 2 on Saturday of Week 3, so on and so forth).
Exceptions to post after the midnight due dates will only be granted for serious cases, i.e. serious health/family
issues… not for vacations. You must contact your professor for consideration of any exceptions. Note that 50% of
your discussion posting grade is based on your responses to 5 other students. Thus, if permission is given to post
beyond the weekly due date, you cannot receive full credit for the posting of that week.
Discussion topics are listed within each week’s lesson container in the Lessons tab.
Your comments can be to raise a question or to discuss a point that another student has posted. For ease of reading,
you will be adding your own discussion areas to post your summaries. Instructions on how to post your own
discussion will be provided for you in each weekly lesson container. Please do not add your summary response as an
attachment. I do not comment on postings unless a student has posted an error, an interesting point for further
discussion, or a direct question.
Note: I have made a Water Cooler forum for you so you can talk with fellow classmates as if you were standing
around the water cooler at work. You can discuss other theological issues here, apart from what is required in the
course. I do not monitor this forum.

6. Course Requirements and Grading

Log on to Populi at least twice a week. Post your work and participate in Populi discussions. 33%
Complete all reading and writing assignments. 33%
Term Paper. 34%

2
 GRADING SCALE:
A 94-100; A- 90-93; B+ 87-89; B 84-86; B- 80-83; C+ 77-79; C 74-76; C- 70-73 D 60-69; F 59 and below

7. Course Schedule
Week 1:
• Read Syllabus
• Read Summary (in Populi)
• Read Leo XIII, On the Unity of the Church (Satis Cognitum), on the Vatican website
• Post a summary of On the Unity of the Church in Week 1 lesson container
Week 2:
• Read Summary (in Populi)
• Read Pius XII, On the Mystical Body of Christ (Mystici Corporis Christi), on the Vatican website
• Post a summary of On the Mystical Body of Christ in Week 2 lesson container
Week 3:
• Read Summary (in Populi)
• Read Read Paul VI, On the Church (Ecclesiam Suam), on the Vatican website
• Post a summary of On the Church in Week 3 lesson container
Week 4:
• Read Summary (in Populi)
• Read Lumen Gentium, chapters 1 to 3 and the Explanatory Note, on the Vatican website
• Post a summary of Lumen Gentium, chapters 1 to 3 and the Explanatory Note in Week 4 lesson container
Week 5:
• Read Summary (in Populi)
• Read Lumen Gentium, chapters 4 to 7, on the Vatican website.
• Post a summary of Lumen Gentium, chapters 4 to 7 in Week 5 lesson container
Week 6:
• Read Summary (in Populi)
• Read Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Responses to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects
of the Doctrine on the Church on the Vatican website
• Read Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Commentary on the Document Responses to Some
Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine on the Church on the Vatican website
• Email your First Book Review on one of Ratzinger's books listed in the syllabus to Dr. Toolin at
ctoolin@holyapostles.edu by Saturday, midnight.
Week 7:
• Read Summary (in Populi)
• Read Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on Some
Aspects of the Church Understood as Communion, on the Vatican website.
• Post a summary of Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on some Aspects of the Church Understood
as Communion in Week 7 lesson container
Week 8:
• Read Summary (in Populi)
3
 • Read Declaration on Religious Liberty (Dignitatis Humanae) on the Vatican website.
• Post a summary of Declaration on Religious Liberty in Week 8 lesson container
Week 9:
• Read Summary (in Populi)
• Read Decree on Ecumenism (Unitatis Redintegratio) on the Vatican website.
• Post a summary of Decree on Ecumenism in Week 9 lesson container
Week 10:
• Read Summary (in Populi)
• Read John Paul II, On Commitment to Ecumenism (Ut Unum Sint), on the Vatican website
• Post a summary of On Commitment to Ecumenism in Week 10 lesson container
Week 11:
• Read Summary (in Populi)
• Read Walter Cardinal Kasper, Present Situation and Future of the Ecumenical Movement, on the Vatican
website
• Email your Second Book Review on one of Ratzinger's books listed in the syllabus to Dr. Tooling at
ctoolin@holyapostles.edu
Week 12:
• Read Summary (in Populi)
• Read Walter Cardinal Kasper, Lasting Significance and Urgency of Unitatis Redintegratio, on the Vatican
website.
• Post a summary of Lasting Significance and Urgency of Unitatis Redintegratio in Week 12 lesson container
Week 13:
• Read Summary (in Populi)
• Read Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions (Nostra Aetate) on the Vatican
website
• Read Walter Cardinal Kasper, Some Reflections on Nostra Aetate on the Vatican website
• Post a summary of Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions in Week 13 lesson
container
Week 14:
• Read Summary (in Populi)
• Read Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, On the Unicity and Salvific Universality of Jesus Christ and
the Church (Dominus Iesus), on the Vatican website.
• Post a summary of On the Unicity and Salvific Universality of Jesus Christ and the Church in Week 14 lesson
container
Week 15:
• Read Summary (in Populi)
• Read the Catechism of the Catholic Church on the Vatican website, #748 to #987.
• Email your Term Paper to Dr. Toolin at ctoolin@holyapostles.edu by FRIDAY, midnight

8. ACADEMIC HONESTY POLICY

Students at Holy Apostles College & Seminary are expected to practice academic honesty.

4
Avoiding Plagiarism
In its broadest sense, plagiarism is using someone else's work or ideas, presented or claimed as your own. At this stage
in your academic career, you should be fully conscious of what it means to plagiarize. This is an inherently unethical
activity because it entails the uncredited use of someone else's expression of ideas for another's personal advancement;
that is, it entails the use of a person merely as a means to another person’s ends.
Students, where applicable:
• Should identify the title, author, page number/webpage address, and publication date of works when directly
quoting small portions of texts, articles, interviews, or websites.
• Students should not copy more than two paragraphs from any source as a major component of papers or
projects.
• Should appropriately identify the source of information when paraphrasing (restating) ideas from texts, interviews,
articles, or websites.
• Should follow the Holy Apostles College & Seminary Stylesheet (available on the Online Writing Lab’s website at
http://www.holyapostles.edu/owl/resources).
Consequences of Academic Dishonesty:
Because of the nature of this class, academic dishonesty is taken very seriously. Students participating in academic
dishonesty may be removed from the course and from the program.

9. ATTENDANCE POLICY
Even though you are not required to be logged in at any precise time or day, you are expected to login several times
during each week. Because this class is being taught entirely in a technology-mediated forum, it is important to actively
participate each week in the course. In a traditional classroom setting for a 3-credit course, students would be required to
be in class 3 hours a week and prepare for class discussions 4.5 hours a week. Expect to devote at least 7 quality hours a
week to this course. A failure on the student’s part to actively participate in the life of the course may result in a reduction
of the final grade.
NB: An Incomplete may only be awarded to a student who has maintained a passing grade up to the point of the
emergency. Incomplete grades will change to a grade of F unless the requirements stipulated on the incomplete form are
met by the date listed.

10. ABOUT YOUR PROFESSOR

I am a Professor of Dogmatic and Moral Theology at Holy Apostles, where I have worked since 1997. I hold a Ph.D. and
an M.A. in sociology from the University of Massachusetts, an S.T.L. in moral theology from Dominican House of Studies,
and a ninety credit M.A. in theology from Holy Apostles.
Welcome to this course! I believe that the information that you master in this course will be of great benefit to you as a
Catholic, both personally and professionally.