Sign up for this course to learn Catholic teaching on God’s desire to unite all of mankind to Himself and to each other through the Church. We will examine disunity in the Body of Christ as well as the tasks before us in healing that division.

How to get the most out of this course:

• First, read the course description and obtain all required materials listed below before the first class session.

• Have a notebook ready and available for class notes while you watch each recorded class session.

• Complete assigned readings before the class session for which they are intended.

• After watching the class recording, feel free to review the PowerPoint slides for that session as needed.

• Complete assignments, quizzes, and any extra work assigned according to the instructions provided.

• Once the course is completed to the parent's and instructor’s satisfaction, there is a Certificate of Completion at the end to be filled in for your records.

Special Notes: This course includes a writing component.

Total classes: 12

Duration: 55 minutes per class

Prerequisite: None

Suggested grade level: 11th - 12th grade (ALL interested high schoolers are welcome!)

Suggested credit: One full semester Theology or Interreligious Dialogue

Instructor: Michael Creavey, MA

Course Description:

As Catholics, we believe that the Catholic Church enjoys the “fullness of the truth”, but that does not mean our brothers and sisters around the world who hold differing beliefs and traditions have no exposure to or experience of Truth. How do we understand this? Jesus warns that there may even be people who preach and perform wonders in his name to whom He will have to say at the Final Judgment, “I never knew you” (Matthew 7:21-23). What then is the nature of the Catholic Church’s relationship with other Christian ecclesial communities, the Jewish people, Muslims, and the multitude of practitioners of various religions around the world? Come and see!

Course Outline:

Class 1 – Course Introduction
Class 2 – God Reveals His Plan of Salvation (Ch. 1)
Class 3 – The Church as Sacrament of Salvation (Ch. 2)
Class 4 – The Church as Sacrament of Communion (Ch. 3)
Class 5 – Churches of the East (Ch. 4)
Class 6 – Ecclesial Communities in Western Christianity (Ch. 5)
Class 7 – Ecumenical Efforts (Ch. 6)
Class 8 – Relations with the Jewish People (Ch. 7)
Class 9 – Islam and Other Non-Christian Religions (Ch. 8)
Class 10 – Proclamation and Dialogue: The New Evangelization (Ch. 9)
Class 11 – Discussion: Essays
Class 12 – Course Conclusion

Required Course Materials:

1. The Holy Bible, preferably the Revised Standard Version 2nd Catholic Edition (RSV-2CE) or the New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE). Note that Both translations can be found for free at biblegateway.com in the dropdown translation selection box. The YouVersion Bible app and its corresponding website, bible.com is also useful.

2. Catechism of the Catholic Church: 2nd Edition (ISBN-13: 978-0385508193). The CCC is also free online at http://ccc.usccb.org/flipbooks/catechism/index.html.

3. Ecumenism and Interreligious Dialogue by Eric Sammons – Didache Series (ISBN-13: 978-1-939231-82-6)

4. Various free online articles, PDFs, video and audio links may be shared by the instructor throughout the course

Other Great Resources (i.e., NOT required or expected, but all are insightful for the student--or parent!--who would like to go deeper into the subject):

1. Vatican II, Unitatis Redintegratio (“Decree On Ecumenism”, 1964): full text (click here)

2. " ", Nostra Aetate (“Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions”, 1965): full text (click here)

3. Exploring the Religions of Our World (Student Text) [3rd Edition] by Ave Maria Press, 2022 (ISBN: 9781646800964)

Homework: Students will be expected to read approximately 25-35 pages between each recorded class session (primarily from the Didache text and occasionally from web-based readings). Other web-based readings and some video/audio material may be occasionally required as well. Assessments will consist of five vocabulary quizzes (70% of grade) and one culminating essay (30% of grade). An essay rubric is provided for this course (see essay instructions PDF), but quiz answer keys are not provided. Quizzes are entirely based on textbook chapter vocab banks.

Technical Help: If you have any technical trouble or questions about course content, please email us at homeschoolconnections@gmail.com.

©2024 Homeschool Connections and Mike Creavey.   All rights reserved. This course is designed by Mike Creavey.

• This material is only to be used for its intended purpose by active subscribers of Homeschool Connections. Any other use without explicit permission is in violation of the seventh commandment (yes, the 7th commandment) and in violation of US and International copyright laws.

• You may print or download to local hard disk extracts for your personal homeschool and non-commercial use only. This is not to be used for homeschool co-ops without express written permission from Homeschool Connections.