| CODE | FDT5001 | |||||||||
| TITLE | The Ecclesial Community: Pastoral Dynamics | |||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | |||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | |||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 10 | |||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Fundamental and Dogmatic Theology, including Ecumenism | |||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | Any Christian community, the New Testament shows, cannot but be built on the Trinitarian communion: it is within this Source that it is to have its beginning and its raison d'être. A good grounding of the Trinitarian Communion is presented in the Prologue and chapters 13-17 (the Priestly Discourse) of John's Gospel. The consequences of John 19,25-27 are studied: the Beloved Disciple receives the Mother of Jesus as the "generator" of the values of the Trinitarian Communion. The significance of the term koinonia (communio) is introduced while highlighting the meaning of the nous ecclésial. The weaving of bonds and the reaching out to nominal Christians is studied. A number of values and other features useful in the building, strengthening and healing of the community are presented. Small Christian Communities are evaluated. Diocesan Pastoral Synods as an expression of communion are studied. Finally pastoral conversion, essential attitude for community community, is also analysed Another contribution to the study-unit entails an examination of how the family, composed of husband and wife and possibly of children, is a model for the Church and society at large. The family is truly the smallest living cell of the Church and of society. It has all the ecclesial and social elements embedded in its inner principles. The unit also focuses on the structures of pastoral participation on the diocesan and parish level, as set down in universal and particular law. The Church's hierarchic constitution is addressed, principally in terms of those whose ministry it is to assure unity in communion. True community is to be understood as possible when individuals are encouraged to experience their separateness from others as well as their fundamental interconnectedness. This comes about through choiceful contact with others in the spirit of authentic responsibility which takes self and other into account. The Maltese Ecclesial structures are also studied. These wil include all those diocesan structure which serve the pastoral work of the Maltese Church. Study-unit Aims: The study-unit aims at: 1. introducing the student to the skills required to build a healthy ecclesial community; 2. to critically analyse the way the Maltese ecclesial structures are formed and ways how to continuously reform them. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: 1. grasp the New Testament foundations for any theological and pastoral attempts at building the Christian community; 2. analyse the way in which the Church has sought to organise itself in the course of its history in the hope of becoming the sacrament of God's love to mankind, adapting secular forms of organisation and developing alternative structures; 3. to assess present day Church structures and forms of Church leadership in the light of an ecclesiology of communion and of the Church "as family"; 4. criticise ecclesial structures and ways of improving them in light of the changing needs of the Church and society; 5. examine Maltese ecclesial structures with those of other dioceses. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: 1. introduce new ways of collaborative ministry; 2. to investigate the learning potential of small groups, the microcosm of community, and be able to use group phenomena to engender a sense of community; 3. implement pastoral methods which build communities; 4. assess Church structures in light of Canon law. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - AA.VV., Chiesa particolare e strutture di comunione, Collana Il Codice del Vaticano II, diretto da A. Longhitano, Bologna 1985. - ARRIETA, J., Governance Structures within the Catholic Church, Gratianus Series, Canada 2000. - DIANICH, S., "La comunione", in Ecclesiologia, Cinisello Balsamo 1993, 114-142. - GAILLARDETZ, RICHARD. The Church in the Making. Manwah (NJ): Paulist Press, 2006. - GRUPPO ITALIANO DOCENTI DI DIRITTO CANONICO, Il Diritto nel Mistero della Chiesa, II. Chiesa particolare e universale, Roma 1990, 329-591. Supplementary readings: - ARCIDJOCESI TA' MALTA, Dokument tas-Sinodu Djocesan Vizjoni ta' Knisja Komunjoni, Malta 2003. - HANSON, P.D., "Community (Old Testament)", in Anchor Bible Dictionary, ed. D.N. Freedman, I, New York 1999, 1099-1103. - JOHN PAUL II, Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio, 1981, Letter to Families Gratissimam Sane, 1994. - LEAHY, B., "A Theology of Community Revisited", in Ecclesia Tertii Millennii Advenientis, Fs. A.Antón, ed. F.Chica - S.Panizzolo - H.Wagner, Casale Monferrato, 207-216. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture, Independent Study & Practicum | |||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Marika Fsadni Paul Galea Kevin Schembri Paul Sciberras Mark Joseph Zammit |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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