Licentiate in Dogmatic Theology – Ecclesiology

Section of Ecclesiology and Sacramentary

The main purpose of this Specialization is the deepening with scientific precision of the Mystery of the Church and its presentation in terms accessible to today’s world, so that the Mystery becomes experience. Therefore, the reality of the Church is the objective of study and research, both as a mystery and as a historical subject. The character of mystery designates it as an Ecclesia de Trinitate, and it is a historical subject because it is a People who live the memory and expectation of Jesus Christ, the foundation of its mission. Made up of men, gathered together in Christ and guided by the Spirit in their pilgrimage to the Father’s Kingdom, the Church also feels “truly and intimately in solidarity with the human race and its history” (GS 1); therefore it can and must take nothing away “from the temporal good of any people, but on the contrary it favours and welcomes all the resources, wealth, customs of the peoples, to the extent that they are good, and by welcoming them it purifies, consolidates and elevates them “(LG 13).

COURSE SCHEDULE OF SPECIALIZATION IN HISTORY
Coordinator: prof. Philippe CHENAUX

This special section in History intends to provide the student with a proposal of method and tools that help to reflect and explore the Church and theology under the law of history, in the awareness that history/historicity is a fundamental category of the Christian faith and the Church of Christ, and therefore of theology. Therefore, avoiding the risk of a general reductio in historiam and any temptation to relativism, we propose to offer the criteria for a correct theology of history, with the elaboration of genuine historical and theological categories, thanks to a rigorous investigation of the “history of faith “(history of the Church, dogmas, theology/ies, liturgy and Christian art). Therefore, the presentation of the criteria for approaching the study of the exemplary sources of the various periods and the main historiographical interpretations cannot be omitted.

The personal study plan, prepared by the Dean or the Coordinator, also taking into account the candidate’s previous studies, provides for a compulsory introductory-methodological tutorial course every year. The first course is an introduction to historical research and in particular to the history of the ancient and medieval Church. The second course focuses on the sources of the history of the modern and contemporary Church. There are also other thematic courses that touch on the various aspects involved in the specialization section. A seminar, specific to the course programme, is mandatory every year.

Thus, a special course schedule is outlined (which can also be traced by drawing on courses offered in other Institutes and Faculties of the University), with which the student achieves the Theological Licentiate specializing in History.