February 13 – 24, 2023
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​​​​​​​ONLINE

​Taught by Fr. Joseph Koopman

Course Description:

The class will study the Catholic Church’s teaching on sexual ethics in light of St. John Paul II’s theology of the body.  Beginning with a very brief overview of the foundations of Catholic Morality, drawn from the Catechism and John Paul II’s encyclical Veritatis Splendor, (discussing issues such as freedom, virtue, conscience, and moral action), the course will turn to the Church’s vision of sexuality, rooted in the proper theological understanding of the human person.  Consideration will be given to the importance of the body within Christian anthropology, along with an examination of the virtue of chastity, the vocation of marriage, and John Paul’s understanding of the ‘nuptial meaning of the body.’   We will study the Church’s teaching on contraception, procreative technologies, sterilization, abortion, homosexuality, fornication and cohabitation, masturbation, pornography and more.

Learning Objectives: The course is designed

• to explore the essential principles of the Catholic moral tradition, and the reasons behind the Catholic Church’s teaching on sexuality
• to assess the contributions that John Paul II’s theology of the body offers Catholic sexual ethics
• to understand the differences between natural family planning and contraception
• to assess the reasons that underlie the Church’s teaching that contraception, homosexuality, masturbation, fornication, pornography and other ethical issues related to sexuality are morally wrong
• to assess the primary reasons why many Catholics reject the Church’s teaching on sexual ethics, and to consider ways to more effectively proclaim the Church’s teaching on sexuality.

Assessment for Certification Students: All TOBI Certification students are required to complete an assessment for this course prior to participating in an additional course with TOBI.

Instructor:

Rev. Joseph Koopman, M.Div, M.A., S.T.D., graduated from Franciscan University of Steubenville in 1996, after which he entered St. Mary Seminary in Cleveland, Ohio. He was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Cleveland in 2001, and served as a newly ordained priest at St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Parma. From 2005 to 2009, Fr. Koopman attended the Accademia Alfonsiana in Rome, Italy, where he received a license and doctorate in theology. Since 2009, he has been a professor of moral theology at St. Mary Seminary, along with serving as an advisor in moral theology and ethics for the Diocese of Cleveland and the Ohio Catholic Conference of Bishops.