AMS - ThS 109 Moral Theology - April 2025

Advanced Ministry Studies

 THEOLOGY YEAR

COURSE: Catholic Moral Theology    

Course Description

CATHOLIC Moral Theology studies the foundational aspects of the Christian life since its beginning. The basic principles of the Christian moral life are based in the awareness that every person bears the dignity of being made in the image of God. He has given us an immortal soul and through the gifts of intelligence and reason enables us to understand the order of things established in his creation. God has also given us free will to seek and love what is true, good, and beautiful. We should always remember that Christ's dying and rising offers us new life in the Spirit, whose saving grace delivers us from sin and heals sin's damage within us. Thus, we speak of the value, dignity, and goal of human life, even with its imperfections and struggles. Human life, as a profound unity of physical and spiritual dimensions, is sacred. It is distinct from all other forms of life since it alone is imprinted with the very image of its Creator.

CATHOLIC Moral Theology considers the intention(s) of the agent and the many effects of the act.  Acts that are consistently performed become habits, reinforcing patterns of behavior in the agent.  There are always multiple consequences of any act, and all must be taken into consideration.

This course will study contemporary issues under the lens of Catholic Moral Theology

Course Objectives

• Overall understanding of Catholic Moral Theology 
• Study of Catholic Teaching concerning the End of Life 
• Examination of Informed Consent: Advanced Directives and the Church
• Presentation of Unconsciousness and Organ Donation
• Examination of A Pastoral Response to Physician-Assisted Suicide
• Presentation of Gender Dysphoria and Gender Ideology 

Date: Saturday, April  12, 2025  

Time: 9:00 am to 4:00 pm (Breaks and Lunchtime included)  

Format: Zoom Live Class  

Professor: Fr. Luke Dysinger M.D. PhD in Philosophy   

Father Luke Dysinger, O.S.B. studied religion and medicine at the University of Southern California, receiving his B.A. in 1974 and his M.D. in 1978. He was board-certified in Family Practice after internship and residency at UCLA, Cedars-Sinai Hospital, and the Antelope Valley Hospital Medical Center in Lancaster, California. He joined the Benedictine community of Saint Andrew’s Abbey in 1980, where he has served as novice master and prior; he is presently librarian. He studied theology at Oxford University, receiving his D.Phil. in Theology in 2000. Fr. Dysinger has published books and articles on psalmody and prayer; he has taught moral theology and spiritual theology at Mount St. Mary’s College and biomedical ethics at the University of Southern California. He has served as a fellow of the Loyola Marymount Bioethics Institute and is chairman of the Bioethics Committee at the Antelope Valley Hospital Medical Center, where he is also a member of the medical staff.

Notes: 

• Please register as soon as possible as this course requires pre-reading material.
• This class is eligible for ongoing formation. Those not registered in the Advanced Ministry Studies but would like to take the class as an ongoing formation please use discount code: AMS-ThS109 for a 50% discount.