The Catholic Leadership Institute

Dates:	Monday, July 12 – Friday, July 30
Cost:	$1,250 for tuition, room, and meals; $995 for commuters (includes tuition and meals only) Three college credits are offered upon completion of this course See available financial aid

“You must not abandon the ship in a storm because you cannot control the winds… What you cannot turn to good, you must at least make as little bad as possible.”
–St. Thomas More

Would you be able to captain a ship in a storm? Would you recognize a good captain when you meet one? Many people imagine themselves capable of being just and brave leaders, but are they? What are the qualities of good leadership? Of Christian leadership? What makes the best leaders—is it first instruction or experience—or is it the case that leaders are just “born leaders?” How and what does the Catholic Church teach about leadership, society, work, government, justice? Where would you go to find out?

Join a small group of aspiring young leaders who will study the social and political teachings of the Catholic Church. Spend part of your summer working with faculty and tested leaders at Thomas More College. Dedicate yourself for three weeks to the challenges of the classroom and the opportunities for real leadership and service in southern New Hampshire and North-east Massachusetts.

Summer 2010 Leadership School

A select number of applicants will be chosen to participate in The Catholic Leadership Institute 2010, which will run from July 12-30.

The Institute is open to students who have completed at least two years of high school, as well as first year undergraduates.

Through the Thomas More College of Liberal Arts, the Catholic Leadership Institute will grant three College-level Credits for the successful completion of the three-week Leadership program. The three college credits will be offered to you for completing the program and final assignment, which will be a substantial essay on a key text, great hero, or central issue in Catholic political thought.  Your program faculty will work with you both during and after your time at the College to assist you in the research and writing.

Program

Each day will begin with morning prayer in the chapel, followed by a reflection on one of the great leaders in Catholic history: men like St. Augustine, who radically deepened our understanding of charity and community life; King Louis of France, who saw healing and caring for the sick as an extension of his royal office; Elizabeth of Hungary, who used her vast wealth to build hospitals and stood in the ranks caring for the sick; and Catherine Doherty, who escaped the terrors of the Russian Revolution and quietly established a personal apostolate helping rural poor that now has hundreds of workers and priests bringing the light of Christ and charitable relief throughout the world.  With that prayer-filled and inspiring start, you will begin your day.

Participants will divide their time between four major activities: leadership study seminars; formal meals with invited leadership speakers; small group excursions; and service work.

Seminars

Part of each week is given to reading through key works that reveal the social and political tradition of Catholic culture. In addition to readings taken from the authoritative Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church and other Church documents, you will read from authors such as Aristotle, Cicero, St. Gregory the Great, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Thomas More, Shakespeare, G.K. Chesterton, Dorothy Day, and Pope John Paul II. Through their ideas you will discover the rich wealth of Catholic political thought.

Throughout the week you will also hear formal lectures on the Social Teachings of the Catholic Church.  Faculty from the College will take you through the development of these teachings from Apostolic times, through the Middle Ages, and into its flowering in the modern age.  You will have the opportunity to consider with greater detail the encyclicals and other papal documents that began with the brave stand taken by Leo XIII in his Rerum Novarum.  The lectures will end with a consideration of the recent social thought of the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI.  The goal of these lectures is not just to present the history of Catholic social thought, but to give you a firm grasp of key ideas about just war theory, the common good, the human person, solidarity, authentic teachings on the family, and the Catholic insights on basic economic and political issues that will confront you throughout your life.

Additionally, several classic films depicting leadership—both successful and failed—will be shown. Afterwards, the participants and program faculty will discuss the movie. Film discussions will be drawn from such classics as Casablanca; 12 O’Clock High; Monsieur Vincent; High Noon; 12 Angry Men; A Man for All Seasons; Bridge Over the River Kwai; Master and Commander; and Entertaining Angels.

Formal Meals & Evening Discussions

Each week will include several formal dinners, at which an invited guest will speak. These guests will include combat veterans, clergy, as well as leaders in politics, law, and the pro-life movement. After dinner, the guests will deliver a lecture on some aspect of their own leadership experience and then spend the evening discussing the topics with the participants. Special attention will be given to the place of the Catholic Faith as crucial to the speaker’s leadership experience.

Excursions

The ideas that you read about in seminar will become more concrete as you visit sites associated with the decisive moments in our country’s history. Several trips to local battlefields and museums are planned. Similarly, your mind will be fortified as your body is pushed in several outdoor expeditions canoeing along the Nashua River or hiking up the slopes of Mount Monadnock.

Service—Works of Mercy
“To serve, rather than be served” has long encapsulated the essence of Christian leadership. As a participant, you will be introduced to several service opportunities with organizations like St. Joseph’s Hospital, the Corpus Christi Food Pantry, New Hampshire Right to Life, and several Massachusetts-based foundations. Activities center on enacting the traditional corporal works of mercy and encouraging you to consider these acts as an essential part of Catholic living. The service activities will afford you a chance to consider your social obligations to the weakest in our society. Catholic leadership is always a matter of service.

The Catholic Leadership Institute at Thomas More College is made possible by a generous grant from the Our Sunday Visitor Institute.