Catholic Leadership Institute
| Dates: | Students arrive between 3:00pm and 5:00pm on Monday, July 9 and depart after 9:00am on Saturday, July 21 |
| Program Cost: | $895 for room, tuition, books and meals |
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 two weeks to the challenges of the classroom and the opportunities for real leadership and service in southern New Hampshire and Northeast Massachusetts.
By studying the Catechism of the Catholic Church and other writings, you will understand what it means to be a Catholic leader. By listening to Christians working in the areas of business, politics, the Church, and other professions, you will better understand the practical skills necessary to be a Christian leader. By engaging in a series of outdoor activities, your stamina and perseverance will be tested. And by serving the poor at local soup kitchens and homeless shelters, you will actively apply leaderships skills to real life.
Participants will divide their time between four major activities: leadership study seminars, roundtable discussions with distinguished speakers, small group excursions, and service work.
Seminars
Each day will begin with morning prayer in the chapel, followed by a reflection on one of the great leaders in Catholic history.
In the classroom, you will explore the Church’s teaching on politics, the family and human life, through selections from The Compendium of the Catholic Church’s Social Teaching. In conjunction with this text, selections from the writings of Blessed John Paul II, Benedict XVI, Malcolm Muggeridge, and Dorothy Day will present concrete ways in which men and women have displayed courageous leadership in the modern world.
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. 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.
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 life.
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 historical sites in Boston, including major parts of the famous Freedom Trail, are planned. Similarly, your mind will be fortified as your body is pushed in several outdoor expeditions along the coast of Maine and other areas.
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, such as homeless shelters, hospitals, pro-life groups, and food pantries. 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.
Book List and Schedule
Texts (included in tuition price):
- Compendium of the Catholic Church’s Social Teaching
- Caritas in Veritatem
- Malcolm Muggeridge’s Something Beautiful for God
- Twelve Angry Men
- On the Waterfront
- Selections from Dorothy Day’s writings.
The all-day trips to Boston and Maine fall on the weekend.
The weekday schedule is as follows:
7:45 AM Rise
8:30 AM Breakfast
9:00 AM Reflection in the chapel, time for prayer and reading
10:00 AM Catholic Social Teaching (lecture)
11:00 AM Catholic Social Teaching in action—great 20th century figures: seminar on Mother Teresa using Malcolm Muggeridge’s Something Beautiful for God; also selections from the writings of Dorothy Day and Cardinal Van Thuan.
Noon Holy Mass
1:00 PM Lunch and break
2-3:30 PM Activities, swimming, etc.
3:30 PM Mission work with the poor at Cor Unum Meal Center, Nashua Soup Kitchen, and Friends of the Unborn and / or presentation by local leaders on their work in politics, business, in prisons, with the sick, etc.
8:00 PM Dinner European-style and recreation
9:00 PM Study Hall
10:00 PM Curfew
11:00 PM Quiet Hours