To work for the proper implementation of canon law is to play an extraordinarily

constructive role in continuing the redemptive mission of Christ. Pope St. John Paul II

SHMS

Students

Blog

Updated for

Fall 2024

Master Page for Dr. Peters' Sacred Heart Major Seminary Students

Notices ►

Links

Courses

• Introduction to Canon Law AT 780

• Sacramental Law AT 881

• Marriage Theology & Law AT 746

• Canon Law for Pastoral Ministry AT 550

• Latin for Graduate Students LA 500

Activities

• Sign Language Tutoring (see below)

• Language Tables (see below)

• Scholia for Canon Law Students, coming.

• Directory of my writings by canons and topic

General

policies

Besides requirements set out in SHMS Academic Catalogues, the following points apply to all of my courses:

• A syllabus is a guide, not a contract.

• No electronic recordings of any kind may be made in any of my classes; course materials are for use by currently enrolled students only, all other rights reserved.

• My classes are conducted in English. Students may submit written course work to me in English, Latin, Spanish, or French.

• I do not take attendance in graduate level courses and seating is open; undergraduate attendance is expected according the SHMS Bulletins and seating is assigned. Desk drinks are fine but must be in covered containers. No eating in class, of course.

• Materials designated "Required Readings" are not necessarily lectured upon but, besides helping to illuminate the materials under discussion, they contribute to the corpus of materials from which exams will draw. Citations to materials designated as "See also" should be treated as Required Readings. Materials designated as "Background Readings" are optional.

• Questions that pertain to course topics are welcome but those oriented toward personal or professional issues tend to engage my practice of canon law and are not appropriate during a teacher-student relationship. No comments I make in class should be taken as canonical or civil legal advice.

• A partial indulgence is available to those who, in the performance of their daily duties (e.g., students tending to their studies), strive to unite themselves more closely with God (Enchiridion 1999, gen. conc. 1) and, more specifically, to those who engage in the study of 'Christian doctrine' (Enchiridion 1999, al. conc. 6) such as are most of the matters addressed in most of my courses.

Office

hours

Best contact for me is always by SHMS email which I check several times per day. I am, in addition, on campus at SHMS often and I am happy see students any time on a drop-in basis or at pre-arranged times. I try to be available in my office especially:

• Tuesdays, 11:30 to 12 noon; 12:30 to 2:00 PM.

• Wednesdays, some 10:00 to 11:30 AM slots are available by appointment.

• Thursdays, 11:30 to 12 noon.

Basic

resources

Students engaged in college and/or graduate level, Roman Catholic, philosophical and/or theological studies should, I suggest, have easy access to the following works:

• The Holy Bible containing the Old and New Testaments, Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, prep. by Catholic Biblical Association of Great Britain [1966], (Ignatius, 1994) xvi + 1005 + 250 pp.

• Catechism of the Catholic Church [1992], (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2° ed., 1997) 904 pp., available here.

• Henrich Denzinger (German priest, 1819-1883), Enchiridion or Compendium of Creeds, Definitions, and Declarations on Matters of Faith and Morals [1854], (Ignatius, 43° ed., 2012) 1399 pp., Latin-English edition supervised by R. Fastiggi & A. Nash.

• Henry Schroeder (American Dominican, 1875-1942), Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent: Original Text with English Translation, (Herder, 1941) 608 pp.

• St. Thomas Aquinas (Dominican priest, 1225-1274), Summa Theologica [c. 1265-1273], (Benziger, 1947-1948), in 3 vols., Eng. trans. English Dominican Province, available in PDF, here.

• Ludwig Ott (German priest, 1906-1985), Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma [1955], (rev. ed., Baronius, 2018), 542 pp., P. Lynch trans. of Ott’s Grundriss der Katholischen Dogmatik (1952), rev. R. Fastiggi.

Notes on COVID measures

Covid itself, civil regulations, and seminary policies evolve in ways not always unpredictable. We will respect these measures and work within them as best we can.

Fundamentally, however, I am much more interested in whether graduate students learn the materials assigned to them than I am about whether they learn them the way I learned them or the way some classmates might learn them. In other words, mastery of the material itself is much more important than are the methods used to approach it. Legal courses in particular demand close and careful examination of materials consigned to the written word.

For the present students should recall that attendance at my graduate level classes has always been optional (however useful most students find my lectures toward illuminating the matters to be learned) and should know that I am very flexible about accommodating students' learning needs as they approach their work.

We will stay in especially active contact throughout the term and make adjustments as might be needed.

Professors of Canon Law (e.g., Novella d'Andrea)

lecturing from behind a screen is

not entirely without precedent.

Language Tables and Practice

I have organized and/or participate in lunch time "Language Tables" for ASL, Latin, Hebrew, and French. Offerings vary by semester. All skill levels are welcome! No reservations needed. Tables are marked with flags or signage. (Note: I am not organizing language tables at present.)

I am available to assist students who are studying ASL. Practice times are flexible. And check out Fr. MD's "Kitchen Table", weekly homilies in ASL.

FIGS

Materials on this website represent the opinions of Dr. Edward Peters and are offered in accord with Canon 212 § 3.

This website undergoes continual refinement and development. No warranty of completeness or correctness is made.

Dr. Peters' views are not necessarily shared by others in the field nor are they intended as canonical or civil advice.