DTH 642

JOHN PAUL II: LIFE, SPIRITUALITY, AND PHILOSOPHY

Joan Morris Gilbert, S.T.D.
jgilbert@holyapostles,edu
203-266-7709 (home); 203-217-3343 (cellphone)

1. COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course will sketch the life, spirituality, and philosophy of Saint John Paul II, as foundational to his teaching
and mission as Pope. The course will survey Saint John Paul II’s own poetry, plays, and philosophical works, as
well as biographical and autobiographical writings.

2. ENVISIONED LEARNING OUTCOMES

Students will demonstrate:
 A familiarity with the biographical key points of the life of Saint John Paul II.
 A familiarity with the poetry and dramatic works of Karol Wojtyła (John Paul II)
 An understanding of the elements of the philosophy of Karol Wojtyła (John Paul II), in its own right, and as
foundational to his papal teachings.
 An understanding of the key aspects of the “spirituality” of Saint John Paul II.
 Development in theological written expression.

3. COURSE SCHEDULE
Week 1 Jan 17 Introduction and Syllabus

Jan 19 Spirituality of John Paul II: Be Not Afraid!

Weigel, City of Saints, 1-23.
Handout: John Paul II, “A Meditation on Giveness”

Week 2 Jan 24 John Paul II, Son of Poland, “Church of special Witness”
Weigel, City of Saints, 27-44.
Handout on Polish History.

Jan 26 Spirituality of John Paul II: Marian

Weigel, City of Saints, 224-46.

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Week 3 Jan 31 Spirituality of John Paul II: Carmelite
Weigel, City of Saints, 45-64.
John Paul II, Apostolic Letter on 4th Centenary of John of the Cross (14 Dec 90)
Feb 2 Karol Wojtyła: Dramatist
Weigel, City of Saints, 65-112.
Handout: Karol Wojtyła, “Drama of Word and Gesture.”

Week 4 Feb 7 Schmitz, At the Center of the Human Drama, 1-29.

Handout: Excerpts from Plays of Karol Wojtyła.

Feb 9 Karol Wojtyła: Seminarian and Priest

Weigel, City of Saints, 115-170.

Week 5 Feb 14 Fr. Karol Wojtyła: Poet

Reflection due on Gift and Mystery, 1-70.
John Paul II, The Place Within (One poem selected.)
Poetry presentations begin.

Feb 16 Fr. Wojtyła: Philosopher

Schmitz, At the Center of the Human Drama, 30-57.
Wojtyła, Person and Community, 23-44.

Week 6 Feb 21-23 Schmitz, At the Center of the Human Drama, 58-89.
Wojtyła, Person and Community, 45-56.

Week 7 Feb 28 Bishop Wojtyła: Philosopher

Wojtyła, Person and Community, 165-75.

Mar 2 Bishop Wojtyła: Pastor and Ethicist

Handout: Excerpts from Wojtyła, Love and Responsibility.

Week 8 Mar 7 Archbishop Wojtyła: Father of Vatican II

Weigel, City of Saints, 171-223.
Wojtyła, Person and Community, 177-80.
Handout: Excerpts from Wojtyła, Sources of Renewal.

Mar 9 Cardinal Wojtyła

Handout: Excerpts from Sign of Contradition, retreat given by Cardinal Wojtyła
to Pope Paul VI and Roman Curia.

Mar 14-16 Spring Break: NO CLASS

Week 9 Mar 21 Cardinal Wojtyła

Wojtyła, Person and Community, 181-85.

Mar 23 Wojtyła, Person and Community, 187-95.

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Week 10 Mar 28 Wojtyła, Person and Community, 209-17.

Mar 30 Wojtyła, Person and Community, 219-46.

Week 11 Apr 4-6 Wojtyła, Person and Community, 246-61.

Week 12 Apr 11 Schmitz, At the Center of the Human Drama, 121-46.

Apr 13 Holy Thursday: NO CLASS

Week 13 Apr 18 Habemus Papam! Be not afraid!

Apr 20 Pope John Paul II: Totus tuus

Week 14 Apr 25 Pope John Paul II: Mystery of Human Suffering

Research Paper Due

Apr 27 Pope John Paul II: On the World Stage: Evangelization

Week 15 May 2 Pope John Paul II: Pilgrim to Poland

Weigel, 249-96

May 4 Saint John Paul the Great

4. COURSE REQUIREMENTS
 Attendance and active participation in class (see attendance policy below).
 Weekly assigned readings (to be read before the class for which they are assigned).
 Completion of eight (out of ten) sets of study questions related to the readings.
(One page of answers per assigned set.)
 Prepared presentation of one poem of John Paul II.
 Reflection paper (1-2 pages in length) on John Paul II’s Gift and Mystery, pages 1-70.
 Research paper, 5-6 pages in length, on a topic related to course material, approved by instructor.

5. REQUIRED READINGS and RESOURCES:

 Kenneth L. Schmitz. At the Center of the Human Drama: The Philosophical Anthropology of Karol
Wojtyła / Pope John Paul II. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 1994.

 George Weigel. City of Saints: A Pilgrimage to John Paul II’s Kraków. New York: Image, 2015.

 Karol Wojtyla. Person and Community: Selected Essays. Translated by Theresa Sandok, OSM. New
York: Peter Lang, 1993.

 Pope John Paul II, Gift and Mystery: On the Fiftieth Anniversary of My Priestly Ordination. New York:
Doubleday, 1996. Pages 1-70.
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6. SUGGESTED READINGS and RESOURCES:
A Bibliography will be given out in class. Many works will be held on the reserves shelf as well.
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7. EVALUATION
Class attendance and participation: 10%
Written study questions: 40%
Presentation of poem: 10%
Reflection paper: 10%
Research paper: 30%

GRADING SCALE:
A 94-100; A- 90-93; B+ 87-89; B 84-86; B- 80-83; C+ 77-79; C 74-76; C- 70-73 D 60-69; F 59 and below

8. DISABILITIES ACCOMMODATIONS POLICY

Holy Apostles College & Seminary is committed to the goal of achieving equal educational
opportunities and full participation in higher education for persons with disabilities who qualify for
admission to the College. Students enrolled in oncampus courses who have documented disabilities
requiring special accommodations should contact Bob Mish, the Disability Resource Center ADA
Coordinator, at rmish@holyapostles.edu or 860-632-3015. In all cases, reasonable accommodations
will be made to ensure that all students with disabilities have access to course materials in a mode in
which they can receive them.
9. ACADEMIC HONESTY POLICY
Students at Holy Apostles College & Seminary are expected to practice academic honesty.
Avoiding Plagiarism
In its broadest sense, plagiarism is using someone else's work or ideas, presented or claimed as
your own. At this stage in your academic career, you should be fully conscious of what it means
to plagiarize. This is an inherently unethical activity because it entails the uncredited use of
someone else's expression of ideas for another's personal advancement; that is, it entails the use
of a person merely as a means to another person’s ends.
Students, where applicable:
 Should identify the title, author, page number/webpage address, and publication date of
works when directly quoting small portions of texts, articles, interviews, or websites.
 Students should not copy more than two paragraphs from any source as a major
component of papers or projects.
 Should appropriately identify the source of information when paraphrasing (restating) ideas
from texts, interviews, articles, or websites.
 Should follow the Holy Apostles College & Seminary Stylesheet (available on the Online
Writing Lab’s website at http://www.holyapostles.edu/owl/resources).

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 Consequences of Academic Dishonesty:
Because of the nature of this class, academic dishonesty is taken very seriously. Students
participating in academic dishonesty may be removed from the course and from the program.

10. ATTENDANCE POLICY

Students are expected to attend all classes. In the case of sickness or other excusable absences, please notify the
instructor beforehand by text or email. Please arrange for a fellow student to bring notes and handouts to you
from class. Upon your return to class, please see the instructor for any make-up work necessary.

11. INCOMPLETE POLICY

An Incomplete is a temporary grade assigned at the discretion of the faculty member. It is typically
allowed in situations in which the student has satisfactorily completed major components of the
course and has the ability to finish the remaining work without re-enrolling, but has encountered
extenuating circumstances, such as illness, that prevent his or her doing so prior to the last day of
class.
To request an incomplete, students must first download a copy of the Incomplete Request Form. This
document is located within the Shared folder of the Files tab in Populi. Secondly, students must fill in
any necessary information directly within the PDF document. Lastly, students must send their form to
their professor via email for approval. “Approval” should be understood as the professor responding
to the student’s email in favor of granting the “Incomplete” status of the student.
Students receiving an Incomplete must submit the missing course work by the end of the sixth week
following the semester in which they were enrolled. An incomplete grade (I) automatically turns into
the grade of “F” if the course work is not completed.
Students who have completed little or no work are ineligible for an incomplete. Students who feel they
are in danger of failing the course due to an inability to complete course assignments should withdraw
from the course.
A “W” (Withdrawal) will appear on the student’s permanent record for any course dropped after the
end of the first week of a semester to the end of the third week. A “WF” (Withdrawal/Fail) will appear
on the student’s permanent record for any course dropped after the end of the third week of a
semester and on or before the Friday before the last week of the semester.

12. ABOUT YOUR PROFESSOR

Joan Morris Gilbert received the Doctorate in Sacred Theology, as well as the Licentiate in Sacred Theology,
from the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, through the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on
Marriage and Family, Washington, D.C. Session. She received the M.A. in Theology and the B.A. in
Humanities from Holy Apostles College and Seminary. She is sacramentally married, has seven children and
seven grandchildren, and is a life-committed Benedictine Oblate.