Florida Catholic | Theologian Offers Free Classes

Theologian offers free classes

Social justice is the topic of current course

MARGUERITE INSOLIA | FLORIDA CATHOLIC CORRESPONDENT

Published: 03.21.08

LAKE WORTH | Sacred Heart Parish here hosts a free series of graduate-level courses taught by a theologian from St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary.

Dr. Antonio Lopez has taught Catholic adult formation classes for a little more than 10 years, with topics such as systematic theology, social and ecclesiastical theology, sacred Scripture and neo-scholastic theology. The courses generally are six weeks long and highly recommended by students who have taken them.

“He is incredible,” said Janet Walloupe of Lake Worth, who has been attending Lopez’s class regularly for about three years with her husband, David. “He knows so much about everything.”

Classes are taught at Sacred Heart School most Tuesday nights from 7 to 9 p.m. and are open to the public.

“If someone wants to sit in and see if they like them and the professor, they are welcome,” said Josie Almazan of the diocesan cultural offices, which schedule the classes.

Lopez was born in Cuba, lived in Spain for some time, and has been living in the United States since 1962. He received a doctorate from Fordham University in New York, where he taught and also worked as the head of youth ministry. His friend, now known as Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, would often visit and speak to the young adults there, Lopez said.

For the past 15 years, Lopez has been a professor of philosophy and theology at the Boynton Beach seminary. His current free course at Sacred Heart, running through April, is on social justice.

“We believe social justice is the very beginning of the church,” said Dr. Lopez.

The course explore issues such as solidarity, social doctrine, natural law, divine law, Christian virtue, human nature and truth, all in relation to the Gospel and ministry of Jesus Christ. These matters will be discussed and studied in order to understand what is “absolutely true and good,” Lopez said.

“All human beings are of God. It was Jesus Christ, with his two dimensions of grace and humanity, who revealed to us what it means to be authentically human.”

Papal encyclicals, the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas and Vatican II documents are being studied in the social justice course. Among the documents is one written by Pope Paul VI, who stated “to the bishops, priests, religious, the faithful and to all men of good will” on March 26, 1967, in his encyclical letter titled “Popularum Progressio” (On the Development of Peoples), that social justice is important and vital to understand and employ not just in our own immediate society but on an international scale.

As humans, “we have the obligation to promote peace, human rights and justice,” said Lopez. “We must also be “morally concerned with the global interconnectedness of man.”

To learn more about the adult formation classes or to sit in on Lopez’s next session, call 561-775-9544.

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