The Center for Catholic Studies hosts four six-week courses a year led by local experts. This year, the Center will explore topics in Bioethics, Liturgy, G.K. Chesterton, and Theological Aesthetics.

The first course, “Catholic Bioethics: Why Human Life is So Good,” taught by Sister Mary Benedicta Maier, RSM, will be 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, September 14, 21, 28, October 5, 12, and 19. Tuition for the six-week course is $50.00 and will be held at the Catholic Deaf Center, 416 Iris St., Lake Charles.

Bioethics is the science which determines whether health care practices and treatment of life are morally good or evil. Bioethical concerns affect each and every person at some point in their lives whether it is making their own health care decisions or that of their children or relatives or engaging in debates around the dinner table, at the workplace, or in society. This six-week course will equip participants of varying levels of adult education to understand the multifaceted dimensions of contemporary bioethical issues which continue to unfold more complexly in the public sphere, including in-vitro fertilization, transgender sex-reassignment surgeries, and euthanasia among many other topics.

The course will begin with an introduction to the philosophy of the human person, understanding how the human person is a body-soul unity. Then participants will learn about basic bioethical principles so that they will know how to judge human acts as good or evil. Students will have the chance to apply these principles to case studies on contemporary bioethical issues.

The Center for Catholic Studies is a part of the Religious Education program for adults in the Diocese of Lake Charles. The goal of the Center is to provide adults of the diocese with opportunities for high-quality instruction in the Catholic faith by looking more deeply at a variety of theological areas.

To register for the course on Catholic Bioethics, click here. For more information, contact the Office of Religious Education at 337-439-7400, ext. 305. Next up in November, The Center presents "The Liturgy" with Father Sam Bond.