The Masters in Church Administration (M.C.A.) degree is a one-year residential program providing graduate education for curial and parochial officials engaged in a wide variety of ministries in the diocese other than Canonical Affairs or the Diocesan Tribunal. The M.C.A. offers a foundation in Church law combined with a second focus of study from other Schools at the Catholic University of America and which would reflect the individual’s present or future diocesan service – for example, business administration, theology (spirituality, ecumenism, systematic theology, liturgy, etc.), sociology.
Course Work
- Four canon law courses will be taken in the fall semester:
- CL 711—General Norms I
- CL 721—Structures of the Particular Church
- CL 744—Temporal Goods
- TRS 665A: Basic Principles of Latin Canon Law
- Four additional courses in canon law or in another discipline (theology, business, etc.) will be taken in the spring semester.
- Students must maintain an average of 3.0.
Major Paper of Practicum
- The student is expected to write a major paper of 25 to 30 pages synthesizing the courses taken through the course of the year. The student will undergo an oral examination on the content of the paper after it has been accepted by the director. The paper and oral examination must be completed at the conclusion of the spring semester.
- In place of the major paper, the student could choose to develop and propose to the Director of the MCA Program a practicum dimension to the M.C.A. The practicum – practical experience in the student’s specific field of interest – requires prior presentation of a proposal detailing the expected hours of the practicum; location; on-going supervision; and expectations of the student and supervisor. Upon conclusion, the student will submit a maximum 10-page paper, relating the practicum to the course work and including an evaluation by the student’s practicum supervisor.
- The major paper and the practicum are each worth six credits.