The purpose of each paper will be to explain a specific point of Catholic doctrine, particularly answering the questions: What specifically does the Church teach on this topic? and Why does the Church hold this teaching? Papers should not be written on strictly moral teachings
, that is, the teaching in question should not directly and principally concern what is right or wrong behavior (so euthanasia, abortion, contraception, capital punishment, or environmental ethics are not suitable topics). The paper will make use of at least
one relevant patristic source (i.e., a Christian writing from before 750), at least
one relevant passage of Scripture, and at least
one relevant magisterial document (i.e., an official Church document containing authoritative teaching of the Catholic Church, e.g., a document promulgated by a general council or a document issued by the pope acting as supreme teacher of the Church.
