Bring Catechetical Workshops to Your Diocese
Our day-long catechetical Workshops are designed to inspire, equip, and prepare teachers and volunteer catechists to engage students and families with the Gospel and teach with confidence.
Catechetical Formation
Engaging sessions by a catechetical scholar provide background knowledge.
Practical Application
Learn practical, concrete ways to apply this knowledge in the classroom.
Spiritual Formation
You’ll explore your vocation as a teacher, and your calling as a witness to Christ.
Ready-to-Use Materials
Receive a free guide featuring 10-12 lessons on the Workshop theme with activities and sacred art.
Our experience with Sophia Institue for Teachers has been excellent. They offer authentically Catholic PD that provides teachers with a day full dynamic presentations, engaging content, and practical tools for their classrooms.
Pam Lyons
Superintendent of Schools, Archdiocese of San Francisco
Our Results
Since 2014, Sophia Institute for Teachers has hosted more than 300 catechetical Workshops in more than 60 (arch)dioceses throughout the country. Here are just some of the results that demonstrate how much catechists love our programs and grow in their faith because of them.
Contact us to help bring a catechetical Workshop to your diocese!
Program Topics
New for 2023-2024
Christian Anthropology: Responding to Modern Challenges
Explore the truth of the human person, the truth about sex, and the magnitude of the cultural influences of gender ideology from a societal level to your local community. Understand Church teaching on the dignity of the human person, medical ethics of “gender-affirming care,” and the meaning of true accompaniment for vulnerable persons.
The Catholic Response to Challenges of the Modern World
In partnership with Fr. Robert Spitzer and the Magis Center, this Workshop takes a deep dive into the Ten Commandments and why we should obey them even, and especially, when it comes to tough issues like transgender identification, homosexuality, abortion, and others.
THE FIRST PILLAR
THE PROFESSION OF FAITH
Explore the limitless of God’s mercy throughout Salvation History and how you can help your students integrate the corporal and spiritual works of mercy into their lives. You’ll learn how God’s mercy is revealed in His covenants and how they are ultimately fulfilled and through Jesus Christ.
Explore what the Gospels and Divine Revelation teach us about who Jesus is and how to help your students understand why God became man. You’ll also learn how to lead your students to a deeper encounter with Jesus through art, as well as how you can imitate Christ’s pedagogy in your classroom.
Explore the 12 articles of the Creed and how you can help your students come to understand the most fundamental convictions we have about God, the world, and humanity. You’ll also spend time reflecting on key Catholic doctrines such as the Trinity, the Incarnation, the Paschal Mystery, the Church, the four last things, and more.
Explore the core Catholic teachings about Our Lady and how you can help your students see how a devotion to Mary can help them grow in holiness. You’ll also examine images and titles of Mary, explore the four Marian dogmas, and spend time reflecting on Our Lady’s role in Salvation History.
Explore the essential teachings of Jesus and how you can lead your students to live as disciples of Christ. You will learn how to make the basic proclamation of the Gospel, known as the Kerygma, active in your own life, and how it can form the basis of your vocation as a catechist.
THE SECOND PILLAR
THE CELEBRATION OF THE CHRISTIAN MYSTERY
Explore what a Sacrament is as well as the foundation of each of the Seven Sacraments. You’ll learn the Old Testament roots of the Eucharist, as well as how to engage students using sacred art.
Explore how the Eucharist is truly a sacrament of love and how you can lead your students to receive greater spiritual fruit from Communion. You’ll learn the Old Testament roots of the Eucharist, as well as their fulfillment in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
Explore the effects and fruits of the Sacrament of Confirmation how you can lead your students to proclaim the Gospel like the Apostles. You’ll also learn how to help your students see the true meaning of this Sacrament, and why it is so much more than a Catholic graduation or a public acceptance of the Catholic Faith.
Explore the roots of the Church’s liturgical year and how you can lead your students to appreciate and live it throughout the year. You’ll explore activities you can use during the seasons of Advent, Lent, as well as several Holy Days.
THE THIRD PILLAR
LIFE IN CHRIST
Explore the Beatitudes and how Jesus revealed through them the deepest meaning of God’s law. You’ll learn how to help your students see why Catholicism isn’t simply compliance with arbitrary rules, and how to connect the truths of our Faith with living a virtuous life. This Workshop will provide you with ideas to make morality relevant to your students. Spend time reflecting on the themes of freedom, virtue, sin, conscience, and the Beatitudes.
Explore St. John Paul II’s teachings on the Theology of the Body and how you can lead your students to understand what it means to be made in the image and likeness of God, male and female. You’ll also explore ways to appropriately teach about purity as well as other sensitive topics related to the human body.
Explore in-depth the Church’s social teachings and ways you can help your students learn how they are called to serve God and neighbor. You’ll explore topics such as human dignity, the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, just war theory, the proper role of government, the different types of justice, and our call to care for the poor and vulnerable.
Explore ways you can help your students understand how sin is at the root of racism and how Christ helps us overcome sin and work for holiness, peace, and justice. Themes include the dignity of the human person, the virtue of justice, and how the Church’s teachings on solidarity, subsidiarity, and forgiveness can help us effectively address racism.
THE FOURTH PILLAR
CHRISTIAN PRAYER
Explore the various forms of prayer and how you can lead your students to enter into a more intimate relationship with Our Lord. You’ll also learn the examination of conscience, the importance of silence, and the different ways to pray, including Lectio Divina.
Our experience with Sophia Institue for Teachers has been excellent. They offer authentically Catholic PD that provides teachers with a day full dynamic presentations, engaging content, and practical tools for their classrooms.
Pam Lyons
Superintendent of Schools, Archdiocese of San Francisco
