Principles of Catechesis from Ecclesial Documents. This text was published in 1999 by the Department of Religious Education. A sentence about the purpose and focus of each one. Research them in study groups and present to the class.
Students just love to debate and give their opinions.
In that forum also, they might realize how all this legal, church doctrine boring stuff, might really be interesting and useful. Spend some time in class working, Some time out of class and some time presenting, Final time debating The kicker of that idea means alot of reading and preparation for the instructor to keep the class on track. Unfortunately, I don't have a syllabus to offer for teaching a course on Church document, but I can suggest a resource that make important reading for the course. In it are articles providing guidance on how to read Church documents in general, and how to understand magisterial, social, and liturgical documents. The issue is Volume 37-Number 3.