I wonder how many of us know what our carbon footprint actually is? The average for those of us in the UK is around 6.0 tonnes of greenhouse gases (GHG) each year (Our World in Data) For comparison, it’s 6.76 tonnes globally and 17.7 tonnes in the US and 9.8 in China.
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Despite the strong interest in property rights in Catholic social thought and teaching, their importance is rarely linked to the topic of the preservation of the natural environment. There is a clear prima facie case for doing so. It starts with what is often described as the ‘tragedy of the commons’.
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In the first part I wrote about the situation of families that do have children. However, have you thought recently about how old the population looks when you go out onto the street? This is not just because people are living longer. Where are the prams, pushchairs and babies? Pope Francis has talked about how we are moving towards a “demographic winter”.
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The family is a much-neglected topic in political discourse – even amongst Christian members of parliament. And, even where politicians are supportive of the family, they do not seem to be able to express an over-arching narrative that ensures that the family forms the focus for political decision-making.
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Jenny Sinclair is Founder and Director of Together for the Common Good. This is an edited version of her talk, ‘The Relational Church: Our Calling in Dark Times’ given at Hinsley Hall, Leeds, on 1 December 2023. Jenny was guest speaker for the Northern Diaconate Formation Partnership’s training weekend. This summary was first published on Independent Catholic News.
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According to the Catechism: “Prudence is the virtue that disposes practical reason to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it” (paragraph 1806). Some would argue that it is the pre-eminent virtue necessary in those areas of public policy that pertain to economic issues.
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We are at the end of the Season of Creation, a special period of prayer and reflection which the Catholic Church observes from 1st September to 4th October each year. This year the Holy Father will publish a new letter on care for creation on Wednesday 4th October, following his 2015 encyclical, Laudato Si’.
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There are clear signs e.g. here, here and here that rapid climate change is no longer a possibility that can be dismissed. Indeed, if the analogy of a boiling kettle being a tipping point that is preceded by fizzing as an indicator that the water is about to boil is relevant, current indications might mean that rapid and even runaway climate change is upon us.
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The Radio 4 programme, the Moral Maze, explores various controversial moral and philosophical issues each week with a panel who question a diverse group of “witnesses”. As it was the last show before the summer holidays, the 30th July episode explored idleness – or, strictly speaking, leisure.
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The band “The Strawbs”, perhaps most famous for “Now, I’m a Union Man”, was formed at St. Mary’s before it was a university (they were originally called “The Strawberry Hill Boys”). The lyrics of that song, don’t really accord with Catholic social teaching on unions (“I say what I think, that the company stinks”…”With a hell of a shout, it’s ‘Out brothers, out!’ And the rise of the factory’s fall”…“And I always get my way If I strike for higher pay”…), but it is a good song and forms an interesting preface to an article on Catholic social teaching and trade unions.
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