In this final part of the encyclical, the treatment and protection of the working class is dealt with directly and at length.
Read more >>A Guide to Rerum Novarum Part Three – The protection of workers, unions and the duties of employers
Category: Poverty
A Guide to Rerum Novarum Part Two: The Church, the family, the state and the use of riches
We ended Part One of this guide to Rerum novarum with the encyclical’s reminder to the rich that they would have to answer to God if they were not generous with their riches. The focus of that first part was the staunch defence of the right to property. This part will look at the relationship between the state, the family and the Church and the responsibilities we have to the poor.
Read more >>A guide to Rerum Novarum part one: the political context and the right to property
Historical context
Upon his election, Pope Leo XIV said that he was inspired to take the name “Leo” by Pope Leo XIII’s work on Catholic social teaching. The newly-elected pope especially mentioned Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical, Rerum novarum. Pope Leo XIV related this to the current need to think about things afresh given the development of artificial intelligence (AI). This series of three blogs explores Rerum novarum. It is a radical and holistic call to orientate our whole lives towards God – including in the political, economic and social sectors. To try to distil it for its proposals, as many do, in the political, economic and social domains alone and to take it outside its religious context leaves it stripped of its essence.
Read more >>Trumps tariffs are no solution to a non-existent problem
I have been giving talks about globalisation to Christian groups for some years. Over those years, it seemed to be a less and less interesting subject. It is disappointing that it has become topical again.
Read more >>Together for the Common Good talks now available as podcasts
In the run up to the election, our friends at Together for the Common Good have launched a new podcast series exploring the common good as a catalyst to spiritual and civic renewal.
Read more >>The Relational Church: Our Calling in Dark Times
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.
Read more >>Property, prudence and rent controls
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.
Read more >>Organ harvesting and trading
In his encyclical, Fratelli tutti, Pope Francis highlights the related practices of slavery, trafficking in person, women subjugated and forced to abort and kidnapping for organ harvesting or organ trafficking. He notes that, whether by coercion, deception, or by physical or psychological duress, human persons, created in the image and likeness of God, are deprived of their freedom, sold, and reduced to being another person’s property.
Read more >>No-one is born a slave
What is modern slavery? The UK introduced the Modern Slavery Act into legislation in England and Wales in 2015, partly in response to the growing referrals of suspected cases into the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). The Act defines slavery as servitude and forced or compulsory labour. This incorporates a broad range of situations, including forced criminality; sexual exploitation; removal of organs; and securing services by force, threat or abuse, including from children and vulnerable people.
Read more >>World Day of the Poor
This week’s blog post is an extract from Pope Francis’s message for the World Day of the Poor on 4th November 2022. The full message can be found at: https://www.cbcew.org.uk/papal-message-world-day-of-the-poor-2022/
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