Category: Social Action

Catholic social teaching for everyone – fed by our relationship with God

The topic of fraternity was covered in a post shortly after the death of Pope Francis. It is worth revisiting, especially following Pope Leo’s apostolic exhortation Dilexi te, though this was drafted before that document was issued. The starting point for this post is the question “how might Catholic social teaching affect our everyday lives?”. In particular, I want to consider how it might affect all our everyday lives, not just those involved, for example, in political lobbying.

Is compassion under threat?

To know whether compassion is under threat, we need, firstly, to define it. In the Christian tradition, compassion means to “suffer together with”. It involves entering into the suffering of another. There are classic Christian examples of compassion. Mary shared her son’s agony at the foot of the cross. The Good Samaritan provided the financial means and put himself at considerable physical risk to help the person who had been robbed. St Maximillian Kolbe substituted himself for a condemned father in Auschwitz and, as a result, was condemned to starvation himself, though he actually suffered death from the injection of carbolic acid into his veins.

Ecology, Energy, Education: The Journey of the Guardians of Creation Project

Launched in December 2020, the Guardians of Creation Project aims to help the Catholic community in England and Wales work towards a carbon-neutral and more sustainable future, inspired by the teachings of Laudato Si’.

Posted in Education, Environment, Politics, Social ActionTagged featured

Assisted suicide – when one person’s right becomes another person’s duty

Catholic social teaching has always valued independent institutions for the provision of care, education, and welfare for workers. Culturally, such institutions provide a protection against a form of radical individualism which can elevate certain individual rights that are created by legislators above the common good of the community. They also protect against an over-bearing state. Far from undermining individual rights, civil society institutions provide the opportunity for people to work collaboratively for the common good: people choose to work for such institutions and they choose to be involved with them in other ways. The state, in turn, is there to protect the rights of civil society institutions and nurture their foundation.

Pope Francis and fraternity

In the coverage of the passing of Pope Francis to eternal life, surprisingly little has been said about an important aspect of Pope Francis’s social teaching – fraternity. This was the theme of his second social encyclical, Fratelli tutti. It is an important theme because it links the pastoral, spiritual, theological and social teaching of the late pope. The title of Fratelli tutti in English is “Brothers All”, and it is subtitled “On Fraternity and Social Friendship”.

St Mary’s academics present at key international conference focused on “Catholic universities: in solidarity with their partners and colleagues in conflict zones”

Professor Carole Murphy, Dr Ashley Beck and Ms Maggie Doherty recently presented at an important international conference exploring how to build resilience in solidarity with partners and colleagues in conflict zones. The conference was led and organised by the University of Notre Dame, alongside a Consortium of ten Catholic Universities. It took place at the Notre Dame Rome campus from 31 July to 2 July.

The Crisis of Honesty in Hong Kong’s Governance – and why we must value our democracy

The reality is that the second national security law has severed connections between people in Hong Kong and the outside world.

Posted in Ethics, Human Dignity, Politics, Social ActionTagged featured

Dignitas Infinita – a summary

“Every human person possesses an infinite dignity, inalienably grounded in his or her very being, which prevails in and beyond every circumstance, state, or situation the person may ever encounter”

On 8^th of April, the Solemnity of the Annunciation, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith published a declaration on human dignity, Dignitas Infinita (Infinite Dignity). This is a summary of that document.

Posted in Events, Human Dignity, Social Action, TheologyTagged featured

The people of Hong Kong need prayer and solidarity

As the world’s attention is on the many other crises and conflicts, we must not forget the need to stand in solidarity with and pray for the people of Hong Kong.

Posted in Human Dignity, Politics, Social Action, SolidarityTagged featured

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.

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