“Either we are brothers and sisters or we will destroy each other” said Pope Francis just a year ago. Next week the Pope will visit Iraq where the stark logic of his warning is tragically visible.
Read more >>Iraq: Pope Francis’ Perilous Journey
Category: Social Action
Prisons and Punishment in 21st Century Britain
On 10th February, the Benedict XVI Centre held a webinar on Prisons and Punishment in the 21st Century. We were joined by Caritas Social Action Network and the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales in organising the event.
Read more >>The Real ‘Patria Grande’: Africa’s 55
As 2020 ended Pope Francis’s Fratelli tutti called with passion for the world to discover the energy to rediscover ‘lost dreams’. Building on his experience in Buenos Aires and his creation of a Pontifical Commission for Latin America to bring that region into the heart of the Roman Curia, he specifically suggested that a symbol of such a dream was a ‘patria grande’. The idea of ‘patria grande’, of course, has a long history in the Americas: part rallying cry of Simon Bolivar, part lament at the division of what had been ‘Spanish America’ and part radical social and economic project. Like many visions at scale it is fed by multiple sources.
Read more >>Fratelli tutti – the rights and wrongs of private property
The top: Singapore, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Finland, UK, Holland, Sweden, Canada.
The bottom: Venezuela, Haiti, Turkmenistan, Somalia, North Korea, Cuba, Bolivia, Yemen.
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Mental health, spiritual wellbeing and COVID-19
In the interest of the common good, every citizen has a responsibility to promote the mental health of all the members of our society, including ourselves, and of our local communities. The Church believes that life is worth living. Life matters. It is a precious gift to be cherished. Our fulfilment and destiny come from a living relationship with Jesus Christ through faith, nourished by the sacraments and the support of the Church community. Prayerful support of those who care about the mental health of every member of the community also assists in this great work of Christian concern.
Statement from Bishop Richard Moth on the World Mental Health Day 2019
Catholic Social Teaching in Context – The Conflict in Northern Ireland
In this post, Maria Power of the Las Casas Institute for Social Justice, University of Oxford, looks at the conflict in Northern Ireland through the lens of Catholic social teaching, drawing on the important research in her new book Catholic Social Teaching and Theologies of Peace: Cardinal Cahal Daly and the Pursuit of the Peaceable Kingdom, available from Routledge.
Read more >>John Paul II: Witness of Hope
Earlier this year, we commemorated the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Karol Wojtyla, Pope John Paul II. A multitude of articles, conferences and events has marked the date but perhaps the best way to recall John Paul II is through the authorised biography produced by George Weigel titled “Witness to Hope” and first published in 1999.
Read more >>‘Dying well’ in the time of coronavirus
This article follows the same theme as last week’s article in a rather different context. The virtues of social justice and solidarity demand that we all play our part in ensuring that those who die experience a good death and have the support they need. Catholic organisations are working to ensure this in these difficult times, as are a range of other organisations. However, ultimately, when things return to normal, we know that, though we will learn from the use of technology during this difficult period, we still need human contact.
Read more >>The environment – a call to conversion
I welcome the development of this new blog on Catholic social thought at St. Mary’s University. It gives us the space to explore and discuss current issues related to Catholic social thought and also promote the research taking place at St. Mary’s to a wider audience.
Read more >>Solidarity in an ageing world
The world is ageing. By 2050 globally there will be more over 60’s than there under 14’s. With that shift come real changes for the Churches that they are only just beginning to consider. No wonder then a week ago the Christian relief and development agency Tearfund published my major study into the needs of older people in Rwanda. Not surprising then that just after the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life in the Vatican staged its first ever Congress on the Pastoral Care of the Elderly to explore what challenges the future might hold.
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