St. Mary’s University has been a leader in research in the area of modern slavery for a number of years, especially through the work of the Bakhita Centre.
Read more >>Healing the wounds of modern slavery
Category: Social Action
In death as in life – supporting the dying and the bereaved
Catholic social teaching rarely seems to touch on issues of death, dying, bereavement and so on, except, of course, in debates around euthanasia and medical choices made when caring for those close to death. But what about questions related to the care of those who are close to death, bereavement and the practicalities that inevitably arise when a member of the family dies? Many of the usual questions that are raised by Catholic social teaching pertain. What should be the role of the family, civil society, the Church and the state? How is the common good best promoted, remembering that the common good is about bringing society to a higher state of perfection? We cannot do that unless we are faithful companions to those who are dying and help those who are bereaved.
Read more >>The family, the common good and government
St. Mary’s University continued its series of events on the Common Good, working with Caritas Social Action Network, the Centre for Social Justice and Together for the Common Good. The first event in the series can be watched at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23N5rqHn7FI and the second event on The Common Good and the Family will be available from the youtube channel shortly. Below is Cristine Odone’s contribution to the second event.
Read more >>Iraq: Pope Francis’ Perilous Journey
“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 >>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.
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