principles of Catholic social teaching

The principles of
Catholic social teaching
Some suggestions for staff formation to help introduce
the Caritas resource on Catholic Social Teaching 2014.
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Two of fve essential elements are:
• the belief that we meet God in the ‘bits and pieces’ of
everyday life. our daily interactions, the sacraments,
liturgy and prayers are all ways God approaches us
and we approach God.(Para 8 & 9)
• the belief that we are saved as a community.
We learn how to form a community of care, with
special attention to those who have less, or are
suffering. (Para 7; 76)
Practical applications of these elements are:
• Young people can hand on faith through experiencing
ministry in social justice and in peer leadership.
(Para 83)
• We deepen young people’s relationship with Jesus
through intentional and systematic catechesis.
(Para 61)
in addition our school will be able to recognise the
following elements in our Mission and Vision.
‘For Catholic schools subsidiarity needs to be balanced
by the principle of solidarity. Solidarity calls for a positive
commitment to safeguarding the fundamental equality
and rights of all, and the promotion of their human
development. Solidarity coupled with the Church’s
preferential option for the poor provide the detail needed
to understand the full meaning of the common good for
Catholic schools. (Para 82)
Introduction
the purpose of Social Justice Week is to draw the
attention of the catholic and wider community to a
current social justice issue in the light of catholic social
teaching (cSt), and to invite personal and communal
reflection and response. our goal in 2014 is to make
catholic social teaching more accessible for people.
We hope to put a human face to the principles and
help people to more fully engage with them in
contemporary settings.
this booklet has been written for all staff teaching in
catholic schools for their ongoing formation. ideas here
will help grow awareness and inspire people to take
action and apply cSt principles in their lives. in order
to recognise different entry levels for people there is a
variety of resources to draw on.
What makes a school Catholic?
the New Zealand catholic Bishops conference has
provided guidance in their document The Catholic
education of school-age children (NZcBc 2014) as to
what makes a school catholic. Monsignor Jim cassin,
the executive secretary to the commission for catholic
education and Formation of the irish episcopal
conference, gives a useful summary of this and writes1:
1. Msgr. J. Cassin: What makes a school Catholic? Reprinted from Lighting New Fires, NZCEO, May 2014
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Facilitator’s notes for a staff meeting
Prepare prior to the staff meeting
• Read through all this material and decide how you
will approach the meeting.
• Make copies of the handouts and distribute to staff
to read through prior to the meeting.
• encourage staff to bring along their questions
and comments.
• copy onto frm paper, then cut out and make sets of
cSt cards – enough sets for groups of 4 among the
staff to play.
On the day of the meeting
• create a prayer space in the room.
• Display the seven posters around the room.
• if possible have an internet connection in the room
so that a small group can view the video clips from
the caritas website or download on a memory stick.
• Photocopy the handout for activity 2 ‘Putting
principles of cSt into action in our school,’ for
the staff.
Following the meeting
• Gather staff orders for copies of the materials and
send through an order form to caritas or order
online www.caritas.org.nz
• create a staffroom and/or foyer display for Social
Justice Week.
• continue the kōrero considering ways to increase
understanding and application of these principles
in your classes, school, community and parish e.g.
students could create a powerpoint to be shown at
Mass or at a ‘Meet the teacher’ evening; or prepare
a noticeboard at school or in the church foyer
which puts across a principle of cSt. change it
every month.
• try the suggestions for use of caritas cSt card game
resource for prayers.
• check out the You tube clip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NtWXilozHo
&p=B4F7a5ec7B630493
The Teacher’s pack of Caritas resources
contains:
1. Primary booklet Y1-6. See, Judge, Act: learning
to recognise CST in action.
2. templates for making card sets Y7-10 with
notes ‘How to use the caritas cSt card game’.
3. Seven cSt posters with notes ‘How to use
these posters’.
4. Notes on ‘Follow up the cSt videos’ for seven
short videos online.
5. leaflet on catholic social teaching.
6. Prayers for secondary school classes for
Social Justice Week.
Other supporting resources in this booklet:
outline for facilitating a staff meeting with the
option for 25 mins or longer.
Staff liturgy using the theme of cSt.
Song for Justice words.
Psalm 97: Verses and Response.
Putting principles of catholic social teaching into
action in our school.
Seven catholic beliefs about people and their lives
written for young people.
The Hazard – for guided meditation.
Victims of warfare or need
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Starter activity
Caritas CST card game. Sitting in groups of 4 follow
the game instructions and play for about 5 minutes.
ask what did you learn? Share responses as this will
give you a sense of different entry levels.
Activity 1: View a video clip
View one of the seven short video clips. Discuss. link to
the matching cSt poster.
Group responds to the text on the poster.
(this could be done as a post box activity in classes
with all of the posters.)
Activity 2: Putting CST into action
Handout. Read the list of Putting Seven CST principles
into action. if a large staff, divide into groups of six to
work through some of these. Write up as ideas flow.
alternatively use as a post box activity.
Longer meeting (45 mins)
Activity 3: Supporting materials
Share with staff all the other resources in the teacher’s
pack. Brainstorm how each resource might be used
in class, in the school, in the parish. You may prefer to
break into smaller groups and take one resource each
to talk over ideas and then share with whole staff.
the following resources are in the teacher’s pack
and online.
1. Primary booklet Y1-6. See, Judge, Act: learning to
recognise CST in action.
2. templates for making card sets Y7-10 with notes
‘How to use the caritas cSt card game’.
3. Seven cSt posters with notes on ‘How to use
these posters’.
4. Notes on ‘Follow up the cSt videos’ for seven short
videos online.
5. leaflet on catholic social teaching.
6. Prayers for Social Justice Week for form time in
secondary schools.
Staff meeting ideas
Begin with a prayer. Prayer resources to choose from:
Booklet with Prayers for Social Justice Week in the
teacher’s pack.
Scripture Luke 4:16-22. Have a bible ready with this
passage marked.
Psalm 97:1, 2, 8. (Photocopy from the Master sheet in
this booklet.)
Prayers of the faithful. (Photocopy from the Staff liturgy
in this booklet.)
A justice song e.g. Song for Justice included in this
booklet.
Justice for all who are homeless
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Some examples from the Religious education
curriculum include:
Y1-8 strands – Jesus Christ – Hēhu Karaiti; Church –
Community of Disciples; Communion of Saints –
Te Kōtahitanga o te Hunga Tapu.
Year 9. The Beginning of the Church in Aotearoa
New Zealand