Applying Catholic Social Teaching to an Issue...
Catholic Social Teaching is a way of thinking about contemporary issues within the social structures of society that are political, economic and cultural. In order to help us evaluate the different perspectives of society and make wise judgements, it consist of a set of principles for which to base our actions and future direction.
What are the principles of Catholic Social Teaching? Describe them in detail.
You can find detailed examples and explanations of each principle in https://caritas.org.nz/catholic-social-teaching or https://www.caritas.org.au/learn/cst/the-common-good. These websites are called textual sources. You can find other sources of information from books in the school library, from notes given by your teacher (found in Google classroom), from newspapers, magazines and journals. The bible, encyclicals, catechism of the Catholic church are other important documents.
The sources themselves don’t usually provide the answer to your question. As you read around a topic, you will start to form your own opinions. Then you will have to decide how the sources relate to each other, to the question you started with, and to your own ideas.
In this exercise, you will need to fuse (or synthesise) ideas from many sources, summarise to answer questions, paraphrase and quote. If you have never heard of these terms, click on BC campus or ask your teacher for help.
TRY THIS EXERCISE
The Common Good - This is how you could write a descriptive paragraph using three sources.
"The Common Good" in CST has been described in the Catechism, the words of Pope Benedict and the bible. According to the Catechism, three important aspects of "The Common Good" are valuing and caring for every single person, the wellness and growth of a group as they relate to each other, and justice for all leading to a peaceful and stable society. It has been suggested that this should not be the responsibility of the church but the governments of each country. I will suggest that every individual believer, group of believers and church should seek a universal common good for the world. First, I will draw on the words of Pope Benedict who said “The more we strive to secure a common good corresponding to the real needs of our neighbours, the more effectively we love them. Every Christian is called to practice this charity, in a manner corresponding to his vocation and according to the degree of influence he wields in the pólis (or in the city or place of work)". This shows that individual Christians and groups of Christians need to work for the common good. Similarly, bible verses such as “Do not seek your own personal interests alone, but also the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:4) and “since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.” (1 John 4:11) teach the common good. Even throughout Jesus' teachings, we are taught to seek the common good in the Beatitudes and when we love our neighbours as ourselves (Mark 12:30-31) and treat others as we want to be treated ourselves (Matthew 7:12).
Click the words in blue then pick out the sentences that are quotes, paraphrases and summaries. Scroll to the bottom of the page for answers. If you did not get them right, please see your teacher.
Come up with your own paragraph about what it means and give examples. One way you can do this is to google the following related words-- Imago Dei, In the Image of God. Pick 3/4 sites that you understand. Fuse/combine/ synthesise what you find in all the different websites into your own paragraph using your own words.
Summarise the USCCB website on Solidarity into one paragraph written in your own words, include the explanation, bible verses and Papal encyclicals into a tweet of 71 to 100 words.
This principle is hard to understand but finding out how it has been applied it maybe help.
Pick a few sentences from these two paragraphs and paraphrase them. Use a dictionary or thesaurus to look up and replace words. Change the sentence structure. Check your tenses and use of pronouns.
Subsidiarity helps us think about how to organise political communities. It holds that decisions should be made at the lowest level possible, with higher levels of authority intervening only if the lower levels are unable to accomplish a task as well or as efficiently. Subsidiarity is ultimately about building stronger communities in which government is a necessary—but not the only—form of social organisation. Catholic social teaching emphasises the importance of what are sometimes called “meditating institutions” that stand between the individual and the state. These institutions—families, churches, small businesses, trade unions, voluntary associations—can be threatened by both the state and the market.
Most of us would think it absurd for a state government to regulate the colour of paint a homeowner can use on their house, for example. That is a decision that is best left to local government. By contrast it would not make sense for each local government to decide who is qualified to practice medicine; instead, higher levels of authority should impose a more uniform standard. (Taken from US Catholic Magazine)
Preferential option for the poor and vulnerable
Look for quotes that explain this principle and give examples. Remember to use "....". This means.... Here is an example from Catholic Charities.
Read 1 Corinthians 12:14-27 and explain in your own words what this verse teaches about participation.
Read bible verses from the Old and New Testament of the Bible about stewardship. Describe in detail how these verses from the Old and New Testament teach us about stewardship.
These three verses are found in the Old Testament of the bible (the part of the bible written before Jesus was born.)
"The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it." (Psalm 24:1)
"To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it." (Deuteronomy 10:14)
"The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants." (Leviticus 25:23)
The parable of the talents is found in Matthew 25: 13-30 in the New Testament of the bible (the part of the bible after Jesus was born).
The Principle of Association
Answers:
Quote: Pope Benedict who said “The more we strive to secure a common good corresponding to the real needs of our neighbours, the more effectively we love them. Every Christian is called to practice this charity, in a manner corresponding to his vocation and according to the degree of influence he wields in the pólis (or in the city or place of work)".
Similarly, bible verses such as “Do not seek your own personal interests alone, but also the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:4) and “since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.” (1 John 4:11).
Paraphrase
According to the Catechism, three important aspects of "The Common Good" are valuing and caring for every single person, the wellness and growth of a group as they relate to each other, and justice for all leading to a peaceful and stable society.
Original
The Catechism notes three essential elements of the common good: respect for the individual, the social well-being and development of the group, and peace which results from the stability of a just society.
Summary
Even throughout Jesus' teachings, we are often taught to seek the common good in the Beatitudes and when we love our neighbours as ourselves (Mark 12:30-31) and treat others as we want to be treated ourselves (Matthew 7:12).
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