Timestamps:

• 00:00 Introductions – Rev Dr Craig Bartholomew & Peter Copeland
  
• Part 1: CST 101 – the Principles, Values, Virtues & Sins of Catholic Social Thought
• 00:03:00 Basics
• 00:04:40 The Purpose of Life
• 00:05:55 Born into Families and Communities
• 00:07:20 Participation in Social life as a Christian Duty
• 00:08:20 the Roots of Catholic Social Doctrine
• 00:11:50 the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church
• 00:13:05 the Permanent Principles: Human Dignity, the Common Good, Subsidiarity, and Solidarity
• 00:16:58 the Fundamental Values – Truth, Freedom, Justice, and Charitable Love
• 00:18:20 Christian Virtues – Prudence, Humility, Wisdom, Good Stewardship
• 00:18:50 Social Sin
• 00:19:55 Seven Social Sins
• 00:21:50 Social Institutions
  
• Part 2: Key themes to Thinking Catholic Social Teaching
• 00:22:50 Epistemological and Metaphysical Concepts – Ecology, Integrity, Actuality & Potency, Analogy of Being
• 00:30:15 the Nature of Man’s good – to be fulfilled in Community
• 00:31:35 Catholic & Protestant differences
• 00:33:50 the Personal and Moral Domain
• 00:36:55 the Natural Law
• 00:42:30 the Social and the Political Domains
• 00:44:15 the Catholic ‘Third Way’ in Political Philosophy
• 00:45:40 CST Applied – Economics
  
• Part 3: Living Catholic Social Teaching
• 00:47:55 Living Catholic Social Teaching
• 00:49:30 Key Considerations for Living CST
• 00:50:05 the Lay Vocation
• 00:51:20 the Role of Discernment and Prudential Judgment
• 00:56:25 the Telos (purpose) of Institutions
• 00:59:30 the Corporal and Spiritual works of mercy – tangible manifestations of CST
• 01:04:30 the Work to be Done
  
• Part 4: Response and Q&A
• 01:05:58 Response by Rev Dr Craig Bartholomew
• 01:07:50 the Need for Social theory
• 01:09:00 Difficulty in moving from theory to practice
• 01:12:15 CST’s helpful avoidance of reductionism
• 01:15:35 the Vital Role of the Family & the Influence of Subsidiarity
• 01:16:40 How do Catholics come to the conclusions they do?
• 01:18:05 Uncritical Realism
• 01:19:45 Critique of Natural Law
• 01:25:20 Response
  
• 01:27:00 Question: How does CST apply to particular realities? E.g. healthcare
• 01:38:00 Concluding remarks

Kirby Laing Centre Event Catholic Social Thought: An Overview ZOOM EVENT: SATURDAY 1 OCTOBER 2022 AT 4.00PM-5.30PM UK TIME

We joined the Kirby Laing Centre for Public Theology on Saturday 1 October from 4.00pm-5.30pm UK time/11-12:30 EST for an event on Catholic Social Teaching. Event description: Modern society is complex and if we are to engage it as salt and light then we need an understanding, a theory, of how society works. Catholics have developed a sophisticated theory of society that we all need to be familiar with. Thus, we are delighted to partner with Catholic Conscience, our Canadian friends, for this event. The main speakers will be Matt Marquardt, Peter Copeland, and Brendan Steven of Catholic Conscience, with Craig Bartholomew as respondent. You can find the programme here and the talk is available HERE.

AVAILABLE HERE

Programme Overview

Part 1 – Catholic Social Teaching 101

Section 1: Permanent principles:

• Grounding in the inherent dignity of human life in the imago dei and philosophical anthropology of the person
  • Three principles that flow from this, that collectively allow people to realize their dignity at the personal and social level:
    • Common Good;
      • The principle of the common good, to which every aspect of social life must be related if it is to attain its fullest meaning, stems from the dignity, unity and equality of all people. According to its primary and broadly accepted sense, the common good indicates “the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfilment more fully and more easily”. The common good does not consist in the simple sum of the particular goods of each subject of a social entity. Belonging to everyone and to each person, it is and remains “common”, because it is indivisible and because only together is it possible to attain it, increase it and safeguard its effectiveness, with regard also to the future.
      Subsidiarity
      • It is impossible to promote the dignity of the person without showing concern for the family, groups, associations, local territorial realities; in short, for that aggregate of economic, social, cultural, sports-oriented, recreational, professional and political expressions to which people spontaneously give life and which make it possible for them to achieve effective social growth… The principle of subsidiarity protects people from abuses by higher-level social authority and calls on these same authorities to help individuals and intermediate groups to fulfil their duties. This principle is imperative because every person, family and intermediate group has something original to offer to the community.
      Solidarity
      • Solidarity consists in acknowledgement that all humans are interdependent: we are dependent upon one another. We are all unique members of the one body of Christ. Solidarity is an authentic moral virtue, not a “feeling of vague compassion or shallow distress at the misfortunes of so many people, both near and far. On the contrary, it is a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good. That is to say to the good of all and of each individual, because we are all really responsible for all.” Compendium [193]
• • The Fundamental Values of Catholic Social Teaching
  • • Truth
  • • Freedom
  • • Justice
  • • Love (Charity)
• • Beatitudes of the Politician
• • The Concept of Social Sin
  • • Politics of fear, hate, or exclusion
  • • Abuse of creationSociety without love
  • • Acquisition or retention of unjust wealth
  • • Commerce or industry without morality
  • • Science without humanity
  • • Perpetuation of ignorance
• The Primary and secondary institutions of society:
  • The Primary role and structure of the family;
  • The Role of Government, Civil society, the Law, and Markets

Section 2: Brief historical perspective: how it’s developed over time and what are the major texts

• First social encyclical: Rerum Novarum
• Economic and Political encyclicals: Centesimus Annus
• Personalist and Ecological turn: Benedict’s Caritas in Veritate and Laudato Si – Integral human ecology and Integral Ecology.

Part 2 – Key themes to Thinking Catholic Social Teaching

• The concepts of integrity and the epistemological tool of ecology
• The nature of man’s good – to be fulfilled in community, vs the autonomous individual
• The importance of the Natural Law;
• Mediated vs Unmediated (Catholic/Protestant differences);
• The Catholic ‘third way’ in political philosophy;
• The Theological virtues – infusing of the cardinal virtues;
• The Universal call to Holiness;
• Sacramentality;
• Philosophical roots: Aristotle & Plato come together in Aquinas’ Participative (Plato), Empirically-based (Aristotle) intellectual framework

Part 3 – Living Catholic Social Teaching & CST and Contemporary issues

Section A: Key themes to Living Catholic Social Teaching

• The process of discernment and prudential judgment in voting, social engagement, the means and methods used to address a particular social issue;
• The importance of vocation;
• the role of the laity;
• the family and community as primary institutions/cornerstones;
• The Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy:

Section B: Catholic Social Teaching and Contemporary issues

• Apply CST to a contemporary issue by laying out the principles involved in the discernment and judgment
  • A. A CST perspective on the issue;
  • B. Emphasis on the ‘process’ side of CST:
    • Identifying what the issues are at stake; Attentiveness to conscience; Bringing the issue to God in prayer;
    • Discerning the best course of action given all of the factors in play