Catholic Social Thought Research Articles

Using Catholic Social Thought and the Normativity of the Future in Responding to the Super Wicked Problem of Climate Change

The climate crisis has been dubbed a “super wicked problem”—one where there is a sense of urgency, complicity in the problem by those who wish to solve it, and difficulty in sacrificing the short term for the long term. To respond to the difficulty of long-term thinking in addressing super wicked problems as part of SDG 13 (Climate Action), there is a need to pay attention to the narratives, norms, and values at work, and how we employ these categories in climate action. This paper discusses how Catholic social thought and the concept of the normativity of the future can be an approach to understanding the SDGs and the alternative future they offer in order to energize communities toward responding to the climate crisis, especially in response to current dominant narratives that make climate action difficult, as well as a way to make sense of the tensions found within the SDGs themselves.

Review of Bernard G. Prusak and Jennifer Reed-Bouley, eds., Catholic Higher Education and Catholic Social Thought

Review of Bernard G. Prusak and Jennifer Reed-Bouley, eds., Catholic Higher Education and Catholic Social Thought

The Manager and Love: Evoking a Loving Inquiry in a Group Setting

Neuroscientists, psychologists, educators, and management scholars propose that the current emphasis on intellect and reason in education and business over values such as love, connectedness, and compassion are at the root of many business ethical failures and societal problems. They argue not that reason should be abandoned in education and business management but rather that it needs to be balanced with values such as love because these attributes are innately human, enabling wise decision-making. This is a difficult task in the context of the current ethos of intellect and reason that dominates education and management. To correct the imbalance, we must explore ways of preparing future managers to accept the relevance and importance of learning to develop and embody love. Through our research, we provide an experience of community love by creating a caring, receptive, personal container. We engaged in the practice of Collaborative Autoethnography, integrating the Nguni South African concept of Ubuntu, to explore, research, and demonstrate the experience of love in a community setting. To support this practice, we framed it against the background of integrative justice, focusing on authentic engagement without exploitative intent as per Santos and Laczniak’s (2015) Integrative Justice Model (IJM) and built upon some common contexts from which love is considered such as Catholic Social Thought (CST) and indigenous cultures. We analyzed why and how love might be implemented in education and management and how Collaborative Autoethnography can be applied in connecting with others to research, learn from, and build upon the experience of love and connectedness.

Review: Catholic Higher Education and Catholic Social Thought, Bernard G. Prusak and Jennifer Reed-Bouley, eds.

Review: Catholic Higher Education and Catholic Social Thought, Bernard G. Prusak and Jennifer Reed-Bouley, eds.

Catholic Higher Education and Catholic Social Thought ed. by Bernard G. Prusak and Jennifer Reed-Bouley (review)

Catholic Higher Education and Catholic Social Thought ed. by Bernard G. Prusak and Jennifer Reed-Bouley (review)

The Promotion of Catholic Social Thought in a Maltese Secondary Church School and its Impact: A Case Study

The purpose of this case study is to explore how students in an all-boys Maltese Secondary Church school experience the promotion of Catholic Social Thought (CST) within their school, and to what extent this promotion impacts their values and behaviours. This study provides a platform for the voices of the school’s students and educators, which holds significance for the mission and identity of Church schools. An inductive approach to thematic analysis is used to identify the themes and patterns emerging from the research instruments. An interpretivist framework is also used, while a constructivist phenomenological approach using qualitative data is adopted. The sample is made up of 22 students from an all-boys Secondary Church school in Malta, along with a member of the school management team, the school chaplain and a seasoned educator from the same school. Overall, the opinions among the participants were all quite similar, albeit within their own distinctive perspectives and emphasis. The findings show that students experience the promotion of CST in six various ways throughout the school life — formal curriculum; extracurricular activities and school programmes; school environment, policies and practices; teacher and classroom practices and dynamics; nurturance; and role modelling. They also indicate that, while the students’ values and behaviours are being influenced by this promotion, there are also other factors from inside and outside of the school environment that have an impact on the students.

II. Family Welfare and Pernicious Property: White Womanhood and Catholic Social Thought in the United States

A significant literature presents the Catholic social thought tradition (CST) as a resource for combating racism and white supremacy, and an equally important body of work critiques the documentary tradition for the ways it fails to adequately address these pernicious social sins. This essay will combine elements of both approaches to address a topic relatively modest in scope: showing how attention to the historical and contemporary operation of white womanhood, exposed by sociologist Jessie Daniels in her book Nice White Ladies, informs, critiques, and presents opportunities for Catholic social thought on gender and family, both in the ecclesial documents and in their appropriations by white US Catholic scholars. I will address three themes: images of women; the nexus of families and the welfare state; and whiteness as property.

Social Justice and Subsidiarity: Luigi Taparelli and the Origins of Modern Catholic Social Thought by Thomas C. Behr (review)

Social Justice and Subsidiarity: Luigi Taparelli and the Origins of Modern Catholic Social Thought by Thomas C. Behr (review)

Book Review: Business Ethics and Catholic Social Thought by Daniel K. Finn (ed.)

Book Review: <i>Business Ethics and Catholic Social Thought</i> by Daniel K. Finn (ed.)

Jus Post Bellum and Catholic Social Thought: Just Political Participation as Civil Society Peacebuilding

This paper serves three purposes. First, it examines the theme of jus post bellum (“postwar justice”) as it emerges within a just peacemaking (JP) framework. Second, it defines just political participation as civil society peacebuilding reflected in Catholic social thought (CST). Third, it envisions a place for just political participation within the jus post bellum praxis specifically endorsed by the World Bank report of 2007, titled Civil Society and Peacebuilding: Potential, Limitations and Critical Factors. The paper then attends to the Church and faith-based organizations and their roles in civil society peacebuilding postbellum. In doing so, it clarifies the characteristics of jus post bellum within a JP scheme by (a) distinguishing them from the just war approach, (b) identifying JP-oriented jus post bellum thinkers such as Daniel Philpott and Larry May, and (c) incorporating civil society peacebuilding endorsed by both the World Bank report and CST.

Systemic Racism as Cultural and Structural Sin: Distinctive Contributions from Catholic Social Thought

As Catholics, like all people of goodwill, work to confront the ongoing legacy of racism in the United States, they need additional resources to understand and challenge the suprapersonal aspects of racism at the social level. Building on existing Catholic analyses of racism as a form of cultural sin and incorporating recent refinements in the concept of structural sin, this paper argues that Catholic social thought can yield a more comprehensive account of systemic racism as a structural and cultural problem. This combined analysis provides the theological resources to help Catholics recognize a duty to confront racism and promote racial justice as a natural extension of their faith commitments.

Business Ethics and Catholic Social Thought

Business Ethics and Catholic Social Thought

Understandings of Social Justice among College Students: Learning Catholic Social Thought through Ignatian Pedagogy and Community Engagement

This paper offers a framework for teaching and learning Catholic social thought. Drawing upon theories of community engagement and justice education, the paper observes stages of student learning related to Catholic social thought. Finally, it draws upon Ignatian principles and pedagogy as an approach to teaching Catholic social thought to college students.

From Ideology to Discernment: Rethinking Catholic Social Thought in a Context of Crisis

The article argues against the tendency to reaffirm Catholic social thought as Catholic “doctrine” and proposes a reinterpretation in view of the participation of the Church in the transformation of the world. Revisiting Chenu’s critique of Catholic social thought as ideology, the article argues for a reinterpretation of Catholic social thought as Catholic social and ecological discernment in response to the contemporary megacrisis. That such a discernment requires reflective practice and forward-looking imagination is articulated in the light of the thought of John Paul Lederach and Otto Scharmer.

Revitalizing Catholic Social Thought in a Multireligious World

Religion does influence personal choices and behavior, even today. In a multireligious society, religions and religious groups influence social life and public policy considerably. Hitherto, Catholic social teaching, thought, and practice were essentially, if not exclusively, based on the Christian vision of socioeconomic and political realities, without paying much attention to the existence and role of the world’s great religions and religious traditions in this endeavor. To revitalize Catholic social teaching in today’s world, the Church must enter into critical dialogue with non-Christian religions and harness their contribution to sociopolitical transformation. The teachings of Pope Francis, especially in recent social encyclicals, emphasize the importance of such conversations and identify possible paths to pursue.

“Anthropological Poverty” Discourse in Africa: A Contribution to Catholic Social Thought on Poverty, Violence, and Justice

A more dynamic approach to Catholic social thought that encourages a prophetic discernment can critically challenge the official narrative presented in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, which is widely popular in Africa. This article develops this argument by revisiting three key problems that CST encounters in the African reality: poverty, violence, and justice. Significantly, the postcolonial discourse of “anthropological poverty” serves as both a justification for and a critique of the Compendium. This article highlights how a prophetic discernment’s dynamic approach, through the lens of anthropological poverty, enriches or critiques official Catholic social teaching’s views on the problems of poverty, violence, and justice. The discussion that follows in the article establishes how a less hierarchical approach to contemporary social questions is both necessary and attainable, while showing that this approach is, in part, taking place in Africa.

From Sustainable Finances to Faithful Investing: A moral proposal according to the Catholic Social Thought

From Sustainable Finances to Faithful Investing: A moral proposal according to the Catholic Social Thought

Teaching Catholic Social Thought Online in the Philippines: From a Challenge to an Opportunity

In this article, I build the case that students learn Catholic social thought (CST) best by experiencing it pedagogically. To do so, I share the following: Ateneo de Manila University’s experience in transitioning to online teaching in response to a global pandemic; my experience in designing a CST course that considers the limitations of online teaching, makes use of its strengths, and inspires greater awareness of local issues; and my experience in teaching the course. With these three sections, five suggestions for CST pedagogy are proffered for consideration by other CST teachers. As such, this essay may serve as another reference for those interested in the pedagogical changes brought about by a global pandemic as well as a meaningful contribution from the Philippines to the development of a CST pedagogy.

Table of Contents, Vol. 11, no. 2. Teaching Catholic Social Thought

Table of Contents, Journal of Moral Theology, Vol. 11, no. 2, July 2022, “Teaching Catholic Social Thought”

Operationalizing the Vision of Catholic Social Thought Using Change Management

In Catholic social thought, magisterial documents emphasize the “See, Judge, Act” method in reflecting on social issues. While action is an important aspect of this methodology, aspects of Catholic social thought, as seen in the teaching of magisterial documents, has focused primarily on principles and the “judge” part of the method, where one reflects on the current social context in light of Catholic social thought and gospel values. This paper reminds Catholic social thought of the importance of obtaining the commitment of the people within the community in order to put Catholic social thought principles into practice structurally and that obtaining this commitment will require listening and responding to motivations, fears, values, and concerns of the people when handling conflicting goods at stake, while also offering helpful tools and resources for the work ahead. To obtain this commitment, this paper proposes how the discipline of change management offers tools for those putting Catholic social thought into practice and handling the fears, values, and concerns of the people involved. Specifically, the tools of stakeholder, culture, and ADKAR analysis in change management help practitioners implement projects grounded in the principles of Catholic social thought.