Catholic Social Teaching

What does ‘Catholic Social Teaching’ mean?

Catholic Social Teaching is based on the belief that God has a plan for creation, a plan to build his kingdom of peace, love and justice. It holds that God has a special plan for every single one of us, whoever we are. Our part in this plan isn’t just limited to things ‘spiritual’, or times when we do “religious things.” It involves every aspect of our lives, from the things we pray about, to how we live as a responsible global citizen. Our part in this story is a kind-of vocation for the common good, a call to treat everyone as our brothers and sisters.  It is something that we all share.

The Catholic Church has seven principles of social teaching that we share with our children through all that we do, through the curriculum, special events and activity and through our ordinary actions in school.

Catholic Social Teaching Prayers at Holy Rood

To see the prayers we have linked to Catholic Social Teaching (CST), please click here. These CST prayer books are available in each classroom on the class prayer table.

Children from Year 1-6 helped to design and decorate our Catholic Social Teaching flags for our display above. 

 Catholic Social Teaching in action at Holy Rood 

Fundraising

To find out about how we ensure we are putting into action the Catholic Social Teaching of ‘Option for the poor’, ‘Community and Participation’ and ‘Dignity’, please click here.

Laudato Si’

To find out how we are putting into action the Catholic Social Teaching of ‘Creation’, please click here.

International Links with Ukraine...

As part of our work on Catholic Social Teaching focusing on ‘Solidarity and Peace’, we have joined in an international partnership with a school in Ukraine. Via letters and videos, we are sharing a message of our prayers and hope for peace in Ukraine.

Year 4 Caritas Westminster Imagining Futures Project 

Imagining Futures is a new project for primary schools to celebrate Caritas Westminster’s tenth anniversary. This two-part project encourages students to have a positive, hopeful view of the future through collective imaginings, the creative arts, and social action.

Our wonderful Year 4 children are undertaking this task of imagining, planning and developing ways of making their dreams for our future world a reality. Keep an eye out here for updates about their work! 

CST Assemblies 

To help us put our call into action of making the world the best possible place it can be, and as God intended it to be when He gave it to mankind as a gift, we often revisit the 6 Caritas themes of Catholic Social Teaching. In some of our assemblies we spend time reflecting on Sunday's Gospel or issues that are arising in the world and discuss, contemplate and pray for guidance on identifying how CST can enable us to understand the outward show or action of our Catholic faith that will impact on many aspects of our life and, in turn, lead us to making an impact on the world so it can be as God intended it to be. 

The seven principles of Catholic Social Teaching

Dignity

 Dignity means ‘the state or quality of being worthy of honour or respect’. Therefore, ‘Dignity’ in Catholic Social Teaching means that every human being should be treated equally. This is because everybody is made in God’s image and His likeness and therefore equal in the eyes of God. This is so important that the other principles are based on this

Community and participation

 This is about our own call to be an active part of our community. God didn’t make us to live by ourselves. We’re meant to interact with others. The relationships we have help us learn about ourselves and others. Therefore, God wants us to get involved with those around us; supporting one another and helping build a better world for all. 

Creation

 This is about our call to care for the world. This because, we as Catholics, believe that the Earth and all it contains has been created as a gift for us by God. The resources of the Earth are not infinite. They have been given to us and to future generations. How we treat the Earth has a real impact on people now and in the future.

Solidarity and peace

 Solidarity means ‘agreement of feeling or action’. In Catholic Social Teaching this means being together with other people in agreeing and promoting peace in the world. We do this because we believe we are all sisters and brothers of one another because God made all of us in His image. We should work to make sure everyone is living in peace with each other.

Option for the poor

This principle of Catholic Social Teaching helps us to focus on those most in need: the poor. It calls us to think carefully about people living in poverty and how we can help in our choices and actions. We cannot ignore people who are poor; we have to help them as much as we can.

Dignity of workers

 Work is more than simply being able to earn money. It is about being able to support yourself and your family. It is about finding something you’re good at and feeling important. Everyone deserves to find a job they enjoy and are good at.