What is Catholic Social Teaching?

Catholic Social Teaching is a doctrine of the Catholic Faith that provides important teachings and themes to help people work for justice in the world. Below are the themes that align with my Social Justice Project.

The Catholic Social Teaching theme of Life and Dignity of the Human Person speaks to the divinity and sacredness of each person. The Catholic Church teaches that each human has dignity and worth. To kill any human is a tremendous and total violation of their dignity. So many lives have been lost at the hands of school shooters, each of these children have tremendous value in the eyes of God and everyone who loved them. Their lives were taken, and their dignity ignored. In the Book of Genesis it says God created all humans in his image (Genesis 1:27, NRSV). Some interpret this as God making us from his love and for love. This is important because it shows that being created in the image of God infers a sense of deep purpose and meaning to each life. 

The second theme is The Call to Family, Community, and Participation. Many people are fulfilling this theme of Catholic Social Teaching, however more is still needed. Families who have lost their children in school shootings have started organizations and petitions to spread awareness and fight for change. An example of this is the Sandy Hook Promise and the Koshka Foundation. The Sandy Hook Promise Foundation was started by families who had lost their child in the Sandy Hook Shooting in 2012. The Koksha Foundation is focused on educating people on warning signs of dangerous behaviors, this was founded by a survivor of the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting. As for communities responding, many religious communities have offered places for healing and support after tragedy. Churches across the country have held vigils and memorials for lives lost. Additionally, both religious and non religious communities are educating their leaders on ways to reduce violence, specifically gun violence. 

The third Catholic Social Teaching is Rights and Responsbilites. Each person in the world is called to uphold certain rights and responsibilities. 1 John 4:7-12 tells us to love others as God has loved us. We are all called to first act in love, which is also one of the 10 commandments. When we act in love it is easier to see the effects of our actions. In this case, acting in love is to do anything we can as a society to reduce the number of school shootings. This means advocacy, education, forgiveness, providing resources, and reflecting.