Catholic Social Teaching (CST) is an important factor in strengthening a culture of inclusion, mutual recognition and civic participation.
The Faculty of Social Sciences (FASS) at the Pontifical University Saint Thomas Aquinas – Angelicum in Rome developed a CST-CEE baseline project in 2017, aimed at creating a Knowledge Base of the Catholic and Ecclesiastical Higher Education Institutions (CHEI) of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) that are currently running a programme of formation in CST. The project designed an original course content classification method, with the objective of comparing and evaluating courses from different education systems, and created the first integrated Knowledge Base of the Catholic and Ecclesiastical Higher Education Institutions (CHEI) providing CST courses in the region. An analysis of the main characteristics of the courses on CST provided evidence regarding formation in CST at the higher education level in the CEE region. This could be used, along with other inputs and sources, in developing programmes of various types, such as reinforcing social capital development or social inclusion.
The teaching of CST in the CEE region is important and can be improved. It is important as a source of values and orientation in countries that underwent decades of Communist rule and now struggle with the impact of Western liberalism. It can be improved especially through greater collaboration and networking among existing institutions and experts within the region as a whole. Institutions face shared challenges, can benefit from the sharing of best practices, and, by building transnational contacts, can prepare the ground for proposals for project funding.
The FASS launched a new initiative in 2018, built on the results of the baseline CST-CEE project. It is an innovative approach to supporting the development of such a network, by creating a transnational group of young CST scholars from the CEE in Rome (close to the central institutions of the Church, close to the Papacy, close to new developments in CST), guided by, but also supporting, an Expert Council made up of key leaders from CEE. Together they started to work towards the development of the wider network in the years ahead. Prof. Helen Alford OP leads the Expert Council and the overall initiative, with support from Prof. Inocent Szaniszló OP.