Social Justice Group
The Social Justice Group is a Parish based organisation of parishioners interested in learning about and implementing Catholic Social Teaching. It is open to all parishioners.
Catholic social teaching proposes that human reason, combined with insights drawn from scripture, can provide a valid interpretation of the social order can animate that order with authentic values and can provide guidelines for action.
MISSION STATEMENT & GOALS
Our Mission is to undertake activities to make better known Catholic Social Teaching and provide information about Catholic organisations involved in Social Justice activities and suggest ways the Parish might be involved in Social Justice activities.
Our goals are to:
- discuss relevant parts of documents produced by the Australian Catholic Social Justice
- liaise with the Catholic Social Justice Commission of our Archdiocese
- advertise monthly on the Parish Notice Board that month's information from the Social Justice Diary
- help celebrate Social Justice Sunday in September each year
- encourage our Parish schools to make known Catholic Social Teaching.
CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING
Catholic Social Teaching covers all spheres of life - the economic, political, personal and spiritual. It has God given human dignity at its centre. It is a guide to the work of many Catholic organisations.
A very simplified list of the principles of the Church’s social doctrine is as follows:-
The Common Good stems from the dignity, unity and equality of all people and because the goods of the world are meant for all.
We can only live life in all its fullness when we are in relationship with others through community;
The Universal Destination of Goods is based on our belief that God destined the earth and all it contains for all peoples so that all created things would be shared fairly under the guidance of justice tempered by charity;
The Preferential Option for the Poor indicates that the poor, the marginalized and in all cases of those, whose living conditions interfere with their proper growth, should be the focus of particular concern;
The Principle of Solidarity proclaims that the human person is social by nature. We should commit ourselves wholeheartedly to the good of all in our human family;
The Principle of Subsidiarity is that national governments should not perform functions which can be better provided for at lower levels, such as local communities or the family. This safeguards personal initiative and creativity.
The Principle of Participation is that human beings, in their work for a better society, need to take an active role in the development of socio-economic, political and cultural life.
(Note there is a "Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church" authorized by the Pontifical Commission for Justice and Peace - Australian Edition published in 2004 which gives much more complete details)
AUSTRALIAN CATHOLIC SOCIAL JUSTICE ORGANISATIONS
(a) Australian Catholic Social Justice Council.
The national body is the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council. It is the social justice and human rights agency of the Catholic Church in Australia.
It produces a monthly electronic Briefing and many print publications , including the Australian Catholic Bishops' annual justice statement which is issued prior to Social Justice Sunday which occurs in late September each year. It also produces a quarterly newsletter, Justice Trends" which addresses current Australian and world political issues. It also publishes in hard back form the Australian Catholic Social Justice Series: There are
over 75 titles in this series. It also publishes from time to time Position Papers and Discussion Guides to address critical social justice issues as well as other leaflets.
The Monthly Electronic Briefing consists of several pages of highlights with indications of how to access the full Briefing on line. The highlights include include an article from the Secretariat, an indication of Current Issues /Resources, details of ACSJC publications and Social Justice events including National and ACT events.
Each year it publishes the Social Justice Diary which includes for each month a calendar of relevant events and brief descriptions of several of the major events for that month. Each month these are placed on the Notice Board of the Foyer in our Church. Sometimes significant extracts are stapled to the Parish Compact for the
first Sunday of that month
(b) Catholic Social Justice Commission of the Archdiocese of Canberra Goulburn.
Members of this body are appointed by our Archbishop. They meet on the first Thursday of each month. Representatives of Parish Social Groups are invited to advise the Commission of their activities and to send representatives to these meetings. The Commission discusses social justice issues and organises events for the Archdiocese to take action on issues.
(c) Other Catholic Social Justice Organisations.
As well as each Archdiocese/Diocese having an equivalent of the ACT Commission , other Catholic organisations make Catholic Social Teachings an important part of their activities. For example, Caritas
produces an Educational Toolkit for use in Catholic Schools. Such organisations can be accessed online.
HOW DOES OUR SOCIAL JUSTICE GROUP OPERATE
Our Social Justice Group meets monthly in the Library on the first Sunday of the month after the conclusion of the 10am Mass. New members are welcome.
Please come along and see how we operate.
NOTE:
Many Catholic Social Justice Teachings apply to the treatment that should apply to refugees and asylum seekers. The result is that there is close cooperation between Catholic bodies which deal with asylum seekers and refugees and bodies that relate to social justice.
An example is the Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office (ARMCO) which issues documents and press releases on behalf of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and these often refer to how Catholic Social Justice teachings relate to such issues. Within our parish, there is close cooperation between our Social Justice Group and our Refugee Resettlement Committee. Some parishioners are members of both bodies.