Dear all,<\/p>\n
For those of you who are new to our group, welcome!<\/p>\n
We will be hosting a short meeting for new joiners in the coming weeks with Centesimus Annus Secretary General Eutimio Tiliacos, for him to explain in more depth the Foundation’s origins, purpose and vision – but you will have received already a briefing from myself, Philip or the others members who introduced you.<\/p>\n
Meantime, we will be hosting our first meeting of the year on 2 November from 6pm – 7:30pm BST, via Zoom – as we cannot meet in person in the UK for the time being.<\/p>\n
A calendar invite with Zoom details will follow.<\/p>\n
The theme of our first meeting will be : \u201cThe Role of the State in Catholic Social Thought and Teaching\u201d and the discussion leader will be Dr. Andre Alves of the Catholic University of Portugal and St. Mary\u2019s University, Twickenham. His bio is further below.<\/p>\n
The kinds of questions that will be addressed in Session 1 include :<\/p>\n
\u2022 What is the legal grounding for state intervention in shaping socio-economic outcomes?
\n\u2022 The basis for human rights and the authority of the state in Catholic social thought.
\n\u2022 What limits ought to be applied to state interventions, and how ought these to be determined?
\n\u2022 How ought the state to consider trade-offs between the freedom and rights of citizens and families and the protection of others in the community?
\n\u2022 What tensions exist between civil\/natural rights and civic rights?<\/p>\n
I have worked closely with Prof. Philip Booth to define an ambitious programme of meetings for 2020-2021 around the theme of the post-covid economy and the covid policy responses in the light of Catholic social teaching. A draft programme for the year is attached.<\/a><\/p>\n Our monthly meetings will be thematic in nature, typically about 90 mins in length. A presentation of 30-45 minutes will be delivered by a subject matter expert, followed by a guided roundtable discussion on the practical applications of the particular elements of Catholic Social Teaching, which we are discussing in the session. The purpose of the roundtable discussion is really to tie the theoretical principles of CST to current affairs, ongoing policy debates, and to business \/ NGO \/ charity realities on the ground.<\/p>\n A short selection of readings will be circulated prior to each session, in order to get the most out of our deliberations.<\/p>\n For 2 November, please have a look at the two links below, as well as the attached paper by Prof. Alves<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.vatican.va\/content\/leo-xiii\/en\/encyclicals\/documents\/hf_l-xiii_enc_01111885_immortale-dei.html<\/a><\/p>\n https:\/\/catholicsocialthought.org.uk\/the-late-scholastics-universal-human-rights-and-discrimination\/<\/a><\/p>\n As we seek to refocus the efforts of the UK Chapter of the Centesimus Annus Foundation, special attention will be given to three areas:<\/p>\n \u2022 Formation \u2013 If we ourselves are not conversant with Catholic social thought and teaching (writ large), we cannot possibly be articulate or effective apologists for it; exploring the richness of pre-Conciliar and pre-Rerum Novarum texts, especially Mediaeval Scholastics and the Church Fathers, is essential in this regard I have also attached a paper on the development strategy of the UK Chapter over the next five years, which was recently approved by the Centesimus Annus Board in Rome.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Witness \u2013 if we ask society, business and politics to reorient their purpose towards achieving the common good, we must first do so ourselves in order to be credible ambassadors of Catholic social teaching.
\n\u2022 Engagement \u2013 we are not fecund as an organisation if we are just inward-facing, as opposed to engaging the wider world – our purpose is missionary and needs to be oriented towards engaging the public square<\/p>\n