Catholic Social Teaching

Catholic Social teaching is at the heart of what we do at St Anselm's and many of
our organisations and parish groups are devoted to furthering the cause. 

Our faith calls us to love God and our neighbours in every situation especially our
brothers and sisters living in poverty. Following in the footsteps of Christ we hope to
make present in our unjust and broken world the love and peace of God.

CAFOD outlines 6 principles that are fully expanded in more elaborate teaching
documents and they are these:

• Dignity: the dignity of each human person

• Solidarity: a call to family and community to participate

• The common good: Our rights and responsibilities for others 

• Preferred option for the poor: the dignity and the right to work and the rights of workers

• Peace

• Care for God's creation.

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Modern Catholic social teaching is said to have originated in 1891with the encyclical
letter Rerum Novarum (direct meaning Revolutionary change or the Rights and
Duties of Capital and Labour). Since then a wealth of teaching and documents have
continued to give new life to the scriptures and shape the Church's response to our
modern world. These are core to our teaching and our life.