R
Robert_Sock
Guest
CAFOD and Catholic Social Teaching (CST)
CST is founded in scripture and includes statements and letters written by popes and bishops. It shows how Catholic faith can guide our responses to modern day issues.
Our world so often seems ruled by greed and corruption. But CST undermines self-interest. Gaudium et Spes #69 states that “God intended the earth with everything contained in it for the use of all human beings and peoples…goods should be in abundance for all in like manner.” In even more strident terms, it reminds us to “Feed the man dying of hunger, because if you have not fed him, you have killed him”. We have a clear duty actively to share resources and strive for justice for our brothers and sisters. Neutrality is not enough.
Pope Paul VI’s encyclical Populorum Progressio quotes St Ambrose: “You are not making a gift of what is yours to the poor man, but you are giving him back what is his…The earth belongs to everyone, not to the rich.”
This vision is key to CST and to our work. Since we believe each person is made in the image and likeness of God and has inherent dignity, we work with those living in poverty to have access to food, water, housing and other basic amenities which many of us can often take for granted. cafod.org.uk/About-Us/CAFOD-Catholicism
CST is founded in scripture and includes statements and letters written by popes and bishops. It shows how Catholic faith can guide our responses to modern day issues.
Our world so often seems ruled by greed and corruption. But CST undermines self-interest. Gaudium et Spes #69 states that “God intended the earth with everything contained in it for the use of all human beings and peoples…goods should be in abundance for all in like manner.” In even more strident terms, it reminds us to “Feed the man dying of hunger, because if you have not fed him, you have killed him”. We have a clear duty actively to share resources and strive for justice for our brothers and sisters. Neutrality is not enough.
Pope Paul VI’s encyclical Populorum Progressio quotes St Ambrose: “You are not making a gift of what is yours to the poor man, but you are giving him back what is his…The earth belongs to everyone, not to the rich.”
This vision is key to CST and to our work. Since we believe each person is made in the image and likeness of God and has inherent dignity, we work with those living in poverty to have access to food, water, housing and other basic amenities which many of us can often take for granted. cafod.org.uk/About-Us/CAFOD-Catholicism