It used to be said that the social teaching of the Church is one of its best kept secrets.  Not anymore.

Catholic Social Teaching is becoming more and more central in ministry in this archdiocese mainly because of the work of the Catholic Commission for Social Justice (CCSJ).

We know the St Vincent de Paul Society has been involved in social justice ministry from its inception; giving alms and feeding the poor are also part of social justice, but now parish communities are being encouraged to work at Social Justice on both feet of Christian Service: namely Social Change (works of justice) and Direct Service (works of charity).

Twenty-one persons attended the fifth in a series of Vicariate Workshops on Catholic Social Teaching at the parish hall of Our Lady of Fatima, Curepe on Saturday, March 1.

There, Sr Roberta O’Flaherty HF gave them a well-balanced treatment of the subject. The PowerPoint presentation began with a brief review of the texts from Church sources, both Vatican II and the AEC bishops, and then discussed what Social Justice is and what it is not.

The four aspects of social justice: solidarity, education, community organisation and advocacy drew much discussion since, having a voice and a forum, and knowing how to proceed, are critical to the practice of Social Justice.

Sr Roberta emphasised the importance of the reflection-action process to social justice - See, Judge, and Act.  Participants were shown how to form a parish social justice group, the types of resources available and where to obtain them.

The CCSJ’s five major areas of focus for this archdiocese were also highlighted. In the final hour, the Reflection/Action Process was practised by the parish groups present. Sr Roberta skilfully monitored the 12 minutes given to each part of the process and then in the final plenary segment a lively discussion ensued.

It was refreshing to see handouts kept to a minimum in this workshop, with the emphasis being placed on equipping participants with the basic skills needed to start a parish social justice group which was really the reason behind the series of Vicariate workshops held by the CCSJ to date.

The task ahead and its difficulties were not minimised in the discussions. This writer was pleased to note that participants were also told how to obtain information on current government initiatives in order to make correct social analyses when doing theological reflection on situations.