St Vincent de Paul Society Australia genetic logo

13 18 12

Donate

Safeguarding

Advocacy

Energy

Advocacy Webinars

<h2>We're here to help</h2>
<p>The St Vincent de Paul Society offers over 200 services across Australia that help people in need. For more information on the services provided in your state or territory click the link opposite or contact our assistance line:</p>
<p><a href="Tel:131812" title="Call 13 18 12" class="primary-button-yellow">Call 13 18 12</a></p>

ACT & surrounds

New South Wales

Northern Territory

Queensland

South Australia

Tasmania

Victoria

Western Australia

Find help

Join our National Staff

International impact

Get involved

<h2>Vinnies Shops</h2>
<p>Everything you buy or donate inspires change in your local community.</p>

Vinnies shops

Shops

Towards a Just and Compassionate Australia

Low income support

Housing and homelessness

Secure work

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

Refugees and people seeking asylum

A fairer tax and welfare system

Children

Health matters

About us

Our structure

National Council of Australia

Our spirituality

Our mission and vision

National contacts

Prayer cards

National Council Strategic Plan

Review of The Rule

Catholic Social Teaching Principles

News and stories

National Overviews

Media releases

Speeches

In the News

The Record

Submissions

Publications

| Vinnies

Home

National Council

SVdP Housing Australia

LAUNCH: Catholic Social Teaching - Dreaming as a single human family

Launch of Catholic Social Teaching | SVdP

<div class="page">
<div class="layoutArea">
<div class="column">
<h2>Catholic Social Teaching: Dreaming as a single human family</h2>
<p>19 January 2022</p>
<p>The National Council of the St Vincent de Paul Society in Australia released a fresh reflection on Catholic Social Teaching, the principles which have underpinned the Society’s work for over 150 years.</p>
<p>Speaking at the launch of Catholic Social Teaching: Dreaming as a Single Human Family written by theologian Dr John Honner, National President Claire Victory said that in a world where individualism trumps the common good, it’s worth reflecting on the core principles that motivated our forebears and inspire us still.</p>
<p>‘As Vincentians the dignity of every human being is at the core of our work. We oppose individualism as we commit to the common good. And we encourage the empowerment of people through participation at whatever level might be possible. We stand with others who share these values and above all we defend our priority for people living with the impact of the structural causes of poverty and disadvantage. In addition, we share the care of our common home.</p>
<p>‘Catholic Social Teaching is the collective name given to the church’s formal pronouncements – authorised by papal encyclicals – on matters of social structures and social justice since 1891.</p>
<p>‘It is grounded in the critical social questions of the day and draws on contemporary economics, and social and political sciences.</p>
<p>‘A lead founder of the Society, Frederic Ozanam, was a pioneer in articulating a Catholic response to capitalism and communism and was instrumental in shaping ‘social Catholicism’. The key features of Ozanam’s social Catholicism remain relevant today: the personal comes before the political: equality comes before economy: and the sacred can be found in the secular.</p>
<p>Frederic Ozanam’s writings provided Pope Leo XIII with the foundations for the letter Rerum Novarum, which was the first social encyclical of the modern era in 1891.</p>
<p>‘In helping to shape a charitable organisation that was independent of clerical control, yet both profoundly Christian and absolutely lay, Ozanam not only gave the Vincentian spirit a new dimension but also anticipated the renewal of the Church conceived at the Second Vatican Council.</p>
<p>‘The Honner report visits Frederic Ozanam’s vision which influenced the formation of Catholic Social Teaching; the evolution of the principles in response to historical events; and exploration of the six principles through the lens of Vincentian spirituality with an eye on their possible applications in today’s social context.</p>
<p>‘The National Council commissioned this document to inform the Society’s continuing commitment to accompanying and serving disadvantaged people and its engagement in the social, economic, and political discourse that shapes our society.</p>
<p>A summary of the principles is included over the page. Catholic Social Teaching: Dreaming as a Single Human Family is available on the National Council’s website.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="page">
<div class="layoutArea">
<h3 class="column">Catholic Social Teaching Principles</h3>
<p><strong>1. The Dignity of the Human Person: Freedom to be</strong></p>
<p>Calls us to:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>Actively accompany people who have been pushed to the margins by giving them a hand up to live their unique lives to the full</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Challenge individualism and consumerism</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Advocate for change</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Keep this principle at the centre of our work</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>2. The Common Good: We are more connected than separate</strong></p>
<p>Calls us to:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>Consider that the good of all is dependent on the good of each one</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Continue to work with people in local communities through our conference structure in order to build</p>
<p>a stronger society</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>3. Subsidiarity: Participation and empowerment</strong></p>
<p>Calls us to:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>Promote and develop local conferences and channel feedback from members</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Focus our advocacy in disadvantaged communities or where voices have been silenced</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Understand that the Conference is closest to the person in need and is best placed to make the</p>
<p>decision about how to help</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Observe that this principle is at work in the ‘council’ structure from regional to national councils</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>4. Solidarity: Intense effort</strong></p>
<p>Calls us to:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>Accompany people living with poverty across national, racial, religious and ideological boundaries</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Identify and address social and economic factors that cause marginalisation, or continue to</p>
<p>marginalise people</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Restore the dignity of people living with poverty and empower them to participate in society through</p>
<p>cultural, economic and political processes</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>5. Preferential Option for the Poor: Our priority</strong></p>
<p>Calls us to:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>Keep people living with poverty central to our thinking</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Guard against individualism</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Engage in witness, accompaniment, advocacy and action</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>6. Care for our common home: Dreaming as a single human family</strong></p>
<p>Calls us to:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>Cross borders, to build friendships, to value difference, to identify deeper communion</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Celebrate, rather than possess; nurture, rather than exploit</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Centre on others, rather than on our self</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Be accountable because of the urgency of the challenge</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>Read <a href="/media/mvjp1ehs/catholic-social-teaching.pdf" title="Catholic Social Teaching">Catholic Social Teaching: Dreaming as a Single Human Family</a> (pdf file).</p>
<div class="layoutArea">
<div class="column">
<p>The St Vincent de Paul Society in Australia consists of 60,000 members who operate on the ground through over 1,000 groups located in local communities across the country.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="layoutArea">
<div class="column">
<p>Media contact: 0408 824 306 / media@svdp.org.au</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>

Rich Text