Social doctrine and social pastoral activity
By Nadine Bushell 15.03.09
Member of the Catholic Commission for Social Justice
The Catholic Church in Trinidad and Tobago is associated with many social service
organisations such as St Vincent de Paul, Credo Foundation for Justice, St Jude’s Home for
Girls, the St Dominic’s Children’s Home and the Living Water Community. These organisations
undertake services that seem indispensible to dealing with some of the ills in the society. Why do
these organisations exist?
For some, they exist to assist the less fortunate in the society and to ensure that they are able to
reintegrate into the society or are at least not a problem to the society. Many of us do not see the
work of these organisations as going beyond satisfying physical and some emotional needs of
those that benefit from the programmes being implemented by these groups.
However, our pastoral activities must be based on the Church’s social teaching. “The Church's
social teaching is the indispensable reference point that determines the nature, modality,
articulation and development of pastoral activity in the social field.
It is the expression of the ministry of social evangelisation, aimed at enlightening, stimulating
and supporting the integral promotion of the human person through the practice of Christian
liberation in its earthly and transcendent dimension.
The Church exists and is at work within history. She interacts with the society and culture of her
time in order to fulfil her mission of announcing the newness of the Christian message to all
people, in the concrete circumstances of their difficulties, struggles and challenges.
She does so in such a way that faith enlightens them so that they can understand the truth that
‘true liberation consists in opening oneself to the love of Christ’. The Church's social pastoral
ministry is the living and concrete expression of the full awareness of her evangelising mission
in the social, economic, cultural and political realities of the world.”
Therefore pastoral activity has the very high purpose of bringing all persons to God and to
discover the truth about themselves and God. It is a way of practicing the “new evangelisation”,
while being exceedingly relevant to the plight and needs of today’s society.
Pastoral activity also provides an opportunity for many of us to provide service in the way that
Jesus did when he walked the earth. “The social message of the Gospel must guide the Church in
her twofold pastoral activity: that of helping men and women to discover the truth and to choose
the path that they will follow, and that of encouraging Christians to bear witness with a spirit of
service to the Gospel in the field of social activity.”
The Church tells us that more important than the logic of Doctrine of the Church is our witness
to the word of God. We must act – we can only evangelise others through our actions – we must
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live what we speak and assist others in living what we preach and live. We must be a living
example through our work and interaction with others in the community.
“Today more than ever the Word of God will be unable to be proclaimed and heard unless it is
accompanied by the witness of the power of the Holy Spirit, working within the action of
Christians in the service of their brothers and sisters, at the points in which their existence and
their future are at stake”.
The need for a new evangelisation helps the Church to understand that “today more than ever ...
her social message will gain credibility more immediately from the witness of action than as a
result of its internal logic and consistency”.
This highlights more than ever the importance of the face of our social service institutions. Our
activities in these organisations must respect those who come to us for assistance – they must be
treated in a manner that preserves their human dignity. They must not be treated as persons who
have come for handouts. We must seek to help them find God and fulfil God’s purpose for their
lives.
“Above all, the pastoral activity of the Church in the social sector must bear witness to the truth
of the human person. Christian anthropology permits a discernment of social problems that will
never find an adequate solution if the transcendent character of the human person, fully revealed
in faith, is not safeguarded.
The social action of Christians must be inspired by the fundamental principle of the centrality of
the human person. The need to promote the integral identity of the human person prompts
Christians to propose those eminent values that govern every well-ordered and productive human
society: truth, justice, love and freedom.
Pastoral activity in the social field must seek to ensure that the renewal of public life is linked to
an effective respect for these values. In this way, the Church's multifaceted evangelical witness
seeks to promote the awareness of the good of each person and of all people as an unlimited
resource for the development of every aspect of life in society.”
Persons interested in purchasing the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, may
contact the Justice Desk, Archbishop’s House at 622-2691 or 290-1634/5. Also on sale at the
Justice Desk are the Take a Bite Social Justice Programme on DVD and the Responses to 101
Questions on Catholic Social Teaching
Look out for the CCSJ’s next Ask Why TV Programme on Tuesday, March 24 from 8.00 p.m. 9.00 p.m. on TCN (Channel 10). It will focus on Pope Benedict XVI's Lenten Message on the
theme: “He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry” (Mt 4:1-2).
Our panellists will be Fr Joe Harris and Deborah de Rosia. Sr Teresa Vialva will present the
programme. This is a live, call-in programme so do take the opportunity to participate in the
discussion.
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