Catholic Commission for Social Justice
As we come to the end of another year, let us look back in gratitude for all the wonders that God has wrought in our lives. Although our country and our world are in a sorry state, let’s not be despondent. Instead, let us thank God for His many mercies over the past year and reflect now on what our Church is asking us to do in 2013, during the Year of Faith, to transform our world.
On my return from attending an International Conference in Kingston, Jamaica on the theme: Human Rights, International Law and The Family (see REPORTS), my eyes were drawn upwards as I waited for the gate at Archbishop’s House to open. The brilliant sunshine shone on the beautiful crèche which, this year, has been placed high above the front door so that all could see it more clearly.
Social isolation among over 50s in England is on the increase. In October a Project entitled The English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), published a report stating that “One in six over-50s in England are ‘socially isolated’ with few hobbies or engagement with society…They have few socially orientated hobbies, little civic or cultural engagement with society, and may have very limited social networks…the least wealthy over-50s suffer the most social isolation”.
The theme for Human Rights Day December 10, 2012 is: Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Part 1, Chapter 3, IV of the Compendium on the Social Doctrine of the Church focuses on Human Rights.
“The Church’s Magisterium”, states the Compendium, “has not failed to note the positive value of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations on December 10, 1948, which Blessed John Paul II defined as ‘a true milestone on the path of humanity’s moral progress’.
In my last article I shared the first four clauses of the 1960 Concordat. I now outline the last five clauses. Over the years a number of individuals have written about the Concordat, including Marion O’Callaghan and Prof John Spence whose excellent series (four in 2006 and four in December 2011) should inform our evaluation of Catholic Education.