Promoting Catholic Social Teaching - Term Paper Example

Promoting catholic social teaching or the UN developmental goals s “Christians through the ages have thought to take the example and words of Jesus to heart and to live with them in social settings, very different from ancient Palestine. Catholic social teaching is an offspring of this effort” (Kaczor, C., 2012). It is based on certain principles, which have undergone the evolution during the long period of time. It concentrates on such issues as the rights of people in terms of religion, peace and care for poor individuals and touches many other important spheres of human existence. Modern catholic teachings are characterized by a specific structure and expression. They include various approaches, which influence human mind and consciousness. The aim of this work is to create a plan, which can actively promote catholic social teachings and is based on different psychological principles. The paper also includes the implementation of these principles into the real life situations, demonstrating their effectiveness in terms of practice. Catholic Church is the largest (by number of believers) branch of Christianity. Catholicism is the main religion in many European countries (Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Belgium, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Ireland, Malta, and others). The Catholic teachings are based on the Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition, which include decrees of the Ecumenical Councils. The basic provisions of doctrine are set in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and in the Code of Canon Law. The source of domestic law of the Catholic Church, along with the Scriptures, is the Holy Tradition, which includes canons - a set of rules of the Apostles and the Ecumenical Councils, the Church authorized liturgical texts, lives of the saints, customs of the church and so forth. “In recent times, the Church has recognized that its teaching about the necessity of the Catholic Church for salvation has been widely misunderstood, so it has "re-formulated" this teaching in a positive way” (Blackburn, J., 2014). “Catholic social teaching provides a parallel framework to support an examination of institutional, economic, or social conscience. Catholic social teaching helps us to track down the structural occasions of sin and offers practical, commonsense, but always compassionate guidelines for effecting change aimed at mitigating such “social sin” and doing a kind of civic penance for it” (Clarke, K., 2011). In order to provide the catholic social teaching into the mass successfully, it is important to understand the needs and wants of the population in terms of faith. Most of people require confidence, inspiration, protection and support. These are the main features, why people usually attend church. The are many ways of social promotion of different information among people. However, the first thing which must be done before the application of psychological approaches is the preparatory work. People are quite difficult to convince in something if they do not believe it. The preparatory work creates the ground for this belief and future involvement of the population into the catholic area. In most cases the preparatory work reveals the issues, which constitute the internal values of the person. These issues usually concern the purposes of life, people’s destination in this world, there inner desires. In order to hold this preparatory work, one who wants to promote catholic social teachings must first of all involve his closest surrounding into it. Talking about the plan itself, it should start with the methods of its implementation. The first point of the plan includes the placement of informational articles in popular press (newspapers, magazines). It will help the potential believers to learn more about the Catholic teachings and their importance for them. These articles should include the preparatory issues, which concern the topics about the person’s life, using direct address to those who read it. In this case the psychological principles are revealed through the internal conversation of the reader with himself. The successful development of the Social Concept of the Roman Catholic Church depends not only on the ideological message calling for the reflection of the occurring events in the world and requiring the answer to the question of what must be done but is also based on the specific actions aimed at creating conditions for the realization of these appeals and give an answer to the question of how it must be done. These actions must be analyzed not only in terms of good or bad, but also in terms of effectiveness or ineffectiveness. The second point is to spread the important information through the radio and television. It concerns only the most important parts of Catholic teachings. For example, it is interesting to invite a famous person to the radio, who can talk about the important issues of modern time, which concern youth or adults and such social troubles as sociopathy, aggressiveness and other human troubles on the basis of Catholic principles. People always listen attentively to those who they like. This point of plan will definitely be pleasantly accepted by the auditory. The thing is that in this case human consciousness is open for accepting the new information, as people are subjected to believe in the words of successful individuals. This method of Catholic propaganda is revealed through the emotional expression. It is known that a person builds a certain protective barrier against the unsolicited information. To circumvent such a barrier (the censorship of mentality), one must send a manipulative effect on the senses of this person. Thus, by means of providing the person with the necessary emotions, the required information may overcome his barrier of mind and cause an explosion of passion, making him exciting about what he hears. For example, if the priest takes the topic of poverty, he must firstly address the auditory in the way, which cause particular emotions among the auditory. As a result, people will have contact with the person who enlarges on this topic. Depending on the supply of the same materials one can achieve different, sometimes opposing views and results. In this case all the motions and intonations of the speaker are important. The third conception concerns the organization of the religious activities. This point of plan should be implemented after all previous methods, because it comprises that part of the auditory, which had already determined their catholic preferences and want to become more involved in this topic. Such presentations people usually attend with plenty of questions in order to share their thoughts and feelings with others. “Catholic social teaching, even at the magisterial level, invariably addresses two things, only one of which enjoys the protection of the Holy Spirit. The first is the moral principles which must govern our social, economic and political affairs—principles like the universal destination of goods, solidarity and subsidiary. The second is the prudential application of these principles to real situations in the real world. The former enjoys the protection of the Holy Spirit; the latter depends on the practical wisdom” (Mirus, J., 2014). In other words, the speeches and information, which are addressed to the audience must be accurately approved and evidenced. Of course, Catholic Church as any other religion relies on Holy Books and experience of its ancestors. However, people pay more attention to those life situations, which are faced by the ordinary people. The strong psychological approach, in this case, can be the personal experience of the speaker and facts, based on his life. The Earthly Church is not a community of saints, but a collection of penitents, people who realize that they are sinners and cannot themselves cope with the sins. There are different catholic organizations nowadays, which provide the Catholic teachings among those, who faced difficult situations and lost their way. Such teachings are the most effective, as they address those who badly need faith. “Catholic social teaching offers Catholics a powerful critique of the social contradictions and failures that can trouble our culture, which is based on faith and scripture, not on the political theory. Catholic moral teaching provides the foundation for our personal examination of conscience” (Clarke, K., 2011). Concluding this article, it is necessary to mention that modern catholic teachings are built on the system of different psychological approaches. They are aimed to influence the consciousness of the person and his inner state. Modern propaganda of Catholic principles received great popularity among people and was accepted in most of the European countries. The progress of psychology as the science has definitely a strong effect on the life of people. References Blackburn, J., 2014. What "No Salvation Outside the Church" Means. Retrieved from: http://www.catholic.com/magazine/articles/what-no-salvation-outside-the-church-means Clarke, K. 2011. Catholic social teaching: a guide. Retrieved from: http://www.vocationnetwork.org/articles/show/233 Kaczor, C., 2012. Seven Principles of Catholic Social Teaching. Retrieved from: http://www.catholic.com/magazine/articles/seven-principles-of-catholic-social-teaching Mirus, J., 2014. The Problem with Catholic Social Teaching. Retrieved from: http://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/articles.cfm?id=629 Read More