catholic social teaching

 

At St Ambrose College, the Eight Essentials of an Edmund Rice Education instruct how we keep social justice close to our hearts at all times. For us, spreading the Gospel message is about actions rather than words

Each Essential reflects principles of Catholic Social Teaching and inspires the justice activities we are involved with, and we know that everything we undertake receives its inspiration and instruction from prayer and liturgy

We believe that a Christian Community can only be called that if Catholic Social Teaching is lived out in it daily. By building community in school through our Chaplaincy and outreach ministries, we contribute to community-building outside school too

Whilst all schools show compassion with their outreach and charity work, we believe it is our responsibility and calling to do this, and that we aren’t living out Jesus’ mission if we don’t. As well as practical help, we seek to understand those pushed towards the margins like when we take part in our annual homelessness sleepout on the school grounds

We want all our students to leave St Ambrose with a social conscious, as well as with good grades, and to allow that to influence the choices they make in their career, family life, and faith journey

It’s just as important that we recognise excellence in the way our students respond to the challenges facing our world as it is to recognise it in their academic achievements. We are pushed towards high-level justice work and some of us are currently involved in a justice forum across Catholic schools in England looking at issues like asylum and homelessness with other young people

We recognise that education is a tool for lasting change, and that we are privileged to have a platform from which to influence changemakers

We know that if we live lives of justice now, the principles of Catholic Social Teaching will become embedded within us and allow us to make decisions based on dignity, rights and compassion in later life

Our justice work in school is fundamentally linked to a rights-based approach to humanity. With human rights at the core of any charity or outreach activity we do, we seek to preserve the dignity of all people locally and globally. So, when we donate Christmas hampers for local people seeking asylum, we invite some of them into school to explain to us what their lives are really like

We have the incredible privilege of working under the umbrella of our very own NGO, Edmund Rice International, based at the United Nations in Geneva. Many of us are members of the Edmund Rice International group in school, which leads on the justice action of the school. We even get the chance to visit the UN and experience the work of the Human Rights Council

Edmund Rice International have taught us that it is our responsibility as Catholics to speak out for those whose voice is not being heard or listened to. Examples of Catholic advocates for justice such as St Oscar Romero inspire our staff and students every day, and we think it’s important that all of us are exposed to the most relevant social justice issues as part of our annual Advocacy and Inclusivity Week

Whilst we recognise the essential value of charity work, our involvement with Edmund Rice International reminds us that lasting change is brought about by advocacy, especially when we can work towards giving those made poor their own platform from which to speak about issues affecting them

We still believe that charity work is hugely important, but we make sure there is always a justice element to it. For example, when we run our Edmund Rice Summer Camp (with some of the Loreto students), we make sure it serves the local communities who will benefit from it most, and we make space for our leaders to explore which issues in our world have led to young children being unable to enjoy the same opportunities we do

We take inspiration from the example of others, with many of us getting the chance to visit projects around Manchester and in our wider Edmund Rice Network, such as in Belfast and Dublin, which teach us first-hand about people affected by issues like food poverty, homelessness and substance misuse

Our older students even travel every year to our sister school, St Ambrose Academy in Sierra Leone, where they take a structured journey reflecting on each principle of CST in turn, with an emphasis on their own personal transformation as they prepare for adult life

They learn that, rather than welcoming them with open hands, their brothers and sisters around the world would prefer to welcome them with open arms. Our humanity is deeply connected to their humanity

Back in school, all our collections, donations, sponsored walk, advocacy activity, sleepouts and food drives are really just ways to make justice a habit. We know we’ll be judged by how we make decisions after we leave St Ambrose

Here are some of our past pupils in Argentina proving just how much living out CST in school can inspire our future choices.

This is where their formation in Catholic Social Teaching has led them. The question is, where will it lead us!