Catholic Social Living: Teaching Students to “Live Wisely, Think Deeply, and Love Generously”

Abstract

This article shares three ideas on teaching Catholic social teaching (CST). The first is a preference for having students work with selections from primary texts and to pull these texts into a coherent narrative. Second, the article suggests an ordered and active interpretation of the usual principles or themes of CST. Third, the article encourages instructors to go beyond the texts and invite students to think about the methodology of CST, engage alternative positions and theories on social issues, and experience the ideas of the tradition through community-based learning.