It must not be supposed that the Church so concentrates her energies on caring for souls as to overlook things which pertain to mortal and earthly life.
Pope Leo XIII, Rerum Novarum, 45
As catechists and religion teachers, we should be educating our students in Catholic Social Teaching for two reasons:
- It resonates with them. Students tend to get excited about issues related to social justice. They want to make a difference in the world and Catholic Social Teaching shows them how.
- It is misunderstood. The Church’s teaching on social issues related to human dignity, the family, work, and the environment is often misunderstood. With a firm foundation in a correct understanding of the principles of Catholic Social Teaching, they will be much more equipped to live and defend these moral teachings.
The Religion Teacher’s Catholic Social Teaching Activity Pack will help you introduce students to the foundational principles of Catholic social justice issues. It includes resources to encourage students to think deeply about how each principle applies to their lives today.
The Catholic Social Teaching Crossword Puzzle and Word Search are two resources in the activity pack that will help students practice what they learned about the principles of Catholic Social Teaching including the seven themes as well as the common good and subsidiarity.
You can download these two worksheets for free here:
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In order to use the crossword and word search effectively, show the students these videos, then have them apply what they learned by finding the answers to the questions in the worksheets.
Video: The Seven Principles of Catholic Social Teaching
To get the graphic organizers and worksheets to go along with these videos, download the entire Catholic Social Teaching Activity Pack.
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