UNCC300: Principles of Catholic Social Teaching - Literature Review Assignment

Literature Review Assignment:

An influential Bishop recently called upon us to confront the scourge of racism that he finds in many regions (and many countries). He believes that it is a scourge because it is a violation of the most basic principles of social justice. He reflects on displaced, homeless and suffering refugees, here and abroad, for example, and also the dispossessed, the poor and the vulnerable, in and outside of our communities. He thinks it is time to awaken from slumber. He draws attention to the magnitude of resettlement around the world since the last century, and asks “how much more can be done” to fight the greatest scourge that we face, namely “racism”. He reflects on the case of the AFL player, Adam Goodes, who was vilified, in public forums, even though he was a star footballer. And he broadens the reflection to include wider abuses and cruelty in the name of racism, which he believes, prevent us from maturing as a nation and as a community. He quotes the words of an Irish priest, Fr. Gibney, who wrote in the 1880s: “So long as there is traffic in the human flesh between certain gross and unscrupulous men, and so long as I consider that they [indigenous people]... are being cruelly treated under the sacred name of justice, I shall not cease to raise my voice.” Questions: 1. Write a reflection explaining how the common good is challenged or negated by this issue (see the Reading below) locally and globally 2. Propose two or three ways to address the challenge, as an advocate, in order to achieve a more just community or society