Faith, Justice, and Culture: Exploring Love, Truth, and Social Justice is an adult formation study using Pope Benedict’s encyclical, Charity in Truth to discover a nuanced approach to the social teaching of the church. Four sessions are used to uncover Benedict’s careful development of what it means that the love of God is only reflected well in light of his truth and his call to understand the nature of justice as the free response to God’s love that poses a challenge to fallen systems and cultures in order to advance his kingdom in redemptive ways in the world.
Sessions five-eight use the framework of charity in truth to explore specific cultural issues based on input from study participants and on contemporary events that highlight pressing issues both national and global:
- Session five: Systemic racism
- Session six: Issues of life and human dignity (abortion, euthanasia)
- Session seven: Prioritizing justice—social issues, economy, foreign policy/security, migration,
poverty/hunger… - Session eight: Cultural grab bag—individual and social identity (gender, sexuality), pandemic,
freedom of speech, cancel culture…
The complete study guide below includes a model for considering cultural issues in light of Benedict’s teaching and the gospel as well as a glossary and links to other important materials that inform the church’s social teaching.
