…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

–

This page will list, comment on, and, where possible, give access to books, articles and other resources in the field of Catholic Social Teaching.

–

Three of the best books about CST are:

• Donal Dorr, Option for the Poor and for the Earth: From Leo XIII to Pope Francis (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, expanded and revised edition 2016)  The first edition of this now classic work appeared in 1983. The 2016 edition incorporates a full discussion of Pope Francis’s 2015 encyclical, Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home.

• Austen Ivereigh, Faithful Citizens: A Practical Guide to Catholic Social Teaching and Community Organising (London: DLT, 2010) For people in Britain, this is currently the best book to read first – fast paced and highly engaging, especially if you start with Part II.

• David Matzko McCarthy (ed.), The Heart of Catholic Social Teaching: Its Origin and Contemporary Significance (Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2009)

The VPlater modules draw on these and several other secondary texts on CST.  If studying either module, you will be directed to selected readings from them.

–

The best work on the main figures who have helped to form modern Catholic social thought is:

• John Witte Jr & Frank S. Alexander (eds), The Teachings of Modern Catholicism on Law, Politics, and Human Nature (New York: University of Columbia Press, 2007)

This focuses on the contributions of Pope Leo XIII (1810-1903); Jacques Maritain (1882-1973); John Courtney Murray (1904-1967); Pope John XXIII (1881-1963); Gustavo Gutiérrez (b. 1928); Dorothy Day (1897-1980); and Pope John Paul II (1920-2005).  It includes extensive excerpts from their writings.

–

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………